First big project of the Year

Okie dokie artichokies.... here is my first big project of the new year. I've had this fabulous shelf unit for about 15 odd years or so. I picked it up at a yard sale for $100. My hubby and I pulled up just as a bunch of men were going to unload it from the back of a truck. I said, "Wait a minute, how much is it?" Someone said, "one hundred bucks"--- I said, "leave it on the truck, I live right down the street....I'm buying it-- and your delivering it!" This piece of furniture was used in a cute country store as a display to hold candles, picture frames and other cute stuff for sale.
The entire thing is made up of shelves, which makes it hard to use as a piece to store things-- which I need more of. I decided to use large matching baskets on the two large bottom shelves to hold my extra stuff . I bought 8 baskets which I painted white and made lids for using plywood cut to sit on top of each basket. The baskets hold a lot and keep the clutter well hidden!

It is super cute... but I was wanting to change it up a bit. I'm going for a softer decorating style~ I decided to paint the whole thing white and cover up the heart cut outs. It only cost $10 bucks for the thin board that I used to cover up the cut outs. I made a paper pattern and cut out each piece I needed with my jigsaw (on the kitchen table, its raining outside!) I then just nailed the wood on both the outside and the inside of the shelf unit. After that, I primed & painted with a flat white paint until I thought my arm would fall off. I like how it turned out. Here is the after~ You wouldn't think it would be hard to fill with stuff to make it look cute, but it was very hard! I'm going to look through my huge collection of decorating books to get ideas on what to put on those shelves.Here is a photo of it straight on~I also recovered the lids of the 8 baskets I have on this unit. I used some curtains from the "Shabby Chic" line as the fabric on the lids. I hot glued the fabric onto the plywood and then covered the fabric with clear contact paper to keep them from getting dusty. Now, I can take a soft cloth to the tops of the lids to keep them clean.

There is a linky party to see more before and afters at the blog: Thrifty Chick Decor..... go check them out! You can also see more Show & Tells over at Cindy's blog "My Romantic Home" Jen is hosting a linky party on her blog Sanctuary Arts. Please visit and see what everyone has been working on as their first big project of the year~ If you have linked to my blog and wish to view more, just click right here!