Friday, November 2, 2012

Builder Grade to Old World Shelving

The laundry shelf is finished!!!! It was so much fun to design, watch my hubster build, and perform experiments on. I am so in love! What do you think?



This shelf was very inexpensive to make. It cost under $10! We used a 2"x10" that we already had laying around, a 1"x4" @ 8' and a 2"x2" @8'. That is it! I wanted it super chunky, simple, and most importantly to look old.

I decided I was going to try the vinegar, steel wool, and tea staining process that you see all over the blogosphere and pinterest. I started out brewing some super duper strong tea and brushing it on the entire shelf.

Next up was making the vinegar solution. I dumped a handful of steel nails and screws into the bottom of a mason jar and poured in plain cheapo white vinegar. Now for the hard part. Waiting. Waiting. And more waiting. I had to wait for a whole 24 hours! Can you believe that???? Bah! I am so impatient. Anyway, that is how long it takes for the nails to oxidize. This is what my jar looked like. You can almost see the bubbles that started forming immediately.

Today, I did it. It is all stained. It took a little experimenting along the way and I was happy to do it. The top board aged immediately. It was amazing and sooo very exciting to watch it age before my eyes. The front board, however, was very stubborn. It just did not want to cooperate. I decided to added another coat of tea after the first coat of the vinegar oxidizing solution was dry. Then tried again. A little better. Not quite what I was going for, but I noticed that my tea was turning black from the vinegar oxidizing solution. Hmmmm. What did I do? I dumped the tea straight into the vinegar solution eliminating a step and dry time. I told you I was impatient. :) I brushed on a coat of the new streamlined mixture. It was better but we just weren't quite there yet. I sat and I thunk, and I thunk some more. What could deepen the stain? Coffee grounds! I dumped some previously used coffee grounds into the mix. Perfection! Just what I was looking for! Instasmile! :D Waiting again. Ugghhh. It has to dry before I can wipe off the grounds. If you try this at home use an old stained up rag that you can toss in the garbage. It stains.

Here is a little shot to show you the difference from new lumber to aged.  BIG difference!


Are you ready for the before and afters?
 Before

After

And here is a look at the inspiration room.

What do you think? I love my own little spin on an already pretty design.

What has inspired you lately?

Till next time, 
XOXO ~Jaime


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6 comments :

  1. Whoa! Can you say UPGRADE from those wiry shelves?! This is great idea and it looks so good!

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    1. Thanks so much! I am totally in love with how the laundry room is coming together.

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  2. Your new shelf looks fab! Thanx for sharing at THT!

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  3. Thanks so much for hosting! I am really enjoying my new hobby. :D

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  4. That's so pretty! I am re-doing our laundry room and needed some shelf ideas! Glad I found this!

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  5. Thanks, Kathleen! I would love to see a pic when you are finished!

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