Victorian Style B&B and Bespoke Sign

Our home has now been welcoming B&B travellers for a year and a half. The income has gone toward the repair, restoration and maintenance of this big thirteen-decade-old house. I held off on making my sign until we were sure that our little venture would be enjoyable. It has been. So here I am, presenting a post on my B&B sign, made in the old school and up-cycled style.

It all started with a very rough sketch (above).

My sketch has evolved into a better planned layout on paper that is the size of my sign. I have my board and an old frame in which the sign will be fitted in.

The plank of wood, cut to size (10" x 15" x 1/4"), was the cover of a wine box we found in our basement. I'm using the same paint found on our house: the green and cream found on our shutters and window frames will be the base coat.

After drawing my sign on a piece of craft paper, I transferred it to the plank.

I wanted my sign to have that Tim Burton style, but without the nightmare feel - don't want to scare anybody off.

I filled in the letters with black paint. Reminiscent of black iron fences, the letters also coordinate with our porch chandelier seen below.

This old frame comes from my mother's basement, originally, it was dark brown. One of the ornate corners was too damaged to save, but otherwise the frame was very sturdy. I painted it in the red garnet colour used to accent details on my house. I then added gold, often used in Victorian signs. It's now ready to varnish.

I added the red and the gold here as well.

Something was missing...

...shadows 

Ready to varnish...

While the varnish was drying, I selected a mixture of different coloured maple leaves made of fabric, a big butterfly from Astrid's treasure trove of nicknacks, and the''Witchiepoo" shoes salvaged from a papier-mâché doll that met its horrible death in the jaws of our Sasquatch dog, Chaz. I may not use everything, but I like to have options.

I'll be back when the varnish is dry.