My big problem with decorating the house is that I want everything to end up perfect. Too often, I leave rooms undone instead of doing something that might be 90% right. In my (ridiculous) mind, seeing the potential of a space is just as good as having it actually come to fruition.
So, having a charge to actually get get my bedroom fully decorated will either be really healthy or really painful. (Or both.)
A couple of weeks ago I shared some thoughts about finally finishing up this room, which has been living a sad, half life for the couple years we’ve been in this house:
I had hoped to have a cool furniture project to share with you today, but shipping times got in the way, and I only have so much time when I am not working or pretending to have a social life to devote to DIY (which is a total bummer). Instead, this weekend I decided to give myself a quick win and get some shelves up on the wall. It feels great to knock out a relatively easy project and see results!
The shelves were actually Brad’s idea (gasp!). My original plan for the bedroom was to have mismatched nightstands on either side of the bed, and tie it together with matching art above them. But Brad suggested shelves in the corner, and the idea stuck with me. A major goal of this room makeover is to gain more storage, so having a place for more books and plants was a big draw. It is perfectly good space that wasn’t being used!
Of course, doing so means that I’ll need to give up on the mismatched nightstands idea. A little asymmetry is good, too much asymmetry is…. not so good.
I took advantage of my new job’s proximity to a Home Depot to pick up some supplies after work on Friday. I had been obsessing over shelf brackets online for a few days (a few of my favorites here, here, and here) but hadn’t found anything perfect yet. Rather than delay the project a year while I attempted to find the platonic ideal of a shelf bracket, I just bought four of the ones I liked best from Home Depot’s selection – Black Arch Steel Decorative Shelf Bracket by Rubbermaid.
Yes, it really is me.
I also picked up wood for the shelves, deftly avoiding the helpful employees who tried to assist me in finding my way out of the lumber section. Since I didn’t need much length (5′ for two 2.5′ shelves) and this would be a feature of the room, I sprung for a pretty board of red oak.
Beyond the personal and patriarchal hurdles I had to overcome for this project, there was another one: fear. This was the first project on which I used my new circular saw, which the amazing Sage gave me as a gift.
Isn’t it pretty? I was a little intimidated given all the warnings about these things, but I knew that this was the right project to get started on (just one cut!). I read the manual carefully as well as a few online tutorials. I won’t tell you anything about using it because I am clearly no expert, but I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to use and handle!
I even let Brad go back upstairs and stop watching me with “9-1” dialed into his phone after I tried out my first test cut.
Once I had my board cut in half, I gave the shelves a good sanding, preparing the surface to take stain and softening the edges.
I stained them with Minwax’s Golden Pecan (which is quickly becoming my favorite stain) because it is light and would still let the beautiful wood show through. I let that dry, and then coated them with a clear poly in semi-gloss.
Meanwhile, I mapped out the shelf placement on my wall using painters tape. (The lower piece of tape is the planned height of new bedside tables.)
The bracket width and placement was determined by the wall studs, and I just played around with the overall height until it felt right, keeping in mind that they’ll have stuff sitting on top of them, too. I then spent a little quality time with the brackets and a level making sure I would install them straight.
No one needs a shelf installing tutorial (I hope). The only annoying part of the whole thing was that my drill couldn’t fit into the space to attach the upper screw on each bracket, so I had to do it by hand with a screwdriver like they did back in the stone-age.
It really wasn’t a problem except that I had just gotten back from the gym and was feeling a bit wimpy.
The brackets were up…
…and then so were the shelves!
I’m really happy with them. I love the tone and the beautiful wood grain of the oak. I am also really happy with my (hastily selected) brackets… which might be an important life lesson for me.
I think the look is simple and will allow me to style them however I want – although I am waiting to put stuff on them until the poly fully cures and I have finished some other projects in the room. That makes the after images for this post pretty boring, but I’m not going to ruin the finish on these shelves just for blog content (#notarealblogger).
So that is one step down in the bedroom makeover! It’s nice to start out with an easy one to get me excited about the progress of the room. I’m assembling materials for some fun furniture projects as well as facing some major existential questions (i.e., bedside lamps or scones – give me your advice in the comments!). I can’t wait for this room to come together!
Hang shelves in the corner- Buy and/or DIY matching bedside tables (ideally with loads of dresser-like storage)
- Buy and/or DIY a bench for the end of the bed (ideally with storage)
- Buy a new rug and bedding
- Install new overhead light
- Decide between lamps or scones for beside the bed, and buy/install
- Buy and/or DIY several pieces of art for the walls
- Hang window treatments
- Fix gaping hole in the wall by installing grate
- Finally paint wood window sashes
Sage says
“Like they did in the stone age”/”like you did before you overcame your irrational fear of drills.” (says the woman who was afraid of using a caulking gun…)
Naomi says
Yes. The stone age.
WHY ARE YOU SNARKING ME ON YOUR OWN BLOG.
Sage says
I’m incurable and out of control.
Mary Ann says
would you like the 2 bedside chests from our guest room? they could be painted; I really like the dark blue you have on that little chest in your room now; and BONUS, they’re already full of Brad’s stuff
Naomi says
Haha, I’ve actually already got something in the works for the tables! Just in an early stage currently. Thanks!
Lee says
I am impressed that you made a quick choice on the brackets and still like them! But you don’t need to always change your wonderfully “discerning” ways! (and thanks to Sage for providing me awhile back a better word than “picky”!)
Naomi says
Oh, I will never be an impulse purchaser of major decor items, that’s for sure… but I think I can speed up the choices on some things as simple as brackets 🙂
chris aka monkey says
naomie perfectionism is highly over rated xx
chris aka monkey says
sorry about the e it just jumped right in there xx
Naomi says
🙂
Naomi says
My beautiful new shelves certainly agree!
Karen says
OK, first, I believe you mean s-c-o-n-C-e-s … I have seen this mis-spelled in so many places. Scones are for eating, sconces are used for lighting!
Second, LOVE your choice of wood for your shelves … beautiful with the stain, too.
And, while your cat didn’t care for the shelves by the front door, but as soon as you put items on those bedroom shelves, and DON’T want the cat on them, betcha the cat (sorry, I don’t recall if male or female, or name) is up on them in a heartbeat!!! MIne would be (and they would have loved the new ones by the front door … I love the colors you painted the brackets, and in this case, saving the screws that you’d painted to match would have been a worthwhile save, IMO. I have a couple of pairs of the same brackets, in silver … to coordinate with SS appliances and cabinet hardware in the adjacent kitchen.
I enjoy your posts … keep up the great work and ideas!