Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Shanty Ballard Inspired Shelves


Hey Guys!!!

I hope you all had a great weekend!  Both Ashley and I spent ours in Dallas at NCA Nationals.  Ash is a competitive cheer coach and just happens to be the coach to two of my girls :-)  We had a blast.  It was long though and I am surprised Ashley is still walking.  Our gym took home 5 National titles with over 750 teams there... Woohoo! Way to go Ash!

I started this project last week and finished it today so I thought I would share.  I originally saw Miss Traci's Ballard inspired cafe shelves long ago and fell in love.  I just didn't know where I could put one.  However... My new curtains brought me a bit of inspiration :-)

Here is how mine turned out...


Now I will kind of show you how I did it!

For this shelf I used a 4 ft 1x10" piece of pine from Lowe's.  I used my miter saw to cut it a few inches short of the space I was filling.  I think mine was 36".


There are many brackets at Lowe's and Home Depot.  These were the ones I chose to go with.  I loved the size of them.  They are big and a bit longer than most of the others.  They were about $6 a piece and I decided to use 3 on my shelf.  Since I was just building one I thought it would give it a bit more presence on the wall... Know what I mean?


I used a little Gorilla Wood Glue on the 1x10...



And attached my brackets using my brad nailer.  Can I just say that this might be my very favorite tool?? It would definitely be a toss up with the saw and hot glue gun but it's for sure in the running.  Mine was only $44 at Northern Tool and it makes me so happy :-)


There it is attached... Like 46 seconds later.... Whoop!


At this point I had my shelf built and needed to add the trim.  I used my miter saw for this part but I do realize that many of you don't have one.  Traci gives an awesome tutorial on using a cheap hand saw and  even cheaper miter box to make your own HERE. Super easy I promise!! Check it out!


My final step after trim was painting it.  I also shantied it up a bit using a 3M sanding block with 120 grit.  Once my edges were sanded I used a little stain to make them stand out a bit more.  You just use a foam brush to apply your stain to your sanded edges and use an old t-shirt or cloth to wipe of the extra.

I hung my shelf up and added a locker basket with a couple of towels.  I was so excited to find those at a decent price!!  I love the old antique ones but not for $30 a pop.  I got mine on Amazon here...




See the shantied edge??


I then added another recent revamp to finish it off for now.  I know I want something else up there but that is in the works :-)  For now... Here it is.




Hope you like it! Make sure to check out Traci's great tutorial as well!!

Happy Wednesday!

~Whitney

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15 comments:

Life Of A Southern Couple - Brittany said...

Love it! So cute. All of your projects are great!

Anonymous said...

Love it!!! Wow I like the cheap basket too!! Thanks I will be ordering some of those!!

Traci@ Beneath My Heart said...

Ah, Whit!
You are too sweet!
I saw your tweet about cafe shelves and came over for some inspiration and saw your shout out to me!! Thank you so much!!!

I love the way your shelf turned out. Especially lovin' the three corbels! And the color! And the shantiness!

As always, great job!

And thanks again!

xoxo
Traci

Lisa @ Shine Your Light said...

So pretty - love the color - and how you just whipped that out and nailed it all together in 46 seconds!

Jody said...

So handy with tools you are! You make it look so easy. Thanks for the inspiration.

Jodi said...

I love it and the color too; plus you made it look so easy! I am so envious of women who can use power tools; I am such a chicken!

Mama’s Minute said...

I love that thank you for sharing and inspiring! You definitely make it look easy! :)

Deborah said...

It looks great, well done! It could be a picture from a book :)

Bee happy x
Have a delicious day!

Unknown said...

love the shelf...love the color and the wire basket...great job!!
please visit my new blog...
thanks, Mariaelena

Jenn said...

I just have to know - what's the color on the walls? It's so perfect!

Lori @ Katies Rose Cottage Designs said...

Whitney ~
I LOVE it!!!
And I love the color too!!

Ashley said...

I know this is random but I love your walls. What kind of texture is that??

Erin said...

Nice!! And I miss you. Seriously, we need a date soon or I just might die.

Unknown said...

We've been loving your blog! Were having a little contest for one of our handmade charms- check it out! Thanks for the inspiration!

Annalea said...

I seriously love. that.

And I also seriously need to get my dh to show me how to use our brad nailer. I've got a beautiful frame all cut, but I can't bring myself to mess it up trying to assemble it without a little instruction first.

Your shelf looks GREAT on that wall!

 
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