Nesting...it is a real phenomenon that pregnant women tend to go through. It is the drive to make your home ready for a baby. The husband does not believe that this is a real condition. He believes it is an excuse women have made-up to go shopping and force their husbands to do projects around the house. He can believe what he wants but as the wife is the one growing the baby she calls the shots.
My main nesting focus has been organization and maximizing storage space. We are lucky to have a large amount of storage space already but for some reason I just envision that as soon as the little one arrives she will take over every inch of space with diapers, bath paraphernalia, headbands and bows, toys, and of course...clothes!
I don't like clutter. I like things to have a place that is easily accessible.
I wanted make a bit more storage space in the extra bathroom that will become baby bath central. My focus was clearing/cleaning out the linen closet so that it could be used for baby bath items. Up until this project the extra bathroom linen closet was used for towel storage for all bathrooms, including the master bath. I didn't want a bunch of homeless towels so space needed to be created somewhere else.
Do any of you have a toilet room? A toilet room is a complete waste of space in a master bedroom that only houses a toilet. While some, including the husband, might argue that function alone is important enough I couldn't help but feel we were wasting a storage opportunity.
Pinterest to the rescue!
I stumbled upon this great usage of space from laramarkdesigns on the HGTV website...just add some shelves! I loved the chunky look so the husband came up with the following plan that used 2x4's. It ended up being a pretty cheap project, looks great, and provides some extra storage space freeing up the baby bath room.
Win, Win, Win!
Chunky Wood Shelves
Project Rankings
Difficulty - Medium (You do need wood working tools including a planer)
Frustration - Low
Makeability - 100% worth it!
Materials
2x4's
1x4's
Stain or Paint
Wood Glue
Instructions
Step #1: Determine the number of shelves you want and the desired length and width. The width will just be how many 2x4's you want to glue together. We ended up using 4 2x4's so the total width was about 16 inches. The husband used 1x4's to rest the shelves on instead of trying to anchor the shelves to the walls themselves. If you want more of a "floating shelf" type look you may want to figure out a way to direct mount the shelves to the wall and skip the 1x4 shelving brackets. If you want to use the shelving brackets you will need to measure the following for each shelf....2 pieces that are the shelf width minus 1 inch (the width of the 1x4), and 1 piece that is the length of the shelf.
Step #2: Cut all of your 2x4's to length and glue them together with wood glue. Clamp the pieces to together and allow to fully dry. ***A tip from the husband is to try and find some fairly straight/non-warped 2x4's it will make gluing and the next step easier.***
Step #3: Cut your 1x4's if you are making the shelving brackets.
Step #4: Once your shelves are dry you will need to run them through a planer to get them smooth. If you don't have a planer you can probably use a sander to get some of the smaller height differences in the wood buffed out.
Step #5: After wiping down your shelves to get rid of the sawdust you are ready to paint or stain your shelves. You will also want to stain/paint your 1x4's.
Step #6: Install your shelving brackets by placing the long piece at the back of your wall. This piece will go from edge to edge of your wall. Next install your 2 side pieces. They will butt up against the back piece shelving bracket which is why they are 1 inch shorter than the width of your shelf. Take care to get your shelving brackets level or else your shelves will not be flat and they might wobble. No one like a wobbly shelf!
Step #7: Place your shelves on the brackets and enjoy your new found storage space.
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