Kitchen Shelves

After realizing that our kitchen was in dire need of storage space, Erik set out to install shelves.  He found The Barn Saver - a guy (named John) who travels around Pennsylvania salvaging the wood from old barns.  It's a wonderful way to make use of the reclaim and repurpose all the material that would otherwise deteriorate with old age.  

So Erik bought three 16' floor boards, 12" wide and an inch thick.  It was hard at first to see their potential for being shelves (even though we wanted a worn and weathered look) since they were caked with decades of mud.  But we took the chance and he slowly uncovered their beauty.

This was a piece in its original state.

After some sanding...

After even more sanding and cleaning, Erik set to work finishing the wood with tung oil (there was no staining involved).

It took some time to decide how to install them.  Brackets seemed risky with the size and weight of each shelf and its contents.  Instead, Erik hung the shelves from the ceiling studs and manila rope.  It took some time to level everything accurately, but the results were exactly as we had hoped for.

8' shelves for all our dishes, mugs, and serving-ware...

and four 2' shelves for extra pantry space.

Close-up of the finished wood.

I love having a handyman as my husband! :)