Pages

February 24, 2016

Turning Discarded Shelves Into Gorgeous Wall Art

Hello lovelies!!

Since I still considered us to have 'just moved' even though we technically moved in over four months ago, we still have random boxes and items lying around the garage that haven't found homes yet. 

It's frustrating most of the time but every now and then, I'm looking for something to inspire or be the perfect fit for an area I'm working on, and then I LOVE having my misc piles of random things :) 

We had these crazy shelves hanging on the walls in our master bedroom since we moved in.
The previous owns had left them and after finally getting around to taking them down, I realized that they left them because they were AWFUL to take down. They were meant to hold heavy items so they had about 10 screws & anchors in each shelf. Gah. 

So after taking them down, I have lovely scars all over the wall. 
But I was left with two random pieces of chunky laminated wood. 


I'll admit, the only reason I went through the grueling process of taking them down was because they were the perfect size & width for a project I had in mind. 

Motivation is key :) 

It's not my ideal material to work with- it's really just a laminated wood so I knew the paint wouldn't have a lot to grip on to. But I charged ahead anyway. 

I attached them together with some random L brackets I had in the garage. 
Straight brackets would have been even better- but I used what I had. Add a little wood glue or Liquid Nails to the edges, press together & then add your brackets along the back seam. 



I painted several coats of varying shades of blue & mint blue. I dry-brushed some of the darker color into the lighter base color to give it a more varied finish- I love all the different colors of blue showing through!!


After painting and letting it sit a few days (you don't have to wait that long, I just didn't have time until several days later!), I added my vinyl quote. 

I've made things super easy for you if you like the font & layout of my piece and added the Silhouette cut file for you at the bottom of the post!
So be sure to scroll down & download it if you'd like to use it!!


This is where the not so fun part played in.
While adding my vinyl, the transfer tape pulled some of the paint off the surface. 
Blah. That's what laminate wood will do to you! 

So rather than repaint over it (laminate is awful to sand/repaint because it just peels and doesn't even out like wood does), I just went with it and distressed a few other places on the piece to make it look purposeful :) 


If you hate the distressed look, be sure to tread carefully with your transfer tape or make sure and use real wood as your material. 

To download your own copy of the cut file that I created, download it below: 


This is the first time I've attempted to upload a cut file so please let me know if any issues arise in downloading it. 

As far as I understand, this file will only work with the Silhouette Studio software- I'm not sure about how to use it for a Cricut. 

But my silhouette is my bestie lately so I thought I'd share the love!!

Can you believe those were random wall shelves before??

Sadly, this piece doesn't have a home yet because our master bedroom is smack in the middle of getting a makeover- so hopefully soon :) 

But it made the perfect Anniversary gift for the hubs- he loves the handmade signs I make so I try and make him one every now & then that is about us. 

I'll be back soon with some exciting furniture redos & a huge room makeover!!

Happy Wednesday! 


post signature
Pin It
Like me on Facebook. Follow me on Pinterest. Subscribe to my feed



2 comments:

  1. I love it!! I have so many of those shelves hanging around...hmmm....

    ReplyDelete
  2. love it! i actually like that the black shows thru. good mistake!!

    ReplyDelete

Reading your comments makes my day!!! I'd love for you to leave me some love and make me smile :)