Wow! Do kids ever grow up fast! Track how they grow in style with this simple and easy DIY barn board growth chart.
Growth Chart Skill Level:
FUN & EASY!
Time:
1 Hour
Materials:
- Barn Board (found at an antique dealer outside of town)
- Stencil (purchased from the dollar store. You can also get them from craft stores such as Michaels)
- White Paint (also from the dollar store)
- Saw
- Paint brush
- Pencil
Growth Chart Instructions:
- Using a saw cut the barnboard to desired length. I chose 6 1/2 feet
- Prep the wood for painting. Depending on how it was stored you may need to dust it off before bringing it in to the house. Mine was outside in the elements so I also gave it a few days in the sunshine to dry out.
- Using the stencil, sketch out at least 1.5 full feet to scale of your growth chart to determine how you intend to draw out the measurements. I chose to use a longer thicker line to mark feet, a slightly shorter thicker line to mark each 1/2 foot and finally a think short line to mark each inch. It is up to you how you style it!
- Using a pencil lightly mark your measurements on the wood. My barnboard was quite soft so once I made a mark I was not able to erase. Instead I used knives, for no other reason except that it was handy, to mark out each foot. Make sure you consider how high the growth chart will be hanging. You will likely have a gap between the floor and the chart so make sure you start at the right height. I started 6 inches off the floor.
- Paint the ruler lines using the white paint. I made my own stencil on cardboard for this.
- Next using the stencils, paint on the numbers.
- Do as many coats as you think is necessary. This will depend on how much paint you put on for each coat and how opaque you want the numbering to be. I did 2 coats but I was quite liberal with the paint.
- That’s it! You’re done! Now hang!
Tips and Tricks:
- The hardest part of this whole project was finding the barn board. I ended up locating some through VarageSale. She even cut it for me to the dimension I wanted.
- Instead of barnboard you can purchase a plank from Home Depot . They will cut to length for you as well. To give it a bit of character you will need to distress it. Young House Love has a great post about “How to Make New Wood Look Old“.
- For selecting the best piece of barnboard I wanted something with a little character. I looked for knots and cracks and seams. But be careful. Too much character can make it difficult or impossible to paint your measurements and numbers. It also prevents you from tracking your children’s measurements too.
- Depending on how soft your wood is might determine where you hang your growth chart. Since mine was quite soft and easily marked I hung it a little out of the way.
- When tracking your children’s heights use a thick permanent marker. I tried a paint marker first and it didn’t paint onto the barn board at all.
