Salvaged Shutter Shelves #2

Dimensions: Length 46.75 inches, Depth 15.75 inches, Height: 32 inches, Weight 27 pounds. Gray antique/crackle finish with white underlayer. Thin plexiglass inset over louvered slats (removable) in top and middle shelves. Great for living room, dining room, bedroom, entry way, office, den. Ideal for storing and displaying books, collectibles, dishes, special items, whatever. Because of the limited strength of the horizontal shutters spanning almost 4 feet, the middle and top shelves are not ideal for heavy items such as a large flat-screen TV. The bottom shelf, however, is quite strong. $150. Click here to purchase.

The Story

I found a pair of two-panel bifold shutter doors in an alley close to my house in the Glover Park neighborhood of D.C. The semigloss white paint was in decent shape, needing only a good cleaning and minor touch-ups. I removed the hardware, cut each door across the mid rail, sanded the edges, and filled the screw holes. Using lumber leftover from other projects, I created one additional shelf out of 3/8-inch plywood, supported with rails cut from 1 x 2 inch pine, which I painted semigloss white. Upcycling often means taking something old and making it look new, but in this case, I took something fairly new and made it look older. I applied a clear layer of Folk Art Plaid medium crackle substance, and finally a layer of Behr eggshell “Barista” paint for an aged, antique look. I assembled the 5 pieces with screws and glue. I hand-cut and sanded the edges of two pieces of clear plexiglass for flat surfaces over the louvers. This was the second set of shelves like this I’d ever built like this, and they were not modeled after anything I’d ever seen before.

Related Items: Salvaged Shutter Shelves #1, Salvaged Shutter Cabinet with Doors, Mirror, Shelf and Hooks on Reclaimed Shutters, Free-Standing Reclaimed Shutter Headboard, Salvaged Shutter Corner Shelves.