Thursday, April 04, 2013

shelves!


Last week I finally got around to doing two shelving projects I have had in my head for months.  It feels good to get things organized and cross projects off my to-do list!

The first project was a super simple solution for all my makeup, perfumes, etc that are always all over the place.  I bought three small wood crates at Michaels.  These sell for about $6.99  each but I always get them on sale or with a coupon.  

I spray painted two of them white and one of them gold them hung them up with 3M Command Picture Hanging Strips.   

I am obsessed with these things.  I know they are a little pricey but my gawd, they make hanging stuff so easy.   And I can now hang pictures straight, so they are worth every penny.

I filled each shelf with makeup, perfumes, lip glosses, nail polishes, etc.  Everything is so tidy now - I love it!


The second shelf project I tackled was a thrift store re-do and slightly more invoved than my crate shelving.  

About six months ago, I bought this shelf at The Salvation Army for around $7.  I hated the heart and knobby, country style hooks and trim but I loved the potential in all the little nooks and tiny shelves.


This is how I changed it - not anything difficult, just a little time consuming....

Step one - take off the ugly bits.  I used a hand saw {not electric - my husband thinks a power saw would be "dangerous"} and cut off the top and bottom portions so I was left with a square shaped shelf.


Step two - sand.  I used my electric sander to take off the old stain.  Most of the little nooks were too small for the electric sander so I ended up sanding a lot of this piece by hand.  It wasn't fun.  Sanding by hand is time consuming.

Step three - stain.  After the piece was completely sanded, I stained it with rust-oleum stain in sunbleached {the same stain I used on my Ikea hack dining table - love this color!}.

I put on a super light coat of stain, let it dry for several hours, then added a second coat and let it dry overnight.

Step four -  the back.  In order to make a back for the shelf, I bought a square piece of plywood at Lowe's and cut it to the correct dimensions with my small dremel rotary tool {it works well when cutting thin pieces of wood}.  After cutting the plywood, I painted it with teal paint that I had leftover from a previous project.  I let the paint dry for a few hours, then used several small nails to attached the painted plywood to the back of the shelf.


Step five - hang.  I didn't think 3M Command Strips would be strong enough for this heavy shelf, so I attached brackets to the back and hung it with good old fashioned nails.


I ended up hanging it to the left of my desk {above my printer} and it is the perfect piece for all those little things that end up collecting in my desk drawers or crowding my desktop.


Have you completed any thrift store re-do's lately?  Or do you avoid buying thrifted "project" pieces?  I try to avoid the project pieces but my imagination often gets the best of me.....it's a good thing we have a big garage :).






27 comments:

  1. Wonderful!

    At first I was shocked you'd get rid of the heart and everything, but when I saw the end result I loved it. Great makeover<3

    blueeyednightowl.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks! the heart is cute it just isn't my style....I wanted something simpler :).

      Delete
  2. Great inspiration for the old piece - I would have never thought to chop off all the old stuff! I'll be on the hunt for one of these now so I can re-do it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I see them at thrift stores all the time!

      Delete
  3. I love the shelves you have with the makeup! :)

    xx Denysia Yu
    http://denysiayu.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm impressed that you put up shelves and didn't fill them all up right away, that's what always happens to me. Which probably means that I should have bought shelves a long time ago...

    ReplyDelete
  5. These shelving projects turned out amazing! Really loving that larger shelf you put next to your desk. It's much more clean looking. Good work! Thanks for sharing! Xo M&K at brewedtogether.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful!! Both projects turned out wonderful. Thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Trees produce oxygen, get airborne particulates, and decrease debilitate cloud, overhauling a gathering's respiratory wellbeing. The urban sanctuary direct adds to meeting a city's authoritative clean air these details.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for sharing such a nice piece of information with us.poster Hanging strips

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for sharing your wealthy information. This is one of the excellent posts which I have seen. I go through your all of your blog, but this blog is the best one. It is really what I wanted to see hope in future you will continue for sharing such an excellent post
    Dịch vụ làm visa Hàn Quốc nhanh tại Hà Nội

    kinh nghiệm xin visa Nhật Bản
    giá vé máy bay từ đức về việt nam

    gia ve may bay tu han quoc ve viet nam

    Cách đặt vé máy bay tu Nhat Ban ve Viet Nam

    ReplyDelete
  10. I really like the blog.I have shared your site with many friends and family. It is always a pleasure to read.

    the best luxury Watches

    ReplyDelete
  11. I read your blog. It's very informative to me. Would you like to buy


    Mirka Abrasives | Deos

    ReplyDelete
  12. I really like the blog.I have shared your site with many friends and family. It is always a pleasure to read.

    Real Relax Massage Chair

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes, It look you spend a lot of time or effort in this article. I really love it. I hope in future you share more good updates. Now it's time to avail https://zapshutters.co.uk/" for more information.

    ReplyDelete

thank you so much for your comment! i read and enjoy each and every one :).

Designed by Jackie Ayr