Shelf-ed!

One man's trash is another person's shelf?


My husband fortunately is a fan of my decorating our home and trying new things.  Not only is he a fan, but he fans the fire (no pun intended)!  About a month and a half ago my husband took out our trash and came back with a few pieces of distressed wood from the dumpster.  He said that someone was throwing out an old chair and he just thought that I might like to use the wood for something.  Well the wood sat on our patio for about a week.  We toyed with a couple of different ideas and then inspiration struck.  My husband came up with a great idea- he thought we should make a wall hook fixture so that we could hang our keys and my purse when we first walked in the door.  We'd mount some decorative knobs on a piece of the wood by the door and that would solve our problem of my purse and our keys always cluttering our family room.  


Our inspiration for the color scheme came from a gift my brother and sister in-law to be gave me for my birthday.  It is a cute decorative sign that says happy at home (which is so true-they nailed it).  We thought we'd hang it above the wall hooks to anchor the piece.  


Our mission the next few days was to find some cute decorative knobs.  We searched through a few stores before we found them, but once we did I loved them.  Originally we had wanted four or five knobs, but we were only able to find four that we liked.  Ultimately, we ended up ruling one of the four out as super "grandma" and so we were left with three (and now I think three was the perfect number)!


When it was time to assemble our little project, I had the idea to make the board into a shelf instead of just a display of wall hooks.  We then could put the hooks on the edge of the board and hang things down the front of the shelf.  Josh loved the idea too and so our project was slightly changed.  Instead of mounting the knobs to the front of the board, we attached them to the edge.


Once we mounted the shelf to the wall in our entry way, the shelf needed a little paint touch up.  The ends of the wooden board were not painted and so once we added a little paint it was time to decorate!


After playing around with different arrangements, this is what I came settled with (for now).  Of course the sign was a given, the rest of it sort of fell into place starting with the lanterns.  The lanterns really added that extra pop of color and I just loved that it tied into the sign as well.


I then wanted to add a picture that my father in-law's girlfriend gave us a few months ago.  It is a painting of the place where Josh proposed to me.  I love that it tells a part of our story as you enter our home.  


The frame looked a little lonely and the shelf just didn't look complete.  I leaned a starfish up against the frame which really completed the look.  I love that it gives the shelf a beachy undertone while still tying in nicely with the rest of the decor.


Of course the sign was one of the first pieces to grace the shelf and in combination with my tea cup succulent it provides a bit of life to the shelf. 


I'm loving the way this whole shelf turned out and I'm glad I've been "shelf-ed!"



Comments

  1. Trash to treasure is right ... so fabulous! That is a great way to greet your guests! jules

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  2. Those knobs are adorable. Please add my link or button...thanks.

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  3. Thanks for the compliment! I love those lanterns!

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  4. That turned out so cute...I love the knobs and the distressed look of the wood.

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  5. Hi Kaitlin!
    I am loving this shelf! You are inspiring me. I have had plans to do something similar to hang my aprons up in the kitchen. We've got the wood. Now all we need are the knobs. I so love how yours turned out! Thanks for coming over to visit me!

    I'm loving your blog and I'll be back again for sure!
    xo
    Andee

    P.S. Followin' you too...

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  6. Hi Kaitlin! I just found your site through a blog party and love it! Your shelf decor is great and I hope you will stop by my site to link it up at my blog party at http://www.homesavvyatoz.com/2011/07/28/savvy-homemade-monday-party-1/

    I am your newest follower and am going to attend your next party!

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  7. I love the shelf and adore those lanterns. Now I want to look for some distressed wood.

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  8. o i love it all:) im so jealous..

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