Power tools and I have never been friends. Not too long ago, I instructed my mister to pick up a pack of screw drivers at the hardware store...and he came home with a new drill instead. I was not happy. I don't like drills. I wanted a screwdriver.
Very reluctantly, my drill and I became friends. I have my inpatients to thank for becoming friends with power saws. I have way too many projects I want to get done to sit around waiting for my mister to have time to cut wood for me. What's a girl to do, but suck it up and learn how to cut wood?
Originally, I planned to make wall storage along these lines for this wall. (You can read more about my cinder block wall
here.)
Turns out, shelves like that, the size I wanted, was not exactly cheap. Have you looked at the price of pipe lately? Maybe I'm missing some important part of pipe shopping, but it's rather pricey. I needed something more along the general price range of
free to properly fit my budget.
Plan B involved scrounging around and using anything I had on hand that could possible be turned into a shelf. I started with these two doors that I
pulled out of my kitchen a few weeks back.
I cleaned them up, and primed and painted them.
Next up I made a long shelf using some 2x4's I had left over from another project. I used screws for everything so I can take this thing apart later, if I so desire.
I cut four legs from a 4x4.
At this point I dragged everything inside to assemble it all. The four legs I screwed onto the shelf, essentially making a long bench.
I screwed the doors to the "bench" along the back. (Uh hum, so ya, I maybe skipped painting the back of the doors. Perfection was never my stongest asset.)
I decided to my doors needed more stability, so I added 2x4 scraps to the front connecting down to the main shelf.
I made another shelf using scrap board that actually was originally in this room
behind the paneling I pulled out.
Using brackets I had laying around, I added a few more shelves. An old ladder,
a former pigeon nesting box, and crate helped round out the storage options.
I couldn't help myself and added a little color by dry brushing random paint samples on the boards.
And what will I do with these super cute shelves? Why, use them for storage, naturally.
I can't stand pawing through totes, smashing everything to bits, looking for the one piece I need. Now, I don't have to!
I can just "shop" my wall. This room is my work/sewing room, and I can't think of what "art" I'd rather look at while working than loads of random textures and colors.
Besides, if I ever wanted to have a garage sale...all I'd have to do is open the front door. =) Seriously though, isn't knowing what you have so much nicer than having it all tucked away in some dark corner?
And before you kindly suggest I might have hording tendencies...let me just remind you, there are only two rooms in my entire house that have been fully furnished. (See the
entry here, and the
guest bathroom here.) These shelves will clear off quite a bit as each new room is fully finished.
In the mean time, I have decided wood working isn't so bad after all! It's not much different than sewing really...axcept fabric is more forgiving and doesn't give me a back ache.
The only thing I specifically purchased for this project was the 4x4...making the total cost for my shelves $6.57. Now that's more like it!
Colossians 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;