DIY Painted Playroom Wood Sign

Use reclaimed wood, oversized letters and your favorite bright paint colors to make a DIY wood sign for your kids’ playroom or room.

Last week when I took you on a tour of  the pretty and organized garage I helped design for Chic Chateau, I promised I’d also be sharing some tutorials for projects from the space, like this reclaimed wood sign.

This hand painted wood sign is perfect for a playroom. It’s made from two reclaimed fence boards that my Chic Chateau collaborator’s DIY hubby, cut for me. He also attached horizontal wood braces on the back to hold the sign together. I’ll explain that process in the instructions below.

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DIY Playroom Wood Sign Supplies

• Reclaimed wood boards
• 2X4 board
• Wood screws
• Drill
• Wood glue
• Heavy duty D-ring hangers
• MDF or wooden letters
• Chalky Finish Paint in Primitive
• DecoArt Americana Paint in Vivid Violet
• DecoArt Americana Paint in Hauser Light Green
• DecoArt Americana Paint in Deep Midnight Blue 
• DecoArt Americana Multi-Surface Paint in Shrimp
• Paintbrush

DIY Playroom Wood Sign Instructions

This wood sign was really easy to put together. You don’t need any special skills to make it beyond painting, gluing and using a drill or screwdriver (to build the sign).

To make the sign, cut two reclaimed boards to the length you want. (Our boards measured about 5 feet in length.)

Lay those two boards together, side by side.  Measure the width and subtract an inch. This is your adjusted width measurement.

Cut three pieces of 2X4 to that adjusted width measurement. Secure the 2X4 pieces to the back of the sign at the top, middle and bottom using wood glue and wood screws. (If you need more details about this joinery technique, you can find more detailed instructions and photos here.

Once you’ve made the wood sign, flip it over and arrange the letters on the front.

Here, PLAY is spelled out in simple 12-inch MDF letters from the craft store. You can also use wooden letters, and of course, you can spell out anything you like! You can use smaller letters, as well, if your sign is smaller.

You can use any colors on your sign, but since this room is meant for a playroom, the brighter the better. For this project, I wanted to stick with the Chic Chateau midcentury inspired color palette of indigo, apple green, radiant orchid and coral.

Before you start painting, be sure to use Workman’s Friend Skin Barrier Cream to make cleanup easier. (If you’re a messy crafter like I am, you’re going to love this stuff.)

I used DecoArt Americana Chalky Finish paint in Primitive, a pale gray, for the sign’s background.

I used a whitewashing technique, getting my brush wet to thin the paint, and applied several coats to the sign. I wanted just enough coverage to hide any flaws in the reclaimed wood, but I didn’t want to completely hide the grain.

The MDF letters each got several coats of acrylic craft paint, a different color for each one.

I used DecoArt Americana Vivid Violet, Americana Hauser Light Green, Americana Deep Midnight Blue and Americana Multi-Surface Shrimp. They most closely matched the paint and accent colors used elsewhere in the showhouse.

Once the paint was dry, I used Gorilla Wood Glue to attach the letters to the sign.

I think we ate a couple of meals on the couch while the glue was drying, held in place by the pressure of some of my favorite decorating and craft books!

As a final step, I sealed the paint with a topcoat of DecoArt Americana Soft Touch Varnish.

We used a large, heavy-duty D-ring to hang the sign because we wanted something sturdy enough to hold its weight since the sign is almost 5-feet long. I also recommend hanging this in a stud or using heavy-duty toggle drywall anchors to ensure it doesn’t fall off the wall.

If you missed the tour of the Chic Chateau garage, I hope you’ll click over for a visit.

You can find the tutorial for other projects from the space, including the potting bench here and for the faux garden clock over at Worthing Court.