Thursday, September 8, 2011

Wine crate shelf, complete.

Remember a couple days ago when I mentioned wanting to make a wine crate shelf for my bathroom (full post here)? Well, it's finished! And it's cute! And I can't wait to figure out what's actually going to go in it!




Can you tell how excited I am about it by my excessive use of exclamation marks?!?!


To recap for everyone, my rental has a very ugly bathroom with a very ugly vanity. It's large. It's boring. It's absolutely fugly.



First things first, I needed to balance out that bulk. And what better way to balance bulk than by enclosed shelving? Enter the $5 wine crate from The Wine Merchant.

NOTE: Excuse the crappy side angle photo - I remembered to photograph the progress only after I started to stain. D'oh!


I stained the crate with some $2 Ace-brand wood stain in Early American. It was my first time using the stain and I have to say I was rather pleased with it. The color went on really smoothly and the smell wasn't too too bad. I finished it off with some high-gloss polyurethane I had left over from another project and the up on the wall it went.





Here it is styled a bit from random chotchkies I had lying around my house. I'm not completely sold on the accessories but am definitely digging the all-white mix of modern and vintage pieces to really make a statement. Emily Henderson made a comment on her blog the other day about choosing to go eclectic by color or by style so as not to overdo it. I am definitely taking the direction to heart and plan to attempt eclectic by style in this here display.

TIP: Drill holes in the wine crate before attempting to mount it to the wall. I did this and completed the very technical exercise of balancing a level on top of the wine crate, pencilling in the holes to the wall and then looking through the little hole to match everything up. Soooo helpful.





Knowing me, I may add just a splash of color (something bright) based on what I find at the thrift stores but I want to keep it simple enough so it doesn't look like just a bunch of crap shoved up above the john. Right now I'm on the hunt for more white washcloths, a textured, ornate candy dish to use as a pot and a larger fern to go inside. I might add a metal basket to hang right underneath the shelf to hold some reading material for.. you know... when you need reading material.
As far as the rest of the bathroom? I have some ideas but none that seem to be tying everything together just yet. I'm thinking I need to keep down the textured-yet-simplistic look to balance out the green and pink tile.


UPDATED WITH ACCESSORIES:








14 comments:

  1. This is your dad.... I think your reading-material-metal-basket-in-the-john idea is absolutely brillant!!! Excuse all my exclamation marks but I am a bit excited.

    ReplyDelete
  2. .....and excuse all the misspelled words... (I don't know how to post my name so just call ne anonymous (your dad) for now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks pops,
    That one was for you :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think your shelves look fantastic. They look so much better than the pop bottle shelf.
    Janet

    ReplyDelete
  5. Saw you featured on Knock Off Decor....I have to agree with the above poster...I love your version much better than the pop bottle shelf. It looks fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Janet and Shel - I appreciate the kind words and hope you continue reading!

    ReplyDelete
  8. That shower curtain is incredible (the shelf is obviously great, too)!!! Can i ask where you got it from?

    ReplyDelete
  9. The shower curtain was from target online. For some reason I can't find the color I got but here is a similar one: http://www.target.com/p/Simi-Shower-Curtain-72x72/-/A-12302990

    ReplyDelete
  10. Awesome! I love the way you styled it as well. White!

    ReplyDelete
  11. great job!!! where did you get magazine rack?

    ReplyDelete
  12. It's beautiful! I love crates! -Mika
    www.sparrowshaven.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Okay, now I have more things to add to Pinterest. :-) I think the crates-as-shelves are my favorites.

    ReplyDelete