Shelf Obsessed

This past week, the hubs (Chris) and I decided to rip down an old cabinet that was hanging in our kitchen and replace it with some open shelving. To say that we are in love is an understatement.

You see, the original cabinet was an oddly placed, huge, weird eyesore. (Much like the rest of our kitchen cabinets and counters, but we are in the process of updating those as well.) It was hard to get into because you kind of had to lean in and turn around over the counter to reach most of the items. Many times, I used a stool or chair to find things I needed.

So, we started out by removing the 4 screws that held it to the wall. That’s right. Only 4 screws and maybe several layers of paint held this puppy up. Although, it looks like someone had a fun time randomly drilling screws into the wall to find the studs.

Next, we sanded down the area where the layers of paint met the plain wall.

Then, spackled, sanded and painted the space. (I didn’t take any of photos of the re-sanding and painting, but I’m sure you can imagine what that looked like.)

After everything was dry, it was time to hang the shelves. We used these brackets from Ikea and purchased the wood, which we painted white, at The Home Depot. Chris and I both measured and re-measured where we wanted the shelves and got to work securing them to the wall with 80 lb. wall anchors.

Here they are hung up, all naked and awaiting some styling.

Pulling together the itmes to display was my favorite part. We combined some sentimental pieces with affordable dishes and freed up a ton of space in our other cabinets. We actually have more space to put things now, since the shelves have been hung. Between the fancy new look and extra storage, I’d say that is a win/win. And even though we are still using the dishes, things still look good even when parts are out taking a swim in the dishwasher.

The best part is that the new shelves are a great focal point, instead of being an unsightly blemish on the wall. What do you think of open shelves in the kitchen?

_____________________________________________________________________

You may also like:

Toy Rotation

Ikea Trofast Makeover

Half Bathroom Reveal

The Key to Painting Laminate Furniture