The Kitchen Shelf

There's a law somewhere that I will never have vast, empty expanses of countertops.  I can deal with that, though, since I make what's *on* the counter work for me.  Like this plain-jane mini shelf we normally use for mugs and bricabrac:

 

It's old, a little creaky, a little bow-y, and more than a little dingy:

Or at least it was!  I decided to run with the rather groovy 70s yellow counters in the kitchen and embrace a bright, summery palette.  Extra inspiration came from the lid of this old tea can lid and my new tablecloth which is a riot of citrus tones:

 

After hours of spraypainting, hand-painting, and a final few moments of shellac application, here it is!

And here's a close-up of the motif on both ends of the shelf.  This was the second end I did, when I decided what the heck I was doing and got it down to a process, so it has fewer mistakes ("character"):

 

It even sort of goes with that day-glo tablecloth!  I estimate I saved about $30 facelifting this shelf, rather than chucking it and getting a new one.  If it gets more wobbly, I'll just shore it up with some brackets or screws, now that it's a lovely part of the kitchen and not a utilitarian piece.

My reward to myself for finishing this in one day is to brew some more iced tea and put a movie on to keep my mind off the heat.  It's 90-something today in my area, but thankfully I have a new pretty thing to keep me distracted :)