Easy Rustic Shelf with Painted Accent

I’m making progress on my little home office area y’all!  I’ve only got a couple projects left to put finishing touches on this space, and today I’ve got a super simple project to share with you. This Easy Rustic Shelf with Painted Accent proves that you don’t have to go over the top to add beauty to your home.

I almost feel silly writing a blog post about this because it’s so simple, but I wanted to share it anyway!

Last week I showed you how I made those Faux Galvanized Metal Magazine Holders, and told you that I’m redecorating a small space between my kitchen & living room to have a home office area.  This was a bare wall when I started, and there is absolutely no storage in this space so I knew I’d at least need a small shelf, so I created one!

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you might notice these are almost identical to the ones we put up in our laundry room last year, and it’s the same process so I’ll skip that part.

The only difference really is the size of the board.  I made sure to use a board rather than a piece of lumber.  I learned at Haven that there is a difference.  Boards are a smoother finish and made to be pretty, whereas lumber is better for building something that you’ll eventually cover.  Since I needed a pretty shelf, I picked up a board at Home Depot, along with 2 steel brackets.

In keeping with my rustic/industrial vibe I’ve got going on in this space, I chose the silver finish on my brackets and didn’t need to paint them.

After trimming my board to size, I lightly sanded and cleaned it, then gave it a coat of dark walnut stain.

*Hint: I always paint on my stain, then use a paper towel to wipe off the excess so I can still see the wood grain.

I initially wanted to use my wood burning tool to etch a design on the outer edge, but decided that was too much work.  (I’m honest, right?)  Instead, I grabbed my pearl white acrylic paint by DecoArt and made a zigzag pattern along the front edge with the tip of a foam brush.

To be honest, I love it and I’m glad I did this instead of the wood burning.  The pearl white on this walnut stain looks almost silver, which ties in nicely with my silver brackets and silver magazine holders.

I’ve got some artwork on the way to hang above the shelf, and you’ll see that in a couple weeks.  I’ve also got to makeover my desk and add a few accessories, so stick around for that, too.

All in all, it’s coming together nicely!  I love having my shelf now so I don’t have a ton of crap piled all over my desk and spread all over the house.  Order!  I love it!

See?  I told you that was too easy!

For more awesome organization projects, check out these past posts:

DIY Faux Galvanized Metal Magazine Holders

Instagram Photo Blocks