DIY Open Kitchen Shelves

Last Saturday, my husband and I tackled a small DIY construction project in our kitchen. As renters of a basic 1950's duplex, we don't often get to do projects that change the "bones" of the house (nor are we equipped to, either in power tools or hanyman skills). Luckily, these open shelves are about as basic a DIY project as we could ask for-  all it took was a paint brush, a power screw gun, and a trip to Home Depot.

Below is the "Before" picture of our kitchen...

There was a large blank wall above the kitchen sink, almost as if the layout was designed to incorporate a window there. The only trouble is that a window above the sink would overlook our bed in the next room... Oops. So I hung up a mirror and pretended I had a window. But I grew tired of the heavy gilded frame in my farmhouse style kitchen (and tired of watching myself wash dishes), so a couple weeks ago I took the mirror down and started developing a plan to add some shelves.   

And I couldn't be happier with the result!

I wanted the shelves to look built in, so after a little advice from my dad (no use being a cabinet-maker's daughter if you can't get a free design consultation every now and then), I took some measurements and headed to Home Depot.

Here's what we bought:

- One 6' pine board, 1" x 10", which we had cut (for free) into two 34" pieces

- Four small wooden shelf brackets (which were conveniently stocked right next to the lumber. Hmmm, maybe we're not the first people who have done this...)

After sanding the edges of the boards and painting all the pieces, we screwed the brackets flat against the sides of the cabinets, laid the shelves into place, and secured them with screws. Instant open shelves!

Our small kitchen already had a surprising amount of storage, will lots of full-height cabinets, but it didn't have a lot of room for display. And I am all about display! These new shelves are perfect for showing off more of my antique yellowware.

After this quick and easy DIY project, it now looks as if the kitchen was designed with these open shelves from the very beginning. And the best part of the whole project? It only cost a total of about $16.00! The wood was $8.00, the brackets were less than $2 apiece, and I used the leftover paint from the kitchen cabinets.

Now that is kitchen renovation... renter's style!

Mustard Stripe Towels

These new mustard colored striped towels came in the mail a few weeks ago, and I've been so busy preoccupied that I haven't found the time to do a proper photo shoot with them yet. Until this morning! I finally got my sample towel stitched, photographed, and they are up for sale in my Etsy shop.

The mustard color looks so nice in my country kitchen. It's not a super bright mustard yellow - the stripes are more of a dark caramel mustard - so it looks great with farmhouse kitchen accents like antique yellowware, wooden bowls, old rolling pins, and rustic cutting boards.

It's always fun deciding what letters to choose for my sample towels. I've already stitched a couple with my own initials, but I like to show a variety of letters on the towels I photograph for the shop. I knew I wanted to do an "H", because that has been a popular letter on recent orders. And what could be more cheerful than adding an "I", an initial that often shows up on antique european grain sacks.

What a friendly little towel!

These new mustard stripe towels can be ordered individually HERE or in a set of 2 HERE.

A Cozy Place to Sleep

With the nights getting cooler and thoughts of a snowy season just around the corner, I've beefed up our bedding with new layers of patterned pillows and richly textured blankets for a cozy nights sleep and, just as importantly, a beautiful bedscape that adds a burst of inviting warmth and color to our tiny home.

The red and white quilt at the foot of the bed is an antique, but the rest of the bedding only looks vintage, with french-style stripes and classic woven patterns. The gray blanket with big red checks, along with the red coverlet pillow, are both new additions to my bedding from Family Heirloom Weavers, a small company in Pennsylvania that creates beautiful woven textiles patterned after early colonial antiques. Their stuff is gorgeous!

A tiny oval antique picture of a young girl hangs with a vintage mirror above the bed, creating a focal point in lieu of a headboard.  

With a bedroom this bright and welcoming, I think we're ready for a cozy winter hibernation. Plus, I can't help thinking that in a few weeks a Christmas tree would fit perfectly in that back corner.... In the two and a half years since we've been married, we haven't had a place yet that was big enough (or that we weren't in the process of moving into or out of) to put up a full size Christmas tree. Maybe this will be the year!