One room Challenge - week 5

Here again! Hi you all! It has been heart-warming to see more and more visitors and comments week after week! Thank you all for visiting. If you are new hear or want to get to know me better, you can do it here.

Taking part to this wonderful One room Challenge as a linking participant has been great! If you want to read about our progress, you can check all the previous posts. I have found many interesting new blogs to read and week after week I have been impressed by others creativity and ideas! So, remember to check back at Calling it home -blog what other participants have done this week! After all, there is only one week to go before the big reveal!

Actually we don´t have a whole week, because finishing the space, taking photos and writing a post takes time, too! We have still things to do, so hopefully we get it all done!

This week we had two important tasks, installing the floating shelf and adding trims. Well - hmm - we did finish the other one ;). Want to know which one it is?

Yep, the shelf! I love the live edge counter top so much, that I decided to use the same kind of wood plank to make the shelf. Actually this piece was leftover from the other plank. Remember we needed a piece to make the counter top deep enough. This piece is the other side from that plank, we needed the straight side and now we need the live-edge side. We are fortunate to have these planks for free from my husbands father. If we should have bought these, it would have cost way too much for us!

I thought about adding a continuous shelf from the sink wall to the back wall. It´s such a small space, that I thought it´s best to keep it simple. There was actually no use for the shelf above the sink, apart the fact that the first mirror wouldn´t look too small. But having another mirror and loving simple spaces I decided to install only one shelf. I even doubted the need for that. I like to change the art on the walls and with a shelf it´s easier, because you don´t leave any marks on the wall.

See that empty wall! I started with cutting in size and sanding the plank. I used the same clear finish, what I used for the counter top, to give it a few protective coats. The essential part is wiping it with a damp cloth first, then sanding it. Between coats it´s also important to sand it with 180-200 grid paper. It guarantees a nice and smooth surface at the end. After some drying time, we were ready for installing the shelf!

I knew from day one, that we need/want some kind of shelf, but that was it. I wanted it to look as simple as possible, no visible brackets. I search for examples. There where loads of instructions how to built a floating shelf, but it was hard to find an instruction where they would use a real plank. There was one in Jenna Sue´s blog, but they made their own brackets. After some more searching I found those brackets, I showed you last time. I found them on Amazon. There can be found also another type of brackets used in floating shelves. Anyway, they didn´t ship those to Finland! After searching some more (again), I found an UK company called Tuxford Furniture Hardware Ltd and they shipped to Finland! I was happy dancing at that moment!

Well back to the installation itself! We decided to use two brackets for this small shelf. It depends on the shelf and it´s weight, how many you should use.First of all I decided where I wanted the shelf to be. Using our level I draw small marks across the width the shelf would go. Horizontally I wanted the shelf to be in the middle of the wall, so I started by measuring the wall and the shelf and their middle points. On the leveled line I draw small mark to show the center of the wall.  Then I took the plank and measured the distance from the center to the point I wanted the bracket to be. Then I measured that same distance from the wall´s center point outwards, on both sides. That way I was left two more marks on the plank and the wall.

To get the brackets to the wall, we had to drill holes for them. We used just a little smaller drill bit than the brackets screw part. Using our adjustable spanner I turned the brackets in place.

Note: Check what material your walls are before drilling! Our walls are made from logs and others have paneling. On this wall we had paneling and the stud run in the middle of the wall, so we had just the paneling to attach the brackets to. Luckily the paneling is very durable and thick so it hold on the weight of the shelf and those light frames we are going to put on it.

Here they are both in place. At this point it´s best to use liner to make sure the brackets are in line. If not, no need to panic. It´s possible to drill the needed holes to the plank so that the shelf is balanced.

You need to check are your marks on the plank in right places. At this point you can measure and double check the situation. Our brackets were just slightly imbalance, so we decided to drill the other hole slightly lower that the shelf would be in line once in place. The thicker the plank the more you can adjust the place for the hole.

Next game the actual drilling. You need the same size drill as the brackets other end is. We had 12mm. We had a just the right wood drill bit in hand. After drilling we tried an extra bracket to the hole. The hole wasn´t deep enough! I should have considered that! So what to do?

It was pure luck that I happened to found an old drill bit exact the same size, but longer! In no time we had the holes. Problem solved :)

Then came the most exiting phase, putting the shelf in place! The question: "Will it fit, or do we have to start again?", run in my mind! I was so glad that it actually fit just right, it was even lined up perfectly! But, (you probably already waited something to happen, don´t you? ), the other end of the shelf didn´t go in it´s place, it slide out of place. So some problem solving was needed again! It was my husband, who suggested that I should wrap some painter´s tape to the bracket, to make the connection tighter.

It helped! Can you believe it? What some tape cannot fix! Basically the shelf should go in tightly to hold it in place. That usually happens all by itself, because it´s hard to get the brackets and holes to meet exactly.

I liked using these brackets and luckily ordered some more for future projects! The shelf itself is so beautiful! I love the live edge and I´m happy I ended up installing just this one shelf. It´s just the right spot to introduce some art to the space. Speaking of art, I´ve painted some and plan on trying to DIY some. Let´s just see how they turn out and what I end up using for the final reveal!

What comes to the trim work, I have started prepping for it. We bought the trims and I have even painted them. I wanted them to match the walls and the ceiling. I had to buy a paint which is durable enough for trims and doors etc. and eggshell finish wasn´t an option in that paint. I chose the nearest possible, so satin it was. Here in Finland we have a paint company called Tikkurila, which makes all kinds of paints and has it´s own paint chart. I have been using their cart to select all the paints I have used. Their products are really high-quality.

After painting the trims, we were ready to install them the next day. Unfortunately it has been raining since then. That´s a problem, because we need our jig saw near by, but not indoors, so the only option is to put it in our front yard. Much easier to clean the outdoors than inside! The weather should get better tomorrow, but for the next couple days we are celebrating Vappu (Labor day). We may end up installing trims on the 1st of May ;). Well, maybe not! I´m happy if we get them done by the Sunday evening!

We´ll meet soon again! Now of to go to LInda´s blog to check out the other posts!