How To Decorate A Vintage French Farmhouse Ladder And Architectural Salvage Reveal

Today I'm sharing how to decorate a vintage farmhouse ladder -- it's definitely unique and has a totally French vibe to it so I'm excited to show you the end result. 

With a little creativity and some vintage finds you can totally transform a vintage ladder into a favorite piece of decor. 

Over six years ago I revealed our newly renovated and decorated French farmhouse living room. 

Among all the new-to-me (thrifted and vintage) decor used in the living room, my favorite was this vintage ladder I picked up for $30.00 at a flea market. My second favorite thing was this huge French country wall basket for $3.99 from Goodwill. 

While I've already written How To Style A Vintage Ladder With More Than Blankets, I wanted to share my most recent ladder decor showcasing how I updated its location and accessories. 

While the ladder has remained in the living room, I moved it to the other side of the room and added a new element that I think makes all the difference.

I got this vintage pediment at a local barn sale and it was very inexpensive (always my modus operandi). A pediment is an architectural element usually found above a doorway or window.

While the front looks to be made of carved wood, it's actually made out of some sort of resin, which I love because that makes it pretty lightweight, versus a heavier wood pediment. It also looks like it was definitely torn from something. I wonder what it was originally attached to?

 

The chippy shabby element of it all is absolutely fabulous!

Huge fan of architectural salvage that I am, I'm always on the lookout for new ways to utilize architectural salvage pieces in my home. This pediment finally ended up hanging on my vintage ladder.

The empty ladder is just screaming for something to help decorate it.

My first addition to the ladder was the vintage pediment. It looks crooked here but I later fixed that problem:)

Hanging the pediment on the ladder was easy -- I just screwed two large vinyl cup hooks, one on each side, into the side rails near the top of the ladder.

Since the resin pediment is so lightweight, the hooks were more than strong enough to hold it. 

Then I added the vintage French wall basket filled with hydrangeas which I hung from the ladder with twine on the back and a large "S" hook. 

"S" hooks come in really handy when hanging things from your vintage ladder.

I also had another architectural element I was dying to use -- this gothic arch had been sitting in my basement for years. I got it at Goodwill for $2.99. Here is the back side of it which gives you an idea of its original color. Lets just say I was not thrilled with the bland-y mustard color. 

So I took matters into my own hands and dry brushed the mustard yellow gothic arch with white paint, totally transforming it.

By dry brushing, I created a distressed effect which is just the look I was going for. 

I then added the newly-painted, gothic arch to the bottom of the ladder vignette to create balance with the vintage pediment I had placed at the top of the ladder. I also hung one of my favorite throw blankets on the ladder as well to add some texture and softness to the display.

 

This French wall basket will always be a favorite. And with all of our many hydrangea bushes I know I won't be at a loss for dried flowers to fill it. 

I resurrected a rusty, chippy French iron plant stand to serve as a place to display some of my chinoiserie pieces (filled with thrifted boxwood topiaries) as well as vintage books and a wooden bead garland with a hanging cross attached. 

I placed my recent vintage pastoral painting in front of the plant stand for contrast. 

This chinoiserie cache pot was found at a local vintage shop.

While this ginger jar was picked up at a barn sale.

One of the vintage books is a leather-bound copy of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer. 

The two ginger jars on the left are from Old Time Pottery and the three other pieces are from estate sales and Goodwill.

I love filling my smaller chinoiserie cache pots with moss balls and faux plants.

I feel like the room has come a long way since my French farmhouse living room reveal of six years ago. And I think the vintage architectural salvage played a pivotal role in that. At least in this "ladder corner" as I like to call it. I'm super happy I chose to paint the two pediments and add them to the French farmhouse ladder vignette. 

What do you think? Would you ever hang one on a vintage ladder? 

Well, that's it for today, friends! 

I hope you've enjoyed reading about 

How To Decorate A Vintage French 

Farmhouse Ladder 

And Architectural Salvage Reveal 

and that I've inspired you in some way.  

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