* Update 6/5 *
Thanks to all of you who voted up my Project. Little did I know this would go so great
A shout out to 'BeachBum Living" on Youtube, he was my inspiration for this. Visit his great Restoration Page.

Thanks again !
**********888

I wanted to brighten up my pool area, and thought I would share this actually cheap and easy project. Not much to it, but I love the colors each day as I walk out to work, or sit contemplating life. This was actually a fast project with high reward value. The possibilities are limitless. Your Garden, the side of a house that is dull, Pool, who knows, have fun!

Time:

2 Hours (or long enough for the paint to dry)

Cost

Under 65$ for this 10' section, paint and screws.

Items Needed.

1. Buy 21 Fence Slats. You will find them in the Lumber Section. They are sold seperate to replace broken fence's.
* Find one with Curves, this makes the over all look nicer I think   1.99 cents each

2. One box of 1 1/2" wood screws (250 count) 6$

3. Paint:    As many colors as you wish. 8$ a Quart. Flat Outdoor Paint tinted to your favorite colors.

4. Paint Trim Tool. 1.89 cents to help you keep the paint of the adjoining board.

5. Hand Saw or circular saw. this wood cuts very easily, a simple hand saw can do the trick.

6. Screw Driver or Drill with screw bit.

7. Cheap Paint Brust   5$   I don't suggest foam as these boards are very rough grain and foam would catch and snag

8. Lumber to secure or simple screws. I used a 10' Spruce board x 12" high. 2$ a foot.   I needd two of these. The 2nd Verticle board was 5' high. You can often get creative, just ask the sales person at home depot etc. I could have also used a 2x4, it would have worked just as well at 3$ each.   Get Pressure Treated as this is outdoor.

Step 1: Buying the Boards & Paint

At Home Depot I found the 'Fence Slats' for only 1.99 a piece. For my Project I wanted 10' long. So at 5 3/4" across 21 of these worked fine. These are 66" tall.

The Paint Colors, well in Florida I wanted Orange (we grow Oranges) Sky blue and Sun Yellow. I chose a little bright colors as it is a pool, but you can choose any colors you can dream of.

A quart of paint was way more than I needed, but a Pint would be to smal. You can get a gallon of white and some coloring but if you are like me, extra paint never hurts, the more colors the better. At 8$ a quart, 24$ for Paint and 25$ for wood. A cheap 50 bucks in this project.

If you look on craigslist or drive around you can find old fence boards, be creative.
The big board was for another project. See my 'Vintage Ice Chest' (Shameless Plug)

Step 2: Calibration (Ok Measurement)

The Trick I found was to stagger, but use your imagination. I decided on the fly, I just took a Pencil and marked where I wanted them. I found having 'Standard' lengths is nice, you can cut many at a time but then went back and intentionally shorted some to give it a more random look. I wanted this 'Is it a City Outline of Buildings, or is it.... just fun to play with peoples minds as they look at it.

My tallest was 60, lowest 24, some 54, some 36 etc.

VIP: In dark Pencil (not black ink like I did (you can see through the paint) Number each board at the bottom. I just wrote 1-21 on the bottom of the boards. This way as I was cutting I could re-assemble them in the right order.

VIP 2. Add the measurement. That way as you bring them to cut, it is all there for you.

VIP 3. Add the Color Code. This way you can paint all the blues at once, the yellows next. You get the idea.

B 56 1 Means "Blue Paint 56" high and 1st board in the sequence"

Step 3: Cutting and Placement

Here you see the effect.
Now as I said here you have the chance to stand them up and see how it looks and make any adjustment. Feel free to renumber etc.

As noted I just happened to have a 10' 12" Spuce board (ok 2 of them)

Depending where you hang them, screw them etc you may not need these. I had a bit of a delima as I was putting it next to concrete so this system worked for me.

Of Note I only lay them close to each other to get a 'Real Feel' to see if I like them' this is the last chance to move boards around. At this point you only care about color of paint. , the height is done.

Step 4: Placement

I screwed in my Verticle board and then the horizontal board together to add stability.
These boards were cut so you didn't see them and the center board was chosen between the tallest Fence Board. If you look really close you see the tiny 2 square inches that stick out. But nice luck doing this 20' away !

I had to move the assembly back and forth and finally measure exactly to get it centered but centered it was!

Time to Paint.

Step 5: The Artwork Speaks

The fun of Painting.

I found it easier to paint one color at a time. I used Latex outdoor paint, flat.
Since it was on concreate I found two pieces of Painting tools a life saver.

I just used one good coat, I kind of like the rough look that is is old and weathered.

1. Buy these long white ruler like Paint Trim Blockers. They look like a flat squeege in the paint section. 1.89 cents.
Why, these boards are close together and try and not paint over to the next board would have been impossible
(Note to self, put a slight gap between the boards) Some were so close I couldn't get the trim tool inbetween them.

2. Put a piece of cardboard at the bottom. Paint drips down, go figure. Use something to catch the drips. Drop Cloth etc.

The way I painted was to put the Trim Tool between the boards and paint carefully

In 20/20 hindsight, I would have painted the boards and let dry and assembled later. That would have been so much easier. I did a decent job though.

(Note to Self, Latex Paint and concrete, once dried does NOT come off. Put a drop cloth down. Mineral spirits and paint remover were laughed at by this paint.

And now the Art WorkTwo weeks later I am happy with my project, it does add that Unique Bright Look everytime I go out. It is odd, the brain tries to find a pattern but there isn't really one. It doesn't go from high to low etc, that is what is fun about this, it is Unique.

I contemplated 'Distressing them'

Go to youbute and search for BeachBum Living. He disressed his and they are darker. For his area they worked, but for my pool I choose brigther colors.

He also put the pieces he cut from each board on top to add effect of color. Check it out.

What would I have done different

1. Paint the boards ahead of time. I was in a rush for Memorial Day and Guest, but hey I share the tip to you out there!