new kitchen shelves!

for awhile ive been debating the merits of open kitchen shelving.  i have a mostly white [and yellow] kitchen, and a black cat that manages to get his nasty on every single thing i own.  just over 6 months ago i removed the glass door on my liquor cabinet, essentially leaving the glassware on open shelves, and it has been a resounding success.  minimal cat hairs in my glasses, and the bathroom demo didn't even leave a layer of dust.

i lack the funding to redo the entire kitchen and the cabinets are terrible, so lo and behold, it's time for open shelves!

i did some measuring, went to my home-away-from-home-depot and bought lumbahh.

basically the shelves could be 17.5"x21.5" without getting in the way of window trim and the cabinet door just to the left, but 10"x20" seemed like a more workable size.  and easier to remember.  i bought a 2'x4'x1/2" sheet of mdf and managed to cram it in the back of the mini, along with 4 1.5"x1.5"x32" "special" lumber to act as furring.  basically square cut lumber in weird lengths.  but look at the drawing above.  i did math.  in the hd.  without paper.  it made much more sense once i got home.  and remembered i didn't have any 3" screws left.  but what's a project without at least 2 trips to the hd.

anywho.  i busted out my circular saw, safety glasses, aaaand searched in vain for ear plugs for about 3 minutes.  then started blazing away. 

the long piece of square lumber was cut to 19", so it was just short of the 20" shelf length.  the shorter piece i lined up and cut to 7.5" so when it abuts to the corner, it is 9" total.  all of this math and power tools had me amped up something wicked... so naturally i took a 3 hour nap.

then i pre-drilled holes, and started attaching shit to my walls.  first the long support strip, leveled out, then the short leveled with the long, then plop the shelf on top.  but since i didn't round out the corner that sticks out, its a bit unbalanced, so i threw a short screw in the back of each shelf, attaching it to the furring.  then primer, paint, and bob's your uncle.  or something.

a close up of my dishes.  pint glasses are a random collection of purchases and gifts, mugs are from target, plates are mostly from goodwill except the two square ones from cb2.  ideally i would have had a shelf for bowls as well, but i have too many for the space.

minimalist i am not.