Laundry Room 5: Wall Shelves {Tutorial}

Trying to catch up on posting some projects.  The laundry room isn't totally finished, but these shelves have been done for a L-O-N-G time.  I am just such a slacker I never wrote the post.  So let me scrounge up the pics and get writing!

In the meantime... You can refresh your memory on my laundry room renovation with these posts:
Laundry Room 1: The Initial Renovation 
Laundry Room 2: Shelf Over Stacked Washer/Dryer 
Laundry Room 3: Wallpaper, Outlets, and Doors
Laundry Room 4: Laundry Basket Shelf and Countertop
Laundry Room 6: WASH Letters

This was a super cheap project, as the only thing I purchased were the four corbels from Home Depot.  They came unfinished so I had to paint them white, which I'm sure I whined about, but I painted them in the kitchen while watching TV.  Let me tell you, those corbels come as smooth as a baby's bottom!  

Those things were sanded to perfection, so I didn't have to worry about that.

 

The corbel look is the one I had always wanted in the laundry room, but somehow convinced myself it would be too much work to build shelves like that.  Crazy I know.  It my first round of laundry room renovations I put these ugly shelves up. {Which were totally not finished in this pic.}  I think part of the problem was the amount of wall space that needed to be covered.  That and I was trying to incorporate a drying rack at that time. 

 

The corbels come with a mounting system, which we hubby used to hang them.  

{Ladies, this is totally an easy job and in no way am I trying to insinuate that you can't do this yourself.  Sometimes you've just got to throw your man a bone.  This is the perfect type of job for my hubby.}  

Of course he stopped to make the same joke he always does a joke about the stud finder.

I came back to make sure they were level.

I made sure I liked the corbels and the length of my shelf before proceeding.  This shelf was a little long, 

so I trimmed it down before I added trim.  The shelf is a scrap 3/4" plywood strip, probably left 

over from making the cabinet around the washer/dryer or the laundry basket shelf.  Or from another 

project.  All I know is I found it in the garage and it does the trick!  :)

Then hubby attached the upper two corbels.  {Don't we make an awesome team!}  I want to be 

able to put heavy stuff, like laundry detergent, on these shelves and not worry about them ever coming out of the wall.  For that reason, I added extra screws in toward the bottom of each corbel.  Hubby gasped as I "ruined" my newly painted and installed corbels.

The bottom shelf got its trim.  I used a decorative 3/4" moulding, but really a straight piece of wood 

would have been a lot easier and looked just as good.  I used my miter saw to cut 

the right end of the front piece and the left end of the side piece.  My shelf butts up against a 

wall, so there is only one visible corner.  The mitered corners are tricky to match up, that's why 

I say it's easier to go with a blunt 90 degree match up.  I attached the moulding to the plywood with my finishing nailer and nail compressor.  And then I had to fill the gaps and sand before I could paint.

 

Here's the bottom shelf all trimmed out and looky what I found for the top shelf... This is an old shelf from a desk I re-imagine for Smart Jr. when she was about 5.  I bought a desk at Goodwill and painted it to look like Cinderella's castle. Anyway, for some reason I saved the shelf even though I got rid of the hutch long ago.  It just needed to be trimmed a little lengthwise and it was good to go!

The pink shelf got trim added to it the same as the other shelf and then I painted both shelves.  

 I don't like painting.  And I had to paint the underside too.  :(

When they were dry, I sprayed them with polyacrylic so they'd stand up better to all the 

stuff that would soon be on top of them.  

The shelves were looking pretty good and already being put to use.

Then it was time to fill the holes.  I counter sunk the screws so they weren't visible, leaving 

the holes pretty deep.  

I am NOT a fan of wood filler, so I filled the majority of the hole with white caulk.  When this was dry, I used regular spackle to fill the hole so I could sand it to perfection.

And this is how they turned out in the end...

Thanks for stopping by!  I'd love it if you left a comment!!  Visit again soon,
          Smart Girl