My Kitchen Shelf Metamorphosis

Around this time every year I get motivated to do little projects around the house. I'll get alot done from now until early summer. After that, it's just to darn hot so not much gets accomplished. Then it's the holidays and before you know it, the cycle begins again.

For the first time since November, I went thrifting Tuesday afternoon. I've learned it's either feast or famine when thrifting but Tuesday I was finding things at every turn. More often than not, I go home empty handed but Tuesday was my lucky day!

About 5 months ago I bought this tiered shelf for my kitchen. I had been looking for a few years but could never find exactly what I wanted. I ended up buying this beauty from a man back East who makes them and sells them on Ebay.


I had envisioned big plans for these shelves but truthfully they've pretty much been empty the whole time. I had 5 beautiful green plates displayed on the second shelf but that was about it. It just never seemed to come together, until Tuesday night!

While thrifting I found 3 white plates, a small white creamer, a white medium sized pitcher, and greenery in a planter that perfectly matched the plates I had on the shelf. It was all starting to come together in my mind so as soon as I got home, I got busy accessorizing and pulling out things I already had such as silver and blue and white items. It looked awesome! The shelves looked so beautiful that my husband commented on it first thing yesterday morning, something that he doesn't do very often.

I also bought a new lampshade for the living room. Have you noticed that round lampshades are all the rage right now. Just something as simple as changing a lampshade can make a big difference and freshen up the decor. Although I am sold on the round lampshade idea, I'm not sure if I'm sold on the particular one that I bought. I bought it at Tuesday Morning and it was the only one they had. I think it's just a little to white for me. Most of my lampshades are more of an off white or creamier color. Here is the lamp with it's original shade and then with the new round lampshade, still in it's clear plastic covering. I haven't taken it off yet because I'm not sure it's staying. So tell me, which one of the lampshades do you prefer?



While I was busy in the living room yesterday afternoon mulling over lampshades, I heard the biggest, loudest noise of all time. I ran into the kitchen knowing full well what had just happened. Yes, my beautifully decorated shelf, with all of it's new accessories, had come crashing down off the wall. All of my perfectly placed treasures were in a million pieces, scattered everywhere. After already picking up alot of the mess, I saw my camera on the table and took a picture of the aftermath. I had my camera close by because I had wanted to show you the metamorphosis that had taken place. Unfortunately, I was just a little too late!


I still can't believe what happened. My husband and I are extremely careful when hanging things and we checked and double checked to make certain it was sturdy on the wall. Turns out the hooks that were sent with the shelf weren't strong enough and they bent with the weight, allowing the whole shelf to come crashing down.

The disaster has been cleaned up but guaranteed, we'll be picking up pieces of glass for weeks to come! I immediately brought out the touch-up paint for the wall and chair rail and we'll be hanging the shelf again soon, but with much heavier, stronger hooks, thanks to a trip to Lowe's. I'll be starting my shelf metamorphosis all over again, but at least I now have a vision of what I'm looking for. And truthfully, I'm thankful. Other than broken plates and such, not much was damaged on the walls, chair rail, floor, or shelf. It could have been much worse!

(Although I don't have any pictures of my thrifty finds this week (since they're in the trash can, boo hoo!), I decided to go ahead and link up with Leigh today for Thrifty Thursday. Thank you Leigh for hosting Thrifty Thursday each week. Hopefully next time I join in, I'll have pictures! To join in the fun or to visit other Thrifty Thursday participants, click here.)