Last week I shared how I overcame my decor paralysis and finally selected some new kitchen chairs. Well guess what? I also FINALLY decided what I wanted to do with our blank shiplap wall; cue the DIY white shelves!
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Honestly, I knew shelves would ultimately end up in this space but I tinkered with other ideas (i.e. oversized clock, large wall sign, etc..) for quite some time because shelves felt so predictable! Once I succumbed and realized they were the best choice for this space (mind you this was 1 year, 8 months, and 16 days later....but who's counting?), my hubby and I ventured out to the hardware store to pick up our materials.
We decided instead of ripping our own boards for the shelf that it would look nicer if we went with pre-cut solid Aspen boards (bad assumption but more on that later!) We purchased two 1x8-6' boards and then I hemmed and hawed for quite some time (is that a surprise?) over two final design decisions; the type of brackets to use and the color of the shelving.
Should I go the chic industrial steel route for the brackets? Will the shelves look nice stained or painted? Will these things fall down in the middle of the night resulting in some embarrassing 911 call? Holy mermaid, my brain comes so close to exploding every time I have to make decor decisions! As you can see I went the wooden bracket route and painted the shelves white (Benjamin Moore White Dove to match the shiplap) and I'm pretty darn happy with them.
I was even happier that I got to use my new Homeright Finish sprayer to paint the shelves. This was a Christmas gift from my hubby last year and it is a serious game changer! I'm really lazy when it comes painting....like I can't stand the prep work or the cleaning up part and some how it always ends up with my husband threatening to divorce me over another one of his ruined paint brushes (apparently I'm really bad at cleaning them). It takes a little practice to get use to the pressure, but seriously it made the whole painting process less tedious and may have possibly saved my marriage.
To hang the shelves:
On a side note, one of our shelves ended up being warped despite the fact that we stood in the hardware store for twenty minutes studying each board carefully. Unfortunately, I had already painted it by time we noticed it so we couldn't return it. Womp, womp.
We were both annoyed that we had splurged a little by purchasing the pre-made shelves thinking we would avoid warpness (I think I just made up a word). So annoyed neither of us wanted to run out and buy another one, so we hung it anyways. I have plans to replace it one day because it kind of drives me nuts! Honestly though, none of our friends and family have noticed until I point it out. And I do that a lot because I prefer not to pout alone.
I haven't quite figured out how I want to decorate these bad boys (another reason why I was so hesitant on adding shelves!) but I'm having fun playing around with them in the mean time.
I really would like to find a nice wooden sign the shape and size of the shutter to go above the top shelf and leave the bottom shelf for accessories. A whole row of vintage scales would be fun, don't you think?
There's still a list of things on my to-do list for this space (like find a new rug!) but I'm happy that this room keeps chugging along. Gasp! Maybe it will even be done by Christmas. Don't hold your breath.
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