shutter shelf

Hi friends! I promise, I didn't fall down a well or anything, we've just been pretty busy lately. 
Two big, quick updates for you:

- Strider started a new job! Which is super exciting and has been great so far. We're both very happy that he is in a 
  more encouraging work environment. Plus, he gets home an hour earlier every day!

- I will have plenty of blogging time coming up here soon as I am having bilateral carpal tunnel surgery this time 
  next week. Eeek! Although I'm no fan of medical procedures, I can certainly say that I am definitely looking
  forward to the end of 2+ years of frustration and pain. Praise God! Doctors orders are 6 weeks off for recovery,
  so reruns-of-The-Office, here I come! (Plus, my beautiful mama will be here.)

And of course, I wouldn't post without sharing a new project. This one took a while to come to fruition. My mom and I snagged a $2 pair of shutters at a thrift store last September and I've been waiting for the right project for them.

To start out, I measured the shutters and sketched up an idea to use them as the sides of a bookshelf. Naturally, I was a bit ambitious and had to start over when my lumber estimation at Lowe's was coming in around $60. No thank you. Back to the drawing board.

I scaled down a bit and managed to get the costs around $25. As you can see, I am not exactly a master carpenter. Strider double checked the math for me. (He's so great!)

After shamelessly convincing Strider's contractor uncle to lend me his keen eye and table saw, I was ready to paint.

Feeling more adventurous, I went for a deep plum color for the shutters. And with all those louvers (new vocab bonus!), painting by hand with a small craft brush was really the only way to go.

Once the shutters were purpley and drying, I used some leftover Minwax Red Oak wood stain to give some color to the fresh cut lumber.

Naturally, I distressed the shutters up a little. I love the imperfections and hand-made authenticity of this look. 
(Note: the top purple panel is a thin piece of plywood for the backer.)

After a bit of convincing, Strider helped me assemble the shelves. I looked at several tutorials that were more complicated and professional, but for my purposes, plain old nails were plenty good enough.

Ta da!! Pretty great, huh?

I have to say, although the color combination of the green and purple is a little crazy up close, I actually like the funky contrast. This is also my first project using a combination of painted and stained pieces, which I also really liked in the end.

It's perfect for our second bedroom/craft area and holds loads of supplies in two nice fabric bins I snagged at Target. Another win for DIY. And thanks again to my mom, who refused to let me leave the store without those shutters, even though I had no use for them at the time.


Back soon!