Open Shelving

When we were planning the kitchen layout there was a spot we designated for open shelving.  We got around to putting them up today. 

Here's how it went down (or up, I should say).  We got the brackets from Ikea.  They come with an assortment of shelves that fit inside the brackets.  I did not purchase the shelves because I had the intention of making our own shelves out of pieces of wood or pallet boards.  However, come to find out, they are an odd width.  A 2x4 board is too wide and a 1 inch board is too thin.  So this project kind of went by the wayside.  Then last week when we were moving some stuff around I found an old piece of cherry wood my husband had.  A fun side note, my husband dabbles in woodworking.  As a matter of fact he has made a baby cradle for each of our siblings upon the birth of their first child.  I know, right?!  Anyway, he had this old piece of wood perfectly distressed (i.e. left outside, dirty, and cracked). 
We cut them to the correct size that we need and attached the brackets. 
Next, we had to attach them to the wall.  Talk about nerve wracking: drilling a hole into our brand new back splash.  First we marked the distance between the holes on painters tape and leveled the tape on the wall.

Then J drilled right into the tape using a carbide tip drill bit meant for masonry.  After about 5 minutes of drilling that drill bit bent.  So I headed to Ace Hardware and bought a carbide tip drill bit meant for tile.  It did the trick although he had to stop and sharpen the drill bit. It took quite a bit of pressure on the drill and time to get each hole drilled.

After they were hung I had the laborious task of decorating them.;)

 This is where we have all of our coffee stuff so it was easy to figure out what to put on one shelf.  The other shelf houses a cardboard 'R' that I spray painted to look like a metal letter.  The little spikey thing is from Target.  The fish is actually a glass 'bag' holding a fish in water.  It is like something you would take home from the pet store except it is a cool fish and it is all made of glass.  It was a wedding gift.  Thanks, Uncle Dale!

 Isn't the distressed cherry wood edge awesome?  All we did to the wood plank, by the way, was sand it down and oil it to bring out the grain.

 The mugs are pretty much all from Target.  The scale was something I found at Good Will.

 My husband thinks the coffee mugs are a little cluttered looking but I like them.  However, I can pretty much guarantee these shelves will change often.

Another little project I marked off my ever growing list was to paint a chalkboard on the refrigerator built in. 

 It is so convenient to have a place to write lists and reminders right there in the kitchen.  If you don't have a chalkboard then find a flat surface and paint one already.  It is life changing.  Alright, that's a bit dramatic but I really do like them.

 I hung the little pail of chalk on our swamp cooler knob.  I hit it all the time and send chalk flying.  I am going to have come up with a better solution eventually.