This week my husband Steve was up for a visit and he brought my middle daughter, Amanda and her boyfriend, Christian with him! I could just die when they’re here because I only get to see Steve every 4 to 6 weeks and for Amanda and Christian, it’s been three times in the last year.

We all have so much fun when they’re here. Amanda and Christian like to help with projects while they’re up so I try to think of something to do that’s not too big. It’s fun doing things but I never want the visit to be about work.

I had a definite need this time though. We have three chimneys that have been leaking water during the rains. Steve and I were able to wrap two of them last time he was here, but the last storm we had I laid in my bed all night listening to water drop on to the wet towels in my bedroom. It’s killing me.

So, prior to the storm we all went up to the roof and wrapped the heck out of that last chimney. Christian was on the side of the roof and Amanda stayed on top taping plastic and tightening the tie downs. I stapled plastic to the over hang from the top rung of the ladder while Steve held it solid under me. There was no way two of us could have completed that job alone, so it was amazing to have the kids help us.  We are two aerial floods into the new plastic wrap and still dry inside!

Now that that’s done, let’s get to the fun project! We put up the open shelves in the kitchen!!

Last year Steve and I went to a fabulous salvage yard here in Gardnerville called Silver State.  I’ve told you about this place before, it’s owned by the guy who’s dad built our house and lived here in the 80’s. We were looking for old barn wood for shelves at the house.

We found this large piece of wood that I have been saving for the kitchen shelves. It’s been in the barn all year and I finally went out and cut it in half! I washed the heck out of that wood! I started with salt, lemon, and vinegar, scrubbing all of it into the wood. Then, I used hot soapy water until the lather was white. I really wanted to steam the wood but don’t have a steamer right now. I’ll be buying one and may steam it later. Either way, the wood looked so much better! It smelled good too. I cut it into two equal sizes and VERY lightly sanded the edges so they wouldn’t be a splinter hazard. However, I really didn’t want to ruin the rustic feel of the wood.

I ordered these brackets from Etsy. They were the only ones I could find that were this style and able to come in a foot wide measurement. I wanted to keep the width of the wood knowing I’d be putting dinner plates on them. They’re wonderful brackets, exactly what I wanted.

I have to tell you, I was kind of terrified to drill holes into the new tile. I watched some YouTube videos and bought a special drill bit, but I was still scared. Christian wasn’t nervous about it at all, so guess who did it? That’s right, Christian drilled all four holes into the tile with zero problems. Whew.

Steve tightened all the bolts into the brackets (We had to buy longer ones than came with the brackets because of three layers of material on the wall prior to the studs).

Christian drilled in the next four while Steve tightened them down. All the while Amanda and I cheered them on! LOL

Amanda hopped up and filled any and all cracks on the actual wall from the joint compound and paint settling over the last week.

Lastly, Amanda and I decorated the shelves. They may change a bit as I get to the store and maybe see things for them. We walked around the house looking for items that would look cute up there. I still need to print out a couple of cute quotes for the frames, or even a picture. We were talking about putting up a little lamp too. We will see, but they’re basically done for now.

I’m thrilled with how they turned out. My total cost was abut 150.00 for the whole set up. How can you even beat that!?

Next up: Framing out the window, molding, and finally changing out and covering those outlets!

Have a great week!