Top Menu

Shallow Open Shelves in Dining Room

wall display in dining room

My last post was about a trip to an antique store where I liked so many things, but undoubtedly  the one thing that got me the most was a set of amazing shelves with gigantic corbels, you can check them out right HERE.

Since I painted those two chairs in the dining room, I've been sprucing up the room a little bit,  you can see how the "new" chairs don't fit quite well in the room, and now with the new idea of easy shelves, I found the perfect spots to install some of them.  Well, they were not going to be as big or with those beautiful corbels as the ones I saw.


But they will visually fill up those spaces.  I took my measurements, drawing lines on the places were I like them to be, and most importantly marking pretty well the STUDS LOCATION.



I don't have too much room in there, the shelves had to be very shallow.  The material I used was remnants of 1 x 4 used to trim the windows (left picture below),   I also use the aprons that were taken off from the window skirts the builder had installed on those windows (right picture below).



This is how they were going to be installed.


Pocket holes were driven to each 1 x 4 board-shelf, making sure they were aligned to the location of the studs on the wall.  I didn't want to see hardware around the shelves.


I had aprons for six shelves, but I was thinking of installing ten.  So, for two shelves another remnant piece of molding was used and for the final two shelves I decided to create some corbels (hmm still thinking about the pretty ones in that store),  the only thing was my corbels were going to be very small.

Again, the material was 1 x 4, making a rough drawing of the corbels on it, and cutting the shape out with a jigsaw, two at a time.



All the material was ready, but before installing them, and knowing my measurements pretty well, I decided to first give the whole room a new coat of paint.  Using left over paint from other projects a new shade was created.


The room was painted, at first it looked too "bluish", but I stuck to it, anyways I didn't want to paint again.



The shelves were nailed together - shelf and apron-  with 1¼" nails, before installing them on the wall.



Then, the shelves were attached to the studs on the wall.


Using 2½" pocket-hole screws to reach well into those studs.



The top two shelves were attached to the wall driving the screws from the top, for the three lower shelves the screws were driven on the bottom of the shelves to conceal the holes, as you can see in the picture below.

These shelves are shallow, only 3½" deep, I'm not going to use them to store heavy items, their use is mostly decorative to fill that empty space.   If I change my mind I simply unscrew them and they are off.  I didn't use glue, not even caulking around them to cover the gaps.



The only thing needed was to shop around the house for items to be displayed on them.

how to build a shelf gallery


Remember the LOVE sign?  HERE is the tutorial on how to do it.  One of the kitchen cupboards got a very welcome free space after taking some items from there too.


Now the blue walls don't look that "bluish", those empty spaces are filled and I'm loving it.  Join me next time for a mini dining room reveal.

See you then!





31 comments :

  1. You're so funny, you just casually mention that you repainted your dining room :)

    The shelves are adorable! I love that you were able to reuse the old window aprons.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Un trabajo fantástico Cristina! y como siempre, explicado bien claro! quedan preciosos los estantes en blanco, realzan el tono celeste del muro... el detalle de las botellas vintage se ve lindísimo, también aportan mucho color!
    Cariños y que tengas una excelente semana!!
    Victoria

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks so beautiful with the shelves on your new wall color. Great use for your recent finds. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love your shelves, they look amazing. Great tutorial too. Thanks tons for joining the party. Hugs, Marty

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's amazing! You made them yourself! I'm impressed! I have 2 shelves that I want to put up in my bathroom. They are already made (yard sales). And there they sit in my craft room. (sigh) All good things take time, they say! You may have inspired me to get busy! Dona

    ReplyDelete
  6. Way to recycle your window trim!!! Looks awesome Cristina.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The new paint job looks great, and the shelves really add a wonderful, pretty touch! :)

    ...visiting from Coastal Charm!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks fabulous and I like the room color too!~~Angela

    ReplyDelete
  9. This looks great...would love it if you came by One More Time and shared this awesome wall http://www.onemoretimeevents.com/2013/04/share-it-one-more-time-party-and.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. Shelves are perfect for dining rooms like mine that aren't big enough for a buffet. It looks great and I love the blue!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the new shelves...and you just slid in the fact you "painted" the whole room! You crack me up! The new color goes beautifully with the new chairs now!
    Hugs,
    Pendra

    ReplyDelete
  12. Cristina que buen trabajo y me encanta tu explicación detallada , me encanto ese Love , buena idea
    Cariños

    ReplyDelete
  13. So awesome! I really like how you split up the "LOVE" sign. So unique and cool! Really great work!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love your shelving! Great job and looks wonderful!
    Leslie
    House on the Way

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love your creative idea using leftover material. Wonderful looking shelves!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great job on creating and installing the shelves. They look lovely with the accessories on your new wall colour. No one would guess that it was a no cost transformation.

    ReplyDelete
  17. So nice and classy! I wish I was handy with the tools!
    Selene @ Restoration Beauty

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a great transformation! You certainly seem to know your way around installing shelves, the right screws and so on. I love the items you picked to display - makes it look like a home!

    ReplyDelete
  19. they look fantastic Cristina!!! Can't believe (actually I can) you actually made these!!!! I also love how you displayed the items!!!! Love it my friend!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. These look great Christina!!
    I'd love for you to come link up this and some of your other projects at my new party!
    http://www.firsthomelovelife.com/2013/05/house-party-1-b-y-o-p.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. You're are so good at home improvements! Amazing!
    Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. Love these! I would love for you to share this at my linky party. http://hickorytrailblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/efforts-and-assets-linky-party-1.html

    Angela

    ReplyDelete
  23. Awesome post! I love these shelves!
    Found you through 36th Avenue Party Time. Love your blog!

    I would love for you to share and link up at my TGIF Link Party.
    http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/2013/05/tgif-link-party-2.html

    Please, invite your friends to party too! The more the merrier!

    Hugs, Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  24. I love the shelves. They look great with your dining room. :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. You are something! Your shelves look so pretty as does your paint color. I've just gotten back for a week away with family, we had so much fun. Thank you for sharing at Amaze Me Monday...hope you'll hop over to share your latest at this weeks party...
    Blessings,
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  26. Love the shelves - my son and DIL created a similar look in their dining room for a photo gallery - love the idea!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Great tutorial...the shelves look fabulous..I have a couple of shelves that are similar to yours..I think I will stack them one above the other like yours...it looks really nice! I would love to have you join us for Centerpiece Wednesday linky party where tons of bloggers share their creativity, recipes, DIY projects and more…come on over and see and share with us. http://thestylesisters.blogspot.com/2014/04/centerpiece-wednesday.html
    Karin

    ReplyDelete
Copyright © Remodelando la Casa. Designed by OddThemes