Shelf M-M-M-Melf

Don’t ask…I’m so tired of grading tests that I’m struggling to think straight.  Ahh…the life of a teacher.  On the bright side, Matt made delicious chicken enchiladas for dinner while I graded.  Makes you want to lightly punch him on the arm and say, “What a guy!”

In other news, we’ve been puttering around the house, but our main focus has been the yard.  More importantly, we spent the past weekend at a marriage retreat in the mountains.  One of my favorite takeaway thoughts from the weekend: “Your marriage should be the safest place in the world for both of you.”  All that said, I’ve been neglecting our blog and need to get back in the swing of things.  But it’s hard when the trees are budding and everything in you wants to be away from the computer!  And when that’s the case, I say forget the internet—which never sleeps—and let yourself off the hook, right?

One project that we finally did tackle was hanging a shelf in our bathroom.  We wanted a shallow shelf above our toilet—right between the shower curtain and mirror—but we didn’t want it to be too big or too expensive.  But the real reason I wanted a shelf was not even for décor purposes.  No.  I needed a shelf to hold this stinkin’ cute clock I found on sale at Target.

Does anyone else lose track of time in the bathroom?  I thought so!  It’s those darn eyebrows that need plucking—you can spend forever on them!  Anyway, that’s why I needed a shelf.  If you’re wondering why I couldn’t just put the clock on the countertop, it’s because I’m Type A.  I mean, who wants a cluttered bathroom countertop?  Not me.  No sirree.

Our first attempt at hanging a shelf ended in the typical Braham Fam way.  We found a cheap version of what we thought we were looking for, realized that it was just slightly off after it was already hung, and ended up spending a few bucks more to get the real deal.

Sadly, I forgot to take pics of the first shelf, but let me just say that it was too deep.  Kind of felt like you would hit your head on it when you stood up from doing your duty.  It felt out of balance with the rest of our bathroom.

Then we took a night away in Denver.  Before dinner at our favorite Bonefish Grill, we popped into the West Elm store at Cherry Creek.  Wow…it’s the kind of store you could lose yourself in.  But thanks to the hubs, I was able to stay fairly focused, and we ended up finding this shelf.

Depth?  Perfect.  Color?  Excellent match for our bathroom vanity.  Price?  A little more than we wanted to spend…but that’s what you do on indulgent overnight getaways, right?  Well, at least it’s what we did just this once.

It didn’t take Matt long to pop this puppy up.  Once it was hung, we grabbed an empty IKEA frame and filled it with one of our favorite quotes.  (By the way, I’ve started a quote file where I can stash any great quotes that I run across so they’re ready to go for times like this.)  And of course, we gave our clock a new home.  I’m thinking that the space might need something else—like a tall, thin vase or maybe a wine bottle that’s painted a fun color.  You know, something to garnish with a flower or two.  There are tons of possibilities, and I have a feeling it will be one of those areas that changes regularly—kind of like a fireplace mantel.

Oh, and two of the best things about this shelf?  1.) There’s a small lip on the shelf that holds pictures in place.  2.) It came with a bar that connects to the wall and the shelf just snaps on top of it—which means it doesn’t tilt away from the wall, but sits nice and tight.  I just hate it when shelves begin to droop.

While we probably could have made this shelf ourselves, sometimes it’s nice to let someone else do the work, don’tcha think?