Use Pool Noodles To DIY Gorgeous Nautical Piling Décor For Your Home

While the nautical look is achievable through the use of color and tone only, a few pieces of nautical objets d'art placed thoughtfully around your home can really solidify the theme. Some of these can get exorbitantly expensive, though, especially when designing for the coastal luxe trend. Instead of doling out that much money, however, you can craft beautiful and expensive-looking nautical décor out of simple items around the home, like a pool noodle or two left over from the summer season. Specifically, you can DIY nautical pilings to decorate an entryway, mantlepiece, or any other area in your home.

Nautical pilings are thick wooden posts, tied together and submerged deep into the ground below a body of water, that boat docks and jetties can then be built around. They're an iconic symbol of coastal life, instantly recognizable as such without being kitschy or ostentatious, making them a popular go-to in nautical design, and you can make a set for your own home using pool noodles.

For this hack, you'll need one or more pool noodles, decorative nautical rope, white acrylic paint, sponge brushes, and wood-grain contact paper. If you like, you can forgo using contact paper for wood-tone paint to DIY the look (as seen in the above images from Ria's World of Ideas). For this method, add a medium bristle brush to your supplies haul as well. You'll also need a glue gun and sticks.

Cut your noodles into sections, each about 2 to 3 inches shorter than the last. Group them how you want, though sets of three work best. Measure and cut your contact paper so that it fits around the noodles with the wood grain pattern oriented vertically. After adhering it in place — with additional cutouts glued to the tops of the noodles — dilute white paint with water and apply a whitewash to get an aged wood look, using sponge brushes and wiping away excess with a towel and allowing it to dry. To paint the wood effect yourself, mix white with wood-toned paint for a base coat and apply with a sponge brush. Then use the tips of the bristle brush to lightly streak on unmixed wood-tone paint, creating the look of grain.

Glue your dried pilings in place and wrap the rope around the structure's base a few times, securing the ends with glue. Repeat near the top of the shortest piling. Touch up as needed, then place your pilings and adorn them with a pelican figurine or other nautical feature for added pizzazz.