Reclaimed Wood Wall Shelf

This rustic reclaimed wood wall shelf is so simple to make and adds so much character and farmhouse style to any space!

Hello, it’s me (sung to Adele’s song).  That crazy lady from Making Joy and Pretty Things back to share another fun farmhouse project with y’all this month.

A few months ago, my little clan and I went to a local warehouse and picked up some reclaimed wood that we eventually turned into farmhouse shelves.  Well, in that same trip,  I found another piece of barnwood that’s been sitting in my basement for months.

I had big plans for this piece of wood.  A farmhouse sign over our kitchen.  It was going to be simple and rustic and lovely.

And you guys, these big plans never happened.  Does that happen to you, too?  You have this great idea, something that will be perfect, and it never happens.  Rest assured you are not alone 🙂

I started planning for the One Room Challenge and all types of other ideas I had swirling in my head completely forgot about this piece of wood.

Until I remembered that I had actually forgotten about my post HERE, too!  I was completely scrambling for ideas!

That’s when I remembered the long lost barnwood in my basement.  AND I had been swooning over this lovely shelf from Magnolia Market for some time now that I figured I could make myself, for a fraction of the cost!

I wish I had a before picture to show you!  I don’t know why I didn’t take the photo …

The  piece of wood was too wide and long to be a shelf (but would have been a pretty sign!).  We ended up with the following dimensions for the wall shelf:

Long Piece – 24 in. long, 5 in. wide

Small Shelf Piece – 5 in. long, 5 in. wide

In doing that,  we cut off the natural edges of the wood which were rustic and uneven and full of charm (gasp!).  But I just had to do it to make the piece work.

My husband used a circular saw to cut the reclaimed wood.  He used a 1″x2″ clamped along the board to act as a guide to cut the width of the board to 5 inches.

He used the circular saw again to cut the small piece of wood that we used for the shelf.

Next, he used a pocket screw bit to drilled inset holes through the back of the long, main board to attach the shelf.

(This was done after dark, sorry for the yellow tinted picture!!) 

Lastly, he used self-tapping screws to hold the shelf to the backing board.

Once the piece was assembled, I decided to dry brush some chalk paint over the entire wall shelf.

Dry brushing is a technique where you put the tiniest amount of paint onto your brush to brush onto whatever you’re painting.  I even brush the paint onto a paper towel before using it on the wood.  If it’s not enough paint you can always add more.

I focused on the edges of the wood that were cut since they didn’t match the rustic unfinished look of the front (uncut) piece.

I was really worried about painting the wood.  It’s basically a criminal offense to alter a natural piece of reclaimed wood.  But, let me tell you, I’m SO glad I did.

I could not possibly love this little reclaimed wood wall shelf more than I do.  The paint only adds to its charm!

And, I think you can’t even tell the edges have been cut (unless you look really close).

I added a little glass vase and some faux eucalyptus leaves that never made it into a wreath I was planning (another idea that didn’t happen, I’m starting to see a trend here 😉 )

The wall shelf was the last piece in my little gallery wall.  I LOVE how it looks with the DIY Irish Blessing Framed Sign and the DIY Framed Canvas (without power tools!).

Just one last photo …

I hope you love this little reclaimed wood wall shelf as much as I do.   {Oh and the one from Magnolia Market is $48 and we paid $18 for the whole piece of wood,  WOOOO!}

Until next month –

Wishing you a joyful day!