Small Changes = Big Impact

Adding Ledges to the Staircase

For 3 long years I have looked at this space in my home and hated it.  Like, every time I walked thru the entry way or rounded the corner to head up the stairs I would literally groan to myself at my displeasure in this "space".  At one point I tried putting large frames filled with family photos there thinking that looking at all of our happy smiling faces would make me love this wall more. NOT!  In fact, it made me hate it even more for being so dark and dreary and not allowing me to see our smiling faces without grabbing a flashlight.  Ugh!

Eventually the frames came down and the wall went bare.  It was a sad, empty space at the bottom of our stairs.  No smiling faces...no pictures or art...just a wall of nothingness.

BORING!

Eventually I hung some mirrors in an effort to "brighten" the space a bit with some reflective light.

I felt like it was improving...but it was still lack-luster.  (see how dark it is...UGH)

Until my mom decided to re-decorate her living room that is...and then I got to have the cast-offs.  WOOHOOO!  Nothing like scoring some FREE decorations!  

She had these ledges that she bought from Pottery Barn several years ago that she was no longer using.  Ummm...SCORE!    At 3 feet each, these babies proved to the the perfect addition to my sad, empty space. 

So we Mr. AKM busted out some power tools and a level and went to work.

After finding only ONE stud to work with in a 3 foot space...WTH?  I thought that there were supposed to be studs every 16"?  HA!  Now that would be fun to have "studs" lined up every 16" wouldn't it?  Mine would go something like this...Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gossling, Patrick Dempsey...Oh, yea, and Mr. AKM too!  Love ya babe!

Sorry...I got a little sidetracked on the stud finder...so we only had the one stud to work with;  therefore, we had to put some anchors in to support the other side of the bracket.  I'd show you photos of this, but I'm a bit embarrassed to show you the major holes mistakes that we made trying to accomplish this.  Suffice to say, these babies are NOT coming down anytime in the next millennium...in fact, if we move, these just might need to stay behind.  I'm just sayin'.

In the end...it was so worth the swiss cheese effect that our wall now sports...

And this is what I see when I walk down my stairs now...

Its the small things in life that make my heart go pitter patter.  And because Valentines Day is just around the corner, I traded out my photo mats and replaced them with red ones...I heart them :)

So what do you think of the space now? 

Do you have any projects that you completed for absoluty FREE from someone elses cast offs?  I'd love to hear/see them!

You may find this post partying in the following places:

Monday:  Debbie Doos - The Girl Creative - Skip to My Lou - Craft O Maniac - Lisa's Craft Blog - The DIY Show Off -Everything Under the Moon

Tuesday:  Not Just A Housewife - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Clean and Scentsible - Crazy For Crust - recipes - Uncommon Designs

Wednesday:  Savvy Southern Style - Blue Cricket Design - Seven Thirty-Three - Someday Crafts - Michele Raven Designs/

Thursday:  Delightful Order - Something Swanky - Recipes - The How To Mommy - A Little Nosh         

Friday:  Finding Fabulous - Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Fingerprints on the Fridge - Shabby Nest - Whipperberry – Miss Mustard Seed - French Country Cottage - Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), 

I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home), Latest & Greatest Friday (Days of Chalk and Chocolate), Bacon Time, Fusion Friday (Jane Deere Blog).