Make Space: Get More From Your Kitchen!

I really could use the space in this cabinet. I have jars and jars of stuff I use on the daily. I forget what I have because as you can see, it’s hidden behind more jars, and so on…

We all are trying to gain more cabinet space/counter space. How do we do that without going into debt? What if we can’t spare the room? What if we can’t add on? What if tearing out cabinets isn’t an option or adding more? How do we gain more…?

My solution was to take four inches away from my counters. What I mean by that is I built a shelf that sits on the back half of my countertop. I don’t ever recall a time when I’ve used my counters to the very back, so I knew I wouldn’t miss it. Here’s is what I did…

Off to the scrap pile I go…

1 x 4’s … I measured the length of the counter this shelf would sit on and cut accordingly.

Drill holes counter sinking each one. I then used wood screws to screw it together.

Sanding the wood before screwing it all together is much easier than doing it after, which I did…Here, I’m sanding/smoothing the screw holes as there are always burrs left over from drilling.

Here it is!

Turn on the lights! It fits the space just right.

I some gained serious space…Like whole two shelves in that cabinet!

This was a total win-win. I’ve freed a cupboard and gained a useful shelf that makes it super easy to get to ingredients I use daily. No more pulling jars out to see what’s behind. Very convenient! I’ve prepared dishes and rolled dough on this counter and haven’t missed those four inches!

Figure out what it is YOU really need from your kitchen. Remember the blog post on the coffee cups here? Whatever your needs are, more than likely there is a way to make your kitchen space more usable for YOU. An organized kitchen that works for your lifestyle makes all the difference in creating those wonderful dishes you make with love!

I’m looking for suggestions….should I stain this shelf or whitewash it?

I hope this gives you some ideas to making your own space work for you!

Remember, if I can do it, you can do it!

Peace, Koko

If you know someone who this post would benefit, please share/follow. I so appreciate you and thank you in advance! 

 

DIY Shelves Ikea Style

 

I’m super excited about the new shelves in my home! There were some minor hiccups along the way, (isn’t that how it usually is with DIY… you experiment, try new things?) even with the “ack” moments, I’m really happy with the way it all turned out. This is how it went down…or up?…

I tried to make my own stain using the steel wool method. Notice the word tried? I want to give this DIY stain another go. I believe my mistake was letting this mixture sit too long. Thus the strong rust color rather than the weathered gray I was going for.

1. Fine steel wool in a glass jar  2. Pour white vinegar to cover steel wool (about 2 cups)  3. Let sit for a few days  4. Stain is made (again, I think I let mine sit too long)

These brackets are from Ikea. I bought them about 10 years ago. They were light pine, lovely as is, but I wanted a weathered look. The second bracket from the left was after one coat and the third bracket was after a second coat. Neither color was anywhere near the weathered gray I was going for.

I found the stain didn’t go on evenly even though I applied it evenly. Perhaps it was because I didn’t use a wood conditioner.

I had hoped with a third coat the color would even out somewhat (and hoping the color would gray out as they dried…), but that was not the case. As I mentioned above, the color came out a “rust” color instead of the weathered gray I was hoping to achieve. At this point I was not in a full-blown panic, but more like “ack”! I’d been waiting for the right time and place to use these and now I’ve ruined them! What do I do now?

So… I got out my trusty DeWALT palm sander and went at the brackets. I didn’t sand them down to bare wood as I still wanted the weathered look and decided a whitewashed technique could be just what these brackets needed. You can see the whitewashed technique here.

I wanted to mention how I hang stuff on my walls. TAPE. I use tape to “see” what the finished look will look like. You will see in future posts that the artwork is hung different from what is taped here (hence the beauty of using tape. See it before the nails go in.) I also changed the color of the walls in this room. The clock stayed in the same spot and so did the shelves. 🙂 I moved the cat house you see in the corner of the picture to the hall upstairs. I’ve noticed the cats scratch at it way more up there and it seems to be a great spot for them to go to when they need some quiet time. (see the cat post here) The lamp was moved to another room. You can see the lamp shade project here. Following At Koko’s Place you will see that things rarely stay in the same place for long!

The boards I used for the shelves used to be one of two huge bookcases. My awesome husband took them apart for me and the boards sat in the garage where they awaited what their new life would be. Picture them stained the darkest brown color you see here. I sanded them, leaving both the natural wood color and some of the brown stain, knowing I would whitewash the boards using the technique I did on the dresser turned desk here.

In making the bookcases, I countersunk screws… In making shelves, I didn’t want them to show. I then cut four boards down to 40 1/2 inches long using my DeWALT jig saw and then sanded the edges. 

Patch away I did. There was a lot of patching to do! After patching, I sanded it all flat.

Dark gray walls now! The rack of plants I move around to follow the sun. And spoiled pets…the reason we bought sofas. 😉

Taped the walls again after the new color went on. Frog tape was used this time instead of Scotch Blue. The headlamp was because I decided to hang the shelves around midnight and I didn’t have adequate lighting in the room at the time. What? I know I’m not the only one that does projects at odd hours 😉

I used the level as I taped the lines. It made the job easier for me. I didn’t have studs where I needed them to be, so I used wall anchors. Best invention. See them in this project here.

Four down, four to go!

Even though I pre-leveled, I still would check the level as I went along. I also made sure the brackets were in a straight line.

All done! Now to add the boards.

*Insert happy squeal here!

Plants bought from Trader Joe’s, Home Depot, and Costco. Owl from TJMaxx. Buddha, can’t remember, I’ve had him for a long time.

I lived with the blue, then the green tapes for a bit. Over the course of a few weeks, I moved the tapes from three shelves to four and played with the spacing. I tried to picture what I would have on the shelves and how tall I envisioned the plants to grow. Since I love greenery, I knew I wanted more space to put them so that was why I added the fourth shelf. And I am happy I did!

Thank you so much for reading. As always, I appreciate YOU! Have a beautiful day!

❀Be well and just love! Peace, Koko❀