Cafe Shelves

UPDATE: Click HERE to enter my cafe shelf giveaway that ends Friday, September 4th!

If you have been following my blog, you know that I recently made a lot of changes in my house in preparation for a family reunion.

One of the changes I made was putting up cafe-style shelves in my kitchen.

I got the inspiration from my favorite magazine, Ballard Designs.

They have several different pictures of the shelves in their magazine, but here is an example I found online.

I knew I could make a “knock off” of these “knock out” shelves. So I am participating this week in Knock Off Knock Out at It’s So Very Cheri. Be sure to stop by there and see some other great posts.

And since this was a wonderful change to my kitchen, I am also sharing this post on Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch. There are tons of great ideas over there every week so go check them out!

Then head over to Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered for other great projects. Wow! You’re going to be busy today!

My husband built a pantry in our kitchen last year and made a countertop space beside it, but I have never decorated the wall above the counter. At first, I thought I wanted to put some cabinets in that space. But when I saw the cafe shelves in Ballards, I knew my husband could make them for me.

(The pantry is on the right of this picture.)

This is what the countertop looked like as we worked on projects in the house. LOTS of tools and stuff!

So my husband trimmed out some 1” by 8” ponderosa pine boards.

I bought 4 corbels at Home Depot. I didn’t like the corbels at Lowe’s. Home Depot has a better selection. I got the smaller size of the style I wanted. They were about 5 bucks a piece.

We painted them black and then hung them up on the wall.

I decorated the shelves with my red Southern Living at Home tidbits and casserole dish.

I got the silver strainer at Goodwill for $1.50, and the apples and wall plaque from Marshall’s.

I am so glad I have that spaced filled with colorful things now!

The cafe shelves in Ballard Designs magazine cost between $99.00 to $139.00 EACH, depending on the size.

I don’t have an exact cost on my shelves because we already had the paint and boards. But I spent about $20.00 on the corbels and my husband spent about $10.00 on the trim. My husband said you could buy the boards for about $6.00 a piece. So this project could be done for less than $50.00, not bad!

Thanks for letting me share my project!

(To my followers…Thank you to all of you who have been praying for my mom. We had a wonderful time together at church tonight. My brother-in-law is a Baptist minister, and we met together tonight to lay hands on my mom and pray for her. She has been feeling pretty good lately, but is still very weak. Tuesday is when we meet with the oncologist to get the results from her biopsy. I will definitely let you know what we find out so you can continue to pray for her. I have been blessed by so many of you during this difficult time. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!)

Love in Him,

Traci