A Shelf Made With Love

 First, let me apologize for not being around lately. Over Labor Day weekend we headed out west to a friend of my sister in law's and we had one last summer weekend. It was only about 75 degrees out but it was sunny so we went tubing for a few hours down the Niobrara river. We had a lot of fun but my allergies really hit me again by the time we got home. I've been struggling but with all my time in the house, I've actually finished up a few projects that I want to share with you.
 The first project, my new/old shelf. This shelf has had many, many lives. It used to be my mom's and it was a dark stained wood with little spindles that hung down from the front and the two sides. It hung on our wall by the back door and held lots of little farm knick knacks. I fondly remember dusting it during weekend chores. Then in college, I took out all the little spindles on the front and spray painted it black. Funny how a lot of my decor in college got spray painted black. Anyways, I had been attempting to build a shelf for above the piano but the whole MDF thing wasn't working for me. I uncovered the beloved old black shelf in my box of decor stuff and knew that I could make it work.

 Again, I need to apologize to you. I am terrible at taking before pictures. I got so excited that I just starting painting before I realized that I'd forgotten. So back to the shelf. I pulled out the last 2 spindles that were on the corbels and started spray painting. This time I used Rustoleum semi-gloss in Ivory Bisque. I wanted to add hooks but at the time the shelf just had the two little corbels and the actual top part of the shelf. I bought a 1x4 which after measuring, I knew would fit perfect and spray painted that too. After it was dry, I sanded through to the black to give it a country rustic feel and attached my 1x4 under the shelf. I bought 3 inexpensive hooks and Menard's and screwed those on to my 1x4. And ta-da, my new/old shelf! 

I love my new shelf and can't wait to decorate it with fall and Christmas decor this year! It looks great on the wall above the piano and I'm so glad that wall isn't empty anymore. The house is finally getting some finishing touches and I'm getting it decorated the way I want.
I have more to show you so make sure to stop back this weekend/next week!