straightforward Handmade Decorative Ladder Woodworking Plan

This decor walkthrough stays in the order the work happens.

Build your own Handmade decorative ladder for under $20! This angled orchard ladder plan is straightforward for beginning woodworkers and will add some vintage farmhouse style to your home decor.

You can also build a blanket ladder, countertop ladder, or hanging plant pot ladder. Plus, read more tips for decorating tall walls.

Bold office with decorative angled orchard ladder via Bekob.com

Vintage Inspired Handmade Ladder Plans

Hi, it’s Amy from Hertoolbelt back with another build plan for all you woodworkers. (Be sure to look at the House Bed Frame and Double X Console Table plans, too.)

Previously, our Bekob team shared this strong office via Better Homes & Gardens in a Get This Look series post: 7 Tips for a Bold and striking Study.

That rustic orchard ladder in the back corner is really cool and a fun accent piece, and a great way to decorate a blank wall without adding a lot of visual clutter.

Our project for today is to build a very simplified version of an angled vintage orchard ladder, so you can have your own Handmade decorative ladder for under $20.

Get the printable Handmade ladder plans

Build a Decorative Orchard Ladder

Note: This Handmade ladder plan is for decorative purposes only, do not use for climbing!

Looking for a Handmade stepladder? Build a ladder chair or a Hoosier flip-over stepstool.

This post contains affiliate links. Learn more and read our full disclosure policy here.

Materials Needed

printable Handmade decorative ladder woodworking plan
(3-4) – 1″ x 4″ x 8′ boards (or can sub in a couple 1″ x 2″ x 8′ boards — details in the plans)
wood glue
1 1/2″ – 2″ brad nails or wood screws
wood filler
paint or stain
sand paper

Depending on what boards you choose (and what current lumber prices are), you can build this decorative orchard ladder for as little as $10-20 in materials!

When choosing your lumber, keep in mind that furring strips are low-cost in 1×4 and 1×2 sizes, but they aren’t the highest quality lumber so you need to be picky! Read our tips here for picking the best and straightest boards.

Tools Needed

The angled profile of this Handmade ladder means that each rung is angled on the ends, so we recommend a compound miter saw (though a circular saw with adjustable blade could work, too).

A brad nailer will make assembly fast and straightforward, but you can use wood screws or hammer in brad nails, too.

Building the Ladder

All the cuts needed, ladder rung lengths and locations, and steps to build the ladder are included in the printable PDF plan.

This is a well fitted first-time plan or weekend project, with only a few steps:

Trim the angled ladder top and bottom (optional, to help the ladder rest against the wall and floor).
Cut angled ladder rungs.
Attach ladder rungs using glue and brad nails or screws.
Sand and finish.

Finishing and Staining a Decorative Ladder

Once you’ve built the ladder, make it match your style with the finish you choose!

For a rustic farmhouse look, you can distress the wood using hammers, screws, etc. You can also shave off the factory edges of the board for a hand-carved look.

Then a tea stain with a Handmade homemade wood stain recipe will give you a nice rustic aged wood look, like these large wood frames and rustic wall bins.

If you’re using an off-the-shelf stain, be sure to use a pre-stain wood conditioner. The low-cost pine boards will often be blotchy when stained if you don’t use a wood conditioner first before a store-bought stain.
For a different vintage wood look, try layering stains like Alyson did on her wood countertops and then drybrush or whitewash like Mindi did on her straightforward Handmade farmhouse bench.

If you want to add some color, use our go-to color-washing technique to stain the wood any color! You can also use this technique to adjust a stain color before adding the top coat, like we did on our barn door baby gate and Dutch door.

You can also add some metal hardware to the vintage look, such as upholstery nails at the rung ends or a large eye bolt at the top/sides of the ladder.

Age the metal by soaking in vinegar or dusting with spray paint like Corey did with the metal accents on this wall cubby shelf.