"floating" shelves

Long time no post! Between kids and a full time job, it has been so hard to find time for any projects! We did, however, get our living room painted (in one night, might I add) and some last minute shelves hung up. And even though we have a long ways to go before it is exactly what we want, the pieces are starting to come together in my mind. I have always loved the idea of a warm cozy feeling of a living. That "home" feeling when you walk in the door. That is what I want. I love knick-knacks and trinkets and greenery. I just needed somewhere to put it all. And that is where our "floating" shelves came into play. 

Cute? I think so. Now I will give credit where credit is due. Would not have been able to do this without the hubs. (Happy, Dear?) He found me the greatest pieces of wood that were just the size that I needed on his job site at work. He and his coworker rummaged through scrap wood until they found the best pieces. (shout out to Will, too!) 

Now, many women would not be thrilled to come home to find 4 pieces of wood in the living room floor when your husband tells you he has a surprise for you -- but this chick has been wanting some floating shelves for quite some time! This was the easiest project ever. Just got some Rust-Oleum stain at Wal-Mart. The shade of stain is "Kona" and it was exactly the color that I wanted and it dries in an hour! Which is exactly what impatient people like me love. 

After the stain was applied we just waited an hour fourty-five minutes for it to dry and then my handy-dandy husband attached L brackets -- BOOM! "Floating" shelves. And I use the term floating loosely, because you can still see the brackets, however, he hung them upside down so that you can't see them from underneath... and we both knew I had enough junk to fill the shelves so they wouldn't show. So unless you're looking very closely, you can hardly tell they aren't really floating shelves. 

See?!

And if you are wondering what color we decided to go with.. it was a shade we found at Lowe's called Lighthouse Shadows. 

My little man approved so it was good with me! It was a tad more "baby blue" than I wanted to begin with, but after adding the shelves and seeing the contrast of the dark wood against it, I am happy with our choice!

So, that is our new contribution to our living room! Next stop, fireplace!! 

And if you did not care for that... here is a picture of Oliver using Cody's neck pillow to be a Triceratops. Enjoy.