You guys! The open shelving is finally done and I couldn’t love them more. Styling them is my new favorite hobby! I say finally done, but honestly this was a much easier do it yourself project than I was expecting. Overall it took us about three days to finish them.
To see our kitchen before and see how much more open our kitchen feels please visit my previous blogged, linked here, with the before photos.
Here is the process we used to create our open shelving. First we bought the wood and the brackets at Lowe’s. We bought 1 of each of the two options below. I took a photo for you so you know exactly what to look for and how much they were. We measured the space where we wanted the boards to be at and then we had them cut out two of the same size.
Once we brought the boards back at home I put a coat of stain on them. I used the stain that is pictured below. It made a very subtle difference, but I like how the wood looks natural. After the stain dried I put a coat of Polycrylic on it.
Now that the wood is prepped and ready to go we added the brackets. I put the brackets 4 inches from the end of the board. Once the brackets were on we put the board up on the wall where we wanted it to go and then we put a leveler on the board while my husband was holding it. When we got it level I took a red pencil and made a little mark where the screws would go. We found drywall screws that would hold up to 75 lbs each and they have worked great! HUGE TIP- put the first two screws in the wall before you put the shelve on it because then you can set the bracket on the top two screws, tighten the top two screws, and then you can screw in the bottom two screws. That way you don’t have to hold it the whole time (like we might have done for the first two shelves, sorry hubby)!
To make sure the shelves on the other side were level with the ones on the left side I measured from the top of the window sill to the top of the shelve. Took that measurement to the other side, marked it, and then put the board on the mark. I did the same method to figure out with the other shelf on the other side needed to go. Even though you measured it, make sure the board is still level too!
I hope this blog gave you an inexpensive way to switch up your kitchen. These shelves would also be great above a coffee bar, or in a bathroom. This was a really fun project, and I can’t believe how much it has transformed our kitchen.
