oddity display

     Sometimes you find the perfect piece for your home at the right price, but there's still something off about it. For $5 I couldn't pass this cute little shelf up, especially when I instantly saw the potential it had to house some of my small collectables. It was dusty and rustic, and had a ton of water spots all over it. The back was made of particleboard, meaning it made the natural wood look out of place, creating an eye sore.

     The wood was relatively rough, therefore I didn't have to sand it down like other surfaces. Once I cleaned away the dust the best I could, I laid the shelf down on a plastic trash bag to catch any spills. My go-to craft paint is Apple Barrel simply because it's incredibly cheap and comes in tons of colors and finishes. For this particular project, I wanted to keep it matte in order to match the rest of my pieces.

      I used a few different sized brushes to cover the top, bottom, and sides of the shelf, but kept a small brush on hand for the inner corners and edges. Since the backside is made of unfinished particle board, its eats acrylic paint like a hungry horse. The only way to fully cover it would be with spray paint.

     Call me spoiled, but I love Rustoleum's line of universal spray paints. They have an easy grip handle that keeps people like me from getting it all over themselves.  Unfortunately I could not find it in a matte formula, but satin would work perfectly for what I needed.

     Luckily for me, there were hangers attached to the back of the shelf already so I was able to hang it as soon as it dried. Once I had it where I liked, I could finally fill it will all my knick knacks and make it part of my home. 

Sometimes Goodwill finds are the best finds.

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