a simple shelf

Clutter makes me feel unorganized and a bit frazzled. Everyday, when I would look at our television, I would feel this way. Looking at this picture, you can see that the DVD player and the cable box are on the sides of the TV. The speakers for the surround sound are on the mantle. When watching TV, you had to turn your head sideways to see the time on the cable box or to read what level the sound was at. The DVD player could not play DVD's and the front of the mantle was not really accessible. It was way too cluttered.


I decided that today was the day to change that. I broke out the measuring tape, drew a little picture and went out to my local hardware store. There, I got all the materials that were needed.

Then, I primed the wood and got to work. Notice all the dust on my camera lens? That is from sanding the wood.

I painted two coats on each side of each piece of wood. I let it dry for about an hour or so on each side with a fan blowing on it. Today was a very wet, yucky day so I was afraid the paint would never dry.

After all the wood was dry, I assembled my shelf. I am going to be totally honest and tell you that it was no easy feat. Every time I got everything all set up and tried to nail a nail in, the boards on the bottom would fall over and I would get wood glue all over everything. Another confession is that I am pretty sure I scared the dogs and X-man pretty good at one point.

I am not a great carpenter and it shows. I did put another nail in to make sure that the shelf was sturdy.

Here is the end result. I am extremely happy with it. Everything looks so organized. The DVD player and cable box now sit flat like they should. The speakers are next to the TV and off the mantle. The only minor problem is that I can not find another home for the center speaker.

I should also mention that this entire project cost $31. The only thing I did not have to buy was a paintbrush.