DIY Cafe Shelf {for my laundry room}
Today, I want to share with you how I made the shelf in our laundry room.
I was wanting a shelf above the washer and dryer, so I decided to make one similar to the ones I had made for our kitchen. I made these after being inspired by the ones I saw in Ballard Designs catalog.
You can see the tutorial for these shelves, HERE.
The shelf I was going to make for my laundry room would be a little bit bigger, and I wanted to paint it white to match the board and batten.
Here are the supplies I used:
1. Two corbels from Home Depot (on clearance for $4.00 a piece!)
Home Depot has the best supply of corbels anywhere, btw!
2. A piece of wood for the shelf. (I bought a solid pine panel at Lowe’s for $9.50.)
3. Trim for the edges of the shelf. I bought some at Lowe’s for about $6.00. You can pick whatever type of trim you like.
First, I had to cut the trim in 45 degree angles for the corners of my shelf.
I used my husbands power saw, but you can use a simple miter box instead. There are around $5.00 at Lowe’s.
It would look something like this when cutting with a miter box…
I marked where I needed the trim to stop on the back of my shelf.
Then I cut the trim for the back of my shelf using a straight cut.
After cutting my trim pieces, I nailed them to the wood shelf.
When you nail the trim on, it will leave little nail holes in your wood.
Just fill them up with some wood filler..
And it will look something like this…
Allow the wood filler to dry, then sand and paint.
The back of the corbels look like this…
I screwed two wood screws into my board and batten and attached the corbels.
Then I used a little bit of elbow grease to pound down on the corbels until they were attached. :)
Next, I used screws to attach the shelf to the corbels. (You can use nails if you want to.)
Notice the notches in the wood shelf? My hubby had to do those to make the shelf fit flatly against the wall.
All I had left to do was paint it white!
I was able to make this shelf for less than $25.00. Not bad!
This last picture was taken with the lights off. It gives a truer picture of the color of our walls.
I am so happy with my shelf! You could definitely make one of these too! If you try it, let me know.
Have a blessed day!
Traci
oh traci its so cute! and functional – i wish i had the space in my laundry room for a shelf! :)
Looks fantastic!
Wow – I love your cafe shelves Traci!! I’m looking around my home trying to find a place for a couple. Beautiful!!!
xoxoxo
Jen
Wow, looks so good, so envious that you could do that! Love how you have it decorated!
Love it! Great job :)
Cute Cute Cute!!!
Another project well done.
Fun to see what you’re up to,
d
I am already planning to do your beyond presh board and batten in my bath….so now I need to find a space for this shelf in there!!! love it!
Thank you SO much Traci for guest posting for me today! I adore this project too- you amaze me! xoxo
Awesome tutorial… love the result!
i love this!!
This is great!! I was looking for something like this!! You are the perfect combo of handy and cute! Thanks for walking us through it!
Beautiful as always! And I love the way you accessorized it!
Girl, you were rockin’ the power tools! : ) I love the shelf! I wish my laundry room looked that good!
You make it look easy! I definitely plan to try this. Thanks!
Beautiful….thanks for the tutorial so I can go out and make my own. I want you tools too, hehehe!
Ok first of all, love the shelf! I loved them the first time you made them! Second that little fan on the shelf??? OMGoodness! In LOVE! By the way I absolutely adore everything you have done in your house! Its beautiful!
Accidentally hit submit before I was done gushing! LOL
Anyway, I love everything you have done but by far my favorite is your laundry room you built! It is perfect and so smart!
Looks fantastic. Congrats.
Look at you rockin’ the power tools girl! I’m impressed. Love that shelf. Oh and I have the same light fixture in my foyer! Did you paint yours too?
http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/2010/11/newold-foyer-light.html
Brittany
http://www.prettyhandygirl.com
They are gorgeous!! You did an excellent job! I wish I was brave enough to use power tools! You go girl!
It’s just lovely. Really ‘completes’ the board & batten! You’re tutorial makes it look so easy I could almost try it.
Almost !
Oh wow. I can’t believe that was only $25. It looks beautiful and I love the way you decorated it! great job.
I already knew you ROCKED! but seeing the pics of you sawing IMPRESSED ME even more!!
Blessings, friend!
LIB
It turned out great!
I wish I had your drive…
Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve really wanted to start a blog but have been too afraid. I definitely struggle with feeling like I don’t have enough to offer and that my creativity is lacking compared to so many in blog land. I really appreciate your honesty. I feel encouraged, thank you!
Sarah
I meant to put this under your blog about insecurities…sorry…already messing up. :)
Thanks so much for linking up. I love those shelves. :) I”m going to go look for your kitchen shelves post. :) xoxo
You did a great job on the shelf . Your vignette looks great too!
I’m featuring this project tomorrow as one of the highlights from last week’s Just Something I Whipped Up party. :)
This came out great! I featured you at my blog today, feel free to check it out!
Jen
http://jen-simplyliving.blogspot.com/2011/03/stuff-i-like-sunday-6.html
You make it look so easy! We just added a 4X10 space to our laundry room to make a large mudroom and I want to board and batten. What did you use as your ledge? I like the rounded edge rather than the straight edge I get with a 1X1&1/2.
I love these and have been admiring shelves such as these for a long time. They’re expensive but now, thanks to you, I can have them. I can’t thank you enough for the detailed tutorials you provide. You are such a blessing to your readers.
Thank You for the tutorial on making the shelves for your laundry room area. Great Job! I’ve been wanting some shelves installed in our garage for me to store my nursery pots on so they’ll be near the tub of potting mix. We have left over pine shelves that used to be in a bedroom closet and there are some metal brackets here and I was planning on just using them if I can get somebody to put them up for me. Would rather have a cabinet installed but DH is not physically able to do these handyman jobs anymore so I will either have to learn to do it myself or hire it to be done.
I admire you for learning to do it yourself. I’m proud of you!
what is your paint color and brand??