Last summer I painted my kitchen cabinets. It took me an entire year to figure out what I wanted to do with the space above the stove. I removed the doors and painted the inside because I wanted to have an open area to display pottery and a few cookbooks. But, for some reason I just wasn’t sure what I wanted the finished product to look like.
I toyed with lining the inside of the cabinet with grass cloth wallpaper. The shelf annoyed me because it was the typical thickness of a cabinet shelf and I felt like it took away from the clean look I was going for. Plus, I knew I wanted to put a small accent lamp in the cabinet since there was an outlet there for the microwave and the light wouldn’t be able to show through wood.
I was looking through FB one day and came across a neat article posted by House Beautiful magazine on 101 makeover ideas (remember this article because I will working through the ideas over the next year). Designer Libby Cameron’s tip was battery operated LED lights. They look like a hockey puck and have adhesive on the back so you can stick them anywhere you want to back light objects from above. Miss Bee and I got a laugh because the packaging said these lights were perfect for lighting your backpack. Huh?
That’s when the light bulb went off, literally, on how I wanted to pull together the look I was going for. I found a package of three at Lowe’s for about $12. I rummaged through my fabric scraps and came across just enough leftover from a chair I recovered several years ago (by coincidence the same fab as Church Lady’s shelf makeover). Miss Bee had a few pieces of poster board (from the dreaded science fair projects). I had some double sided tape. I took the shelf down and went to the custom glass and mirror store and had them cut a tempered glass shelf to fit for about $35. Tempered glass is very important for a project like this. In case it breaks, it will break into marble sized pieces, not death shards of glass. I went to Lowe’s and cashed in my free coupon for an 8 oz paint sample. Then, got to work.
I am sorry I don’t have a before photo. I was bad about doing it, but just imagine, it was boring.
light puck? Well, I put a yardstick in the pantry. When I want to light
it, I take the yard stick and press it. Voila! Work with me here.
off the cookbooks to highlight the bright colors of the spines.
go back with some rub and buff on the base. Not sure.
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
love it!