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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

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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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I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
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…It was just the beginning!
Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house that’s become the landing zone for ALL THE THINGS! 🙋🏻‍♀️🤪 I’ve never been more thankful for our rarely used dining room table as it’s become command central for school books and laptops and games.

Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

What do you need to bring to Him today? I’ll share mine in the comments and I’d love to hear from you too!
I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole lockdown thing began, I’ve come to appreciate this time of day even more.

It feels the most...normal. Daytime is strange and foreign right now. My husband has taken over our home office, I’m suddenly taking over the responsibility of managing my kids’ distance learning and let me just say that teaching 7th grade algebra to my daughter is hugely ironic since I struggled with math all the way through school. I’m trying to do my own work but it feels utterly futile with the constant interruptions which take precedence right now. In the daytime, I’m constantly reminded of how upside down life feels.

But, in the evening, I cook dinner like I’ve always done and we gather around the table like we’ve always done and we laugh and tell stories and then clean up and play games or go on a walk or watch a show. And that feels SO gloriously normal.

So now I love evenings even more than I ever did before and I’m so grateful for this little chunk of time where the rhythms we established years ago are helping to sustain us now when so much of life feels outside of our control.

What feels ‘normal’ to you right now? Whatever it is, keep doing it. 🌿
When I was in college I would frequently call home When I was in college I would frequently call home and pour my heart out to my mom, sharing with her all that was happening in my life in that completely unfiltered way that you can talk with the person who potty trained you. These phone calls usually took place at night and my mom would patiently listen as I vented frustrations about professors, roommates, boyfriends and the food in the cafeteria. And, inevitably, they would end with my mom saying, “Everything seems worse when you’re tired. Try not to overthink things or make any major decisions tonight, especially when you are feeling emotional.” Dear friends, may I pass along this advice to you today?

If you don’t absolutely HAVE to make a decision right now, I want to encourage you to wait until life gets back to normal. If you are finding yourself over-analyzing relationships and family dynamics, I want to encourage you to remember that everything seems more dramatic when looked at under a microscope. And, let’s face it, being homebound with our loved ones non-stop makes us all feel like lab rats in an experiment.

If you are tempted to quit a job, start a business, start homeschooling permanently, stop homeschooling permanently, move to a new city, buy a farm, quit pursuing your dream, join a commune or make any other major life decision just…wait. Because, if it is in fact the right decision, it will be made even clearer once our lives return to their ‘regularly scheduled programming’. Instead, in this strange season, let’s all just take a deep, collective breath and let it out slowly, releasing the anxiety that threatens to overtake us. Let’s help each other maintain some perspective and not slip into a posture of over-thinking every little thing in our lives. Let’s remember that the enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to use this time when things feel dark to manipulate us into thinking that aspects of our lives are worse than they actually are.

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Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking thes Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking these days! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m trying to avoid gaining the #corona15 but my daughter and I LOVE baking together and it does help to pass the time plus it counts as a science lesson right?

If you’re able to find flour in the stores (for the love people please stop overbuying!) and you’re doing more baking at your house too you need to add this apricot bread to your list of new recipes to try!

Normally I’d point you to my blog for the directions but I’m going to do you a solid and leave the full recipe in the comments.

What have you baked so far during this time of social distancing? I’d love some new ideas!
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