An oar.. No Boat... Any Ideas?

I have a question, but first I'll give you a little bit of background...
A few weeks back, I was shopping at my local farmers market... I say farmers market, but it also has the best garden center attached to it... Anyways, the garden center part, has beautiful seasonal displays selling home accessories... Naturally, being so close to the beach, the summer display had a nautical theme... this included some gorgeous tea-lights, wrapped in rope.. I wish I had a picture to show you, but because I procrastinated for so long (wondering where I could hang them from), they had sold out by the time I'd finally got my act together... They've obviously left a lasting impression on me, as I'm writing about them here...
Anyhoo, skulking away from the display, bottom lip hanging on the floor, I spied this old oar ( or paddle... I'm not in the know)... and it had a tag on it... it was for sale (a consignment piece and a bargain at $5) and so, I snapped it up... this time I wasn't going to waste any time thinking about where it was going to go in my tiny home!!

I wrapped the rope around the handle for decoration and to help steady it on the wall

My plan was to take the tag off and tell the hubby that I had found it at the beach... How could I justify buying a oar (even if only for $5)?  Unfortunately, life got the better of me (namely my two daughters) and the oar sat next to the back door (with tag), to greet the hubby when he returned home from work... Luckily, he didn't ask why I had brought  a oar when we don't have a boat, and agreed to pop it up on the wall in the kitchen...
It now lives here, over my laundry area... I can't say laundry room, because that would be stretching the truth to far, but behind these louvre doors, I can assure you is a washer, a dryer and a mountain of ironing to do...

The oar over the laundry area... yes our kitchen is that small

Now, here's the thing... Originally, I had wanted to get a wooden 'Laundry' sign from Ballard Designs, to hang in this spot... but then the oar came along...

With the sign in mind, I figured I would paint the oar off white, distress it, and maybe even stencil laundry on the paddle part... you know, just in case someone wanted to know where my laundry was kept and was baffled as to where it could  possibly be in such a huge house...

I figured I could stencil 'Laundry' on this part...

The hubby, however, likes the oar just the way it is... not painted, not distressed and not telling all and sundry where the laundry is...
So my question to you, is; Should I doctor up the oar, or leave it be? Or, do you have any other ideas for it?
I really would love to hear your opinions, as I'm torn...