Why Knot?

Hi everyone!  Its been a while since I've made a post and I decided its about time I get back in the swing of things. 

My last post was a recap of our kitchen cabinet makeover.  The cabinets are holding up well and we still love the outcome.  The color is standing up to the daily use and sometimes abuse at the expense of the kiddies!

Operation Kitchen Makeover is still underway and we still have a few more projects to tackle before its completed, but today I wanted to show our "upgraded" cabinet shelves.  I call them that because we took the standard particle board shelves out of the open cabinetry and added some thick wood ones in their place.  It was a small detail that makes a big difference, in my opinion. 

Here's what the standard shelves looked like before:

And here's what they look like now:

Sine we were keeping the cabinetry open I knew I not only wanted something that was going to be very sturdy, but also wanted to use it as an opportunity to add some visual interest.  I decided on pine because I was really drawn to the natural veining and knots in the wood.  I think its such a beautiful juxtaposition against the crisp white cabinets, deep navy walls, and pop of chartreuse against the back. 

I found the pine slabs at Home Depot and had them cut them down to size.  Then I sprayed them down with a clear poly to protect them from the everyday dings and scratches. 

I decided not to paint them white because once I saw the wood  I really wanted it exposed.  Ordinarily I would never go for this material, but I think it really works in this setting. We went with a 3/4" thickness which I felt would hold up well against any potential bowing in the middle we would have gotten with the standard 1/4" thick shelves.  So far we haven't had any issues. 

We also finally painted the walls navy.  We chose Glidden's Rich Navy for the walls and we just love the richness they add to the space. 

Things are coming together slowly, but surely.  Next up we'll tackle the back splash.  Hopefully we can come up with a compromise soon, because I'm itching to get it installed already!

Until next time.....

XoXo- Shavonda