Powder Room Shelves

We have a standard small powder room.  You know... tiny room with one toilet, one sink.  That's it.

Here's how it was decorated before:

We used a long basket to hold the magazines and one or two rolls of toilet tissue, but somehow it always ended up forgotten and no one would replace those spare rolls down there.

Wow.  Puny shelf!

But cute.

These were cute, and I liked the colors: grey, brown and light blue.  However, as you can see in the third photo, the wall seemed a bit bare.  We also had no storage available in the room for holding toilet tissue or tissue boxes.  We would try to keep a roll in the basket next to the toilet, but SO many times, the kids I forgot to replace the rolls.  Here's where they typically were stored:

Yep... those are Christmas tins and candle holders.  Yes, this is the Butler's Pantry storage cabinets directly across from the powder room door.  More convenient than on another floor... but still a little strange to keep toilet rolls next to cookie tins.

So, then I saw this...

320 Sycamore

and this...

HomeStories A to Z

and several more examples on Pinterest.

And then I knew what we needed... shelves!  It took me awhile to decide how I wanted them done.  I decided to use corbels to make three shelves.  I bought the corbels at Lowe's for a little over $6 each.  Then I had them cut me three shelves at 3' each.  I ended up with one more (two 6' shelves)... but I know I'll use that later.  

I primed and painted each one with matching white paint to the trim in the room.

The paint on the walls was Graceful Grey from Behr... it was already there, and I really like it.

After lots of measuring and leveling, I ended up with this:

 Three matching shelves with about 12" in between (the corbels, I believe, are 11" tall).

And then the FUN began... decorating!!

I found two woven shoebox baskets in the craft storage that I wasn't using, and they were perfect for toilet tissue rolls and tissue boxes.

I scrounged up a few other knick-knacks, including some pottery of mine from my college Ceramics classes, an old engagement photo, some vases, beach sands, and a few other things.

Here's the view from the side.

I love this idea of collecting beach sand from vacation spots.  Man, I just WISH I'd heard of this idea BEFORE visiting places like Hawaii (black sand), Bermuda (pink sand) and Playa de Carmen (... um, Mexican sand?)  Oh well, got the NC and SC sand for now.  :)

Awwww... who ARE those two young things??

This little bamboo plaque came from Guangzhou when we met our daughter Gracelynn.  It is a Bible verse in Chinese.

Another vase... and a photo gift from a graduated preschooler.

Here's the close-up of the three shelves.

Here is the view from the sink... of course, it all looks a little warped from the actual view.

But, alas, we are now very happy ... and there is NO excuse for not exchanging the toilet tissue when a roll runs out.  I even put that box on the lowest shelf!

My *hope* is to trim out the shelves to look a little fancier, ala Ballard Design's cafe shelves... but that may take a little time to figure it out and find time.

PS... Birdie update!  Here's the latest....

All five eggs (four blue, one spotted cowbird egg) have hatched.  Unfortunately, things are progressing as expected.  The cowbird is twice the size of the others and flops all over the others, smothering them. Mama bird (finch?) keeps feeding and tending to the whole nest of babies.  Even daddy, a red-headed finch, keeps popping in on them.  

We are away for a short trip, and I'm curious to see if any didn't make it when I get home.  Things aren't looking good, if you ask me.  :(  So sad.  Bully bird!!