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Thursday, February 9, 2012

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:





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). 

6 comments:

  1. I heart them too! Very cute!

    Just wondering though...I noted that you have a detector that detects movement in the corner there. Are the photos and shelves decreasing the effectiveness of that? I'm sure you guys thought of that, of course. Just askin'

    I really like it! What a happy space and doubly so for the price tag! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey there...yes, Mr. AKM spent at least 20 minutes checking the detector from all directions to make sure it still worked. LOL! Had it not, he wasn't putting those ledges up :)

      Thanks for your concern!

      Delete
  2. Beautiful! I just pinned a bunch of open shelving ideas on Pinterest.

    I host a Home and Family Friday linky party. I'd love it if you'd link up your project.

    becca-homeiswheremystorybegins.blogspot.com

    Becca

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this transformation. I have been looking for a staircase solution and this is perfect. Pinning this! I am a new Pinterest follower visiting from Not just a Housewife. Vicky from Mess For Less

    ReplyDelete

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