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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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February 6, 2014

IKEA Bed Slats Turned Indoor Shutters



We are so thrilled to be welcoming our friend Candace from Vintage News Junkie here today! She has an awesome project to share with you all and we know you are going to be as inspired by her as we are!

white-distressed-kitchen-shutters

Hey there, friends! So nice to meet you here At the Picket Fence! My name is Candace and I blog over at Vintage News Junkie. I am a former news gal who traded in my Emmy Award for a couple of paint brushes, an antique or two, and lots of junkie treasures!

Candace from Vintage News Junkie

I’m a burlap lover, a mason jar picker, an auction go-er, a rusty relic finder, a chippy furniture painter… and an avid upcycler!! (Yup, I love JUNK!) So when Heather and Vanessa invited me to share a project with you lovelies, I knew exactly what to share!

From Ikea Bed Slats to Indoor Shutters, by Vintage News Junkie

A while back, the hubs and I were at one of our favorite thrift stores poking around, when we saw that they had a FREE section… you know the really junky junk, that nobody wants! I thought, hey, I’m not too good. Let’s go diggin’! We uncovered a stash of IKEA bed slats that appeared to be brand new! I’m thinking whoever tossed them in the FREE pile really didn’t know what they were! I didn’t know what I would make with them, but I knew this pile of wood was coming home with me! Load ‘er up!

Ikea Bed Slats into Indoor Shutters by Vintage News Junkie

A few months passed… and we dug out our ‘lil stack of wood. We were makin’ shutters!!

For the full step-by-step tutorial click here. But here’s the basic gist…

We started by measuring the window where we’re putting these shutters, right over the kitchen sink. The sun is just blinding in the evening as I am slaving away microwaving leftover takeout, so we definitely needed some shade. Once we had our measurements, it was time to prep the wood. No fancy tools, just a screwdriver and a pair of pliers. Now, remove the strips. Watch your thumb! Those bad boys are in there good!

Tools Needed for DIY Indoor Shutters by Vintage News Junkie

Then you’re gonna build your shutter! You can do this several different ways… we opted for a brace across the back and a simple hammer and nails approach! This was before the days of my Ryobi Nailer! This would be ten times easier now, with a nail gun! Alas, it’s starting to look like a shutter… right?!? (And I must point out those fingernails… LOVE ♥… who says a DIY gal can’t have cute nails!)

Building Plantation Shutters with Vintage News Junkie

Another brace on the bottom and here she is!

Upcycled Plantation Shutter from Ikea Bed Slats

Now for the finish! This is where things got sticky. Reeeeally sticky!! I started by staining the shutters dark brown, I wanted the darker color to shine through when I distressed them.

Staining DIY Indoor Shutters

From there it was a mess! I thought I wanted yellow. But, it wasn’t quite the mustard-crust-on-the-rim-of-the-jar look I was going for. So I slept on it… woke up the next morning and painted them again.. this time blue. Nope. Still not what I wanted. This journey went on for days… believe me!!

While the shutters were blue, I decided to go ahead and install them to see what they looked like… and what d’ya know? Disaster strikes again!! I had mis-measured!! Yup… they didn’t even meet in the middle!! Seriously!?!

So I stopped yet again… and the next day got serious! We rebuilt the shutters and finally… I decided on white!!

Paint Shutters White

A light distressing, just on the edges, revealed just enough of the blue and the dark stain to give them the slightly worn and aged look that I wanted. (Note: Several days later… new manicure!!)

Distress Edges of White Shutters

We opted to do something a little funky with the handles. Instead of the traditional vertical layout, we decided to attach them horizontally. And after many loooooong days… our kitchen shutters were FIN.A.LLY. done! It was quite the journey… but in the end… anything worth having is worth waiting for!

DIY Upcycled Shutter, Before & After, by Vintage News Junkie

I am quite smitten with how they turned out and they still remain one of my favorite things in our house!! I can’t wait to make more for some of our other windows!!

White Distressed Kitchen Shutters

So what’s next? A new light above the sink? Would a small chandlier be too much? And what about those builder grade cabinets and laminate counter tops?! Big things are in store this year at the Vintage News Junkie house! Won’t you join us??

Unique Kitchen Shutters

Oh! You like those little Topiary Centerpieces, I made them in 30 seconds! See how here!

DIY Indoor Shutters from Ikea Bed Slats

And if you want to see all the mishaps and disasters of these little shutters as they unfolded… you can check out:

Shutter Tutorial Part One | Shutter Tutorial Part Two | Victory Over My Shutters

Until next time… thank you for having me Heather and Vanessa! And I look forward to meeting many of you again soon, here At the Picket Fence!

Vintage News Junkie

*Follow Vintage News Junkie on Facebook*

6 Comments Filed Under: Decorating, DIY, Good Ideas Tagged With: DIY

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Comments

  1. Cheryl at Snaps of Ginger says

    February 6, 2014 at 10:34 AM

    I love this idea!! Makes me wish I had a house so I could try it. For now I’ll just live vicariously through you all.

    ~Cheryl
    https://snaps-of-ginger.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  2. Shirley@Housepitality Designs says

    February 6, 2014 at 7:37 PM

    How so very, very creative…they look wonderful!!…

    Reply
  3. Deborah says

    February 9, 2014 at 7:38 PM

    LOVE THESE! I am thinking this is my new window treatment!
    Just saw that you are going to be at the Michael’s Pinterest event. For some reason, didn’t realize you were in OR. I am in Southern OR and would love to make it up for that event. Well see

    Reply
  4. Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication says

    February 13, 2014 at 6:15 PM

    Love this! Those shutters are so cute! What a clever idea!

    Reply
  5. Susan says

    February 23, 2014 at 9:27 PM

    Well of COURSE a chandy!

    Reply
  6. dezvoltare personala says

    May 31, 2014 at 6:07 PM

    Hi there! I know this is sort of off-topic however I had tto ask.
    Does building a well-established blog like yours require a large amount of work?
    I am compltely new too writing a blog but I do write in my diary
    every day. I’d like to start a bloog so I cann share my experience and
    views online. Please let mme know if you have any kind of ideas orr tips for
    brand nnew aspiring bloggers. Thankyou!

    Reply

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