A Picture Ledge or Four

It took a quarantine to get me wanting to DIY. The bug normally hits about January however this year we know we are going to work on the downstairs bathroom and I have a huge bathroom phobia, HUGE! I have most of the supplies to start the bathroom but I don't have the nerve to start. With that said I have wanted to build picture shelf ledges for quit some time so I figured no better time than the present quarantined time.

Let me start by saying I had talked about this project with my husband for some time, asking him to get the lumber and he never came through, which in his defense he has been busy. So fast forward to day 6 of the lock down, as I was planning my Walmart pick-up online I slipped over to Facebook and noticed our local lumber company would allow you to call in your order and pay for it over the phone. They then call you when it is ready for pick-up. You pull up and they deliver it to your vehicle. I then told the husband that I was going to do this and I would either find a way to strap it to the top of my Traverse or drive with my back hatch open. He thought this to be an awful idea so he said he would pick it up if I called it in. UM, OK! You didn't have to ask me twice. 

Tim and I built the shelves to go in the living room, two for each side of the french doors. We used the following supplies:

4 - 1" x 4" x 10' (cut into 5' pieces)

2 - 1" x 2" x 10' (cut into 5' pieces

Brad Nailer

Small Brad Nails

Hand Sander

Sandpaper (100 grit is what I used because it was what I had)

1 - quart white paint

Paint Brush

We were making 4 shelves 5' long, or so we thought. After Tim cut the pieces to the proper lengths he nailed a 1" x 2" to the front of a 1" x 4". Than we nailed another 1" x 4" to the top part of the opposite side of the 1" x 4".  Here is a picture to simplify it.

Now, I could have puttied the brad nail holes but I skip around steps because when I start a project I want it finished yesterday. So, here is where I went straight to sanding the boards, making the edges less pointed and a little more round, smoothing some of the imperfections and spending most of the time one the ends.

Once I was finished sanding I wiped off all the shelves and found some white paint to use. After applying the first coat wouldn't you know it, a storm come rolling through.  After I moved everything into my kitchen, turned on the two ceiling fans I started applying the second coat. I used about half a quart on this project, more or less because I did fall through a weak spot in my deck, carrying the paint into the house, and some split on my stepping stones.

I would like to say I had the patience to allow them to dry over night but who am I kidding. I was finished painting them at about 1:30p and at 5:00p I was holding them up to the spots they were supposed to go. Now here is where I make a confession, Tim accidentally made the first cut wrong, instead of 60" he cut 58". We decided to cut the second shelf for that wall the same and put them on the wall with the light switch, thinking that wall was shorter than the other. We still cut the second wall at 60". So much to my surprise when I was holding the first set of shelves (on the light switch side) they barely fit in there. I thought it to be a perfect mistake, that is until I held the second set of shelves up on the other side of the door and they were 8 1/2" to big. After some begging, pleading and bartering with the husband to fix them today he  finally caved and cut them down to 51 1/2", and when held up to the spot they fit perfectly.

Since Tim was already helping fix the shelves he went ahead and hung them for me too and I couldn't be happier. I love how they turned out, and I have two 8 1/2" ones for our little bathroom, when we finally get to that room.

 I used frames that I already had at home but once this quarantine is over I will be purchasing

other sizes and finishes. I also want to gather more recent family photos of our family members

and ancestors. There area also a few relics I want to frame like my great grandma's hankey. 

This project cost me $38.00. We had the paint on hand from other projects as we did the tools and nails, the only thing we had to purchase was the lumber.

The inspiration for these shelves was the below picture. It was given to me for Christmas, it is our house from the 1930's.