Freshly Painted Dining Room Shelves

Saturday, January 18, 2014



I adore my newly painted shelves so much that I now lovingly refer to them as my 'shelfies'.
 
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No, seriously though. I can't believe that I even hesitated for a second wondering whether or not to paint our new creamy-beige-y-yellow-y Pottery Barn shelves. Once I swiped on the first brushstroke of white primer I just knew it was the right decision. White all the way, baby. White, white, white, white, white, white, white. Thank you to all of my friends (that's you) who left your feedback. It was pretty unanimous - everyone told me to go for it! A few little pep talks were all I needed.



Even though I had zero patience and rushed to put cute dishes and flower pots back on the shelves while the paint was still drying, I'm still not quite finished. Right now they are a solid, crisp white. But I'm going to use the same technique that I used on my super huge window mirror and add a little bit of brown-tinted glaze to add a bit of dimension to them. Maybe this weekend. Or, maybe the one after that.



When you back up a little bit you can see how they are centered in between the window on the left and the small wall / opening to the living room on the right.




If I ever get around to the last step I'll probably write a little tutorial on how to paint over a factory finish. Although I'm sure a dozen expert furniture painters have already written about it already. Maybe mine will be called 'How to Imperfectly Paint Over a Factory Finish' or better yet 'The Slacker's Guide to Painting Over a Factory Finish'.




Did I mention that I absolutely love them now. They make me swoon and I hate the word swoon even more than I hate the term mood-board.


 
So this is pretty funny. In a casual conversation on Friday night I asked Alex what he wanted to do this weekend. He mentioned something about working on the basement and possibly taking his snow-machine out for a drive. Then he said, "What about you? Let me guess - playing around with the shelves in the dining room." Of course he meant it in a you're-so-quirky-and-adorable-way and not a you're-a-big-weirdo-way.

 

So yeah. The next time you order some shelves by accident when you're still not really sure if you want them, and they end up being way too ivory and not so much white, just paint them. You'll be so happy that you did.

Translation: I love my newly painted shelves a lot.



Have you painted anything lately? Leave a link in the comments - I'd love to check it out. :)
 
Sharing Here:
 
Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest
Strut Your Stuff Saturday @ Six Sisters' Stuff
The Inspiration Exchange Link Party @ City Farmhouse
From Dream to Reality @ The DIY Dreamer

38 comments:

  1. Wow your new "shelfies" look so nice and crisp. Hilarious word by the way! I'm glad you were brave and painted them. I think I would be afraid of the paint not sticking so a tutorial would be great. They look perfect. Love those cute little Homesense houses. I even went to my local store to see if they had them but they didn't. (I go all the time. Its a sickness I tell you!) Enjoy!
    Kelly

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    1. Hey Kelly! After reading your comment I checked at my local Homesense because I had seen two of those little wooden houses in the Clearance aisle a few weeks ago. Unfortunately there were none left this time..... booooo, I could have shipped one to you!

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    2. That is so sweet, thanks for checking! You made my heart all warm and fuzzy!
      Kelly

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  2. I have the same little white cake stand...love your white "shelfies" and I see that you found a different spot for your tin plate collection...love it all!!

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    Replies
    1. I think we must both have really good taste to have the same adorable cake stand, lol!

      I had a few extra pie plates so I displayed them up on the window frame. The one you sent me is up there, too. It is adorable and I still love it to bits.

      :)

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  3. They look so so so much better. I just love how white your entire home is! Before Christmas I painted a vintage sideboard/dresser, a vintage bedside table, a vintage bench, a medal round wall piece, a bistro chair, and the legs of our farmhouse table in ASCP pure white. Love how they all turned out and created a very white christmas at our cottage. xo

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kerrie, just took a quick peek at your blog and love all the white. Your hard work painting really paid off. So fresh and pretty. And I am totally jealous of that vegetable garden!!!

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  4. Beautiful! Def, the right decision painting them! You have styled them so perfectly too! They look SO GOOD!!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Lisa! Such a compliment!

      :)

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  5. Love the shelves...so much better white & your styling is fantastic! I'm literally always painting furniture. It's never ending. ;) http://numberfiftythree.blogspot.com/2014/01/charcoal-gray-and-brass-antique-dresser.html

    Angela @ Number Fifty-Three

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    Replies
    1. Hey Angela, thank you so much. I took a quick peek at your blog and it looks like you have some serious styling skills yourself. I can't wait to visit again to get a full house tour. The exterior of your home is adorable!

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  6. So fresh,so pretty, so perfect...no wonder you love them!!!!

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  7. Your shelfies look amazing, you made the right decision painting them. I like the way you
    have displayed your items on the brand, spanking white shelfies too.

    Where did you buy the wooden house and when please? lLove it.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lea, thank you so much for your sweet comments.

      The little wooden house was purchased at Homesense back in November - so that was about two months ago. There were only about 2 or 3 so I snatched one up even though I wasn't supposed to be shopping for myself since it was before Christmas!

      :)

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  8. Yep, you did the right thing. Loving the white! Well done!

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  9. This looks fantastic! I'm curious about the dishes, especially the cups and cake stand. Do you remember where you purchased these?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Amy. All of the dishes (except the large pitcher) were purchased from Homesense over the years. The cake stand was purchased a year or so ago but the little teacups were a recent find. They still had some of those dishes (there were matching plates and bowls) when I was at my local Homesense this weekend.

      :)

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  10. Looks fantastic!! Love the white.

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  11. I love them! Your house is so cute. I painted one room in my house your same gray owl paint and love it!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your sweet comments, Shay!

      So which room did you paint - I'm curious - did you use the regular Gray Owl or did you end up lightening it as well?

      :)

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  12. I did the same thing! I have that shelf along with two classic shelves and two Crate & Barrel shelves. So far I've managed to paint all but one (white). I didn't like the antique ivory finish. It looked distressed yellow. Anyway, yours look great!

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad I'm not the only one. White lovers unite!!!!!

      ;)

      And thank you.

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  13. Sarah!
    The shelfies look terrific! I am glad you were brave enough to go ahead and paint them. I have one of the same shelves from PB & have to say they don't look as yellow-y on a color as they did on white. Your styling is terrific! I have a serious case of plate envy! Oddly, that's how I found your blog!! Your Valentine's vignette on Pinterest last year (the one with the lovely pink tray) I clicked on the link & have been back almost every day since!! :) Did actually have a question though. Is the shelfie wall where you had previously considered a plate wall, and are those plates the ones you'd originally purchased for it? Despite having never met you, I find myself keeping an eye out for one more pretty white plate when I visit HomeGoods or our local antique store Aubergine. ;)

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    1. I think I know what you mean. I have some Ikea furniture in our bedroom and even though it's not a crisp white for some reason it still looks white. I'm thinking the PB shelves looked so yellow because they were against a cool grey? I have no idea. But I sure am glad I got the guts to paint them.

      I have been meaning to write another post on things that I never followed up on - and the plate wall is one of them!!! I really wanted to display a collection of large, round platters in the spot where the shelves ended up. However after months and months and months of looking I was never able to find any more round platters!

      If I eventually collect enough white plates / platters I think I might try a little plate / platter arrangement on the wall above our dining room cabinet. It's such an awkward space and I've never been able to get it quite right.

      I'll make sure to update the blog if I figure it out. It will probably take awhile though. LOL!

      Thank you so much for thinking of me while out shopping (so fun). It really does mean a lot. Sometimes it feels like I write this blog and no one is reading.

      P.S. Let's be friends. ;)

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  14. This is REALLY cute! I am scared of painting anything, but I looove seeing other peoples' projects. I'm hoping to get over my fear soon, after seeing more and more inspiration like this. :)

    P.S. - I would love it if you linked up at Do Tell Tuesday with the gals and me!
    http://vintagezest.com/2014/01/do-tell-tuesday-7-with-features-co-host.html

    Diane @ Vintage Zest

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  15. I stumbled upon this blog through the Dream to Reality Linky party and I'm so glad I did! Love you're cute blog! I also love the clean and simple shelves for the dining room. If I wasn't afraid my kids would stain it all, everything in my house would be light and white like yours! Love!

    Hanna Caldwell
    www.stripesandpolkadotsblog.com

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  16. Oh I love them!! And those cute little wood houses are to die for!! Just beautiful!

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  17. Very nice! And I love the way you have them decorated. Totally with you on the mood board, though I think I hate seeing them more than I hate hearing the term.

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  18. Sarah, could it be possible that I love your shelf more? LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!

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  19. I love the vignettes on your shelves. And I agree, if you can paint it white - you should paint it white. It just feels so much cleaner and simpler.

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  20. So I go back and forth between bold color and subtle lights. You do it so well. I just recently painted a coffee table. My plan was to do it in citron/olive green and instead did pale greys. I still can't decide if I like it. Also, I planned to checkerboard and totally failed at the taping! Check it out please!
    http://buildingsandcastlesinthewind.blogspot.com/2014/01/so-painting-of-coffee-table-went-little.html

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  21. Sarah, you have been such an inspiration to me to totally do as much white as I can in my home. My husband doesn't "get it" and he keeps saying "too much white"..LOL! I also decided to paint all the main rooms Gray Owl. I went with full strength and sometimes wonder if I should have lightened it up but I do really like it. The whites stand out more against the gray. These "shelfies" look awesome. You always style your displays and vignettes just right. I also wanted to say that I DO read your blog and look forward to your posts so please continue :)

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  22. I love your new "shelfies" too! You know what else I love? Those little wooden houses you have sitting on them...super cute. I had to laugh at your disdain for the words swoon and mood-board. Ugh, swoon is a thumbs down in my book too, along with the French word for flowers...fleurs :)

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  23. Love. This is absolutely beautiful and the white on white with pops of wood..I just can't get enough.

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  24. I just commented on the original post about these. Glad I found the update! This proves to me that I REALLY need to paint mine! Now I need to find your tutorial!

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