Bright and Functional Kitchen Shelves

I've been going through a phase of using up DIY materials - all the wood, plasterboard, paint, etc that we have accumulated for projects that never were.

We had put up an IKEA grundtal shelf in our kitchen ages ago (itself a remnant from a previous kitchen) but it never worked. It was the wrong size, the wrong height and all the bars made it quite impractical, unless you store large items or pots on it.

Before starting, I balanced the new shelves on top of the old one, to get an idea of the space - I had to use a lot of imagination, but I could see that my plan would work.

The brackets were originally bought for the pantry, but were too big. The shelving had been bought for the utility room, but was also too big - I now carry a tape measure in my bag.

I removed the old shelf and filled the holes - I used ready mixed taping plaster - it was dry and ready to sand and paint by the time the shelves were in place.

I measured exactly where I wanted the brackets to be - I wanted to mount a rail on the brackets when I was finished so they had to be the right distance apart.  They are not central so the new shelves could sit tight against the wall. * Measure twice, cut once *

 It was getting dark and the rest of the family, who had been out for the afternoon, were on their way back. I checked with a spirit level to check everything was straight then quickly on to the last bracket, a light sanding of the wall, then shelves on screwed into place.

I had some 'everywhere' paint, bought on sale, I've never used it before but it was ideal in this situation where I needed to paint the shelf and wall.

All done and a quick tidy while the paint dried. The kids came home, I made dinner, got the small folk bathed and in their beds...call me superwoman, I won't mind.

The paint was fully dry in 4 hours so I was able to get the rail up and the shelves dressed before bed time. - This bit I call 'playing houses'

The shelves are so pretty and infinitely more practical than what we had before. I'm thinking of putting some cook books on the top shelf, but I'm not sure since it is so high. We are now also planning a second set of shelves at the other end of the kitchen - that, however, is for another day.

The Nitty Gritty

• The brackets are EKBY ones from IKEA 
• The shelves are furniture board from B&Q though I can't find the same ones that we bought (which I think were £8 ish about 18 months ago) this is very similar - Diall furniture board
• The rail is GRUNDTAL from IKEA
• I used uno rawlplugs - the studs weren't in the right places (are they ever?) we find these the best all round plugs on the market, but probably not strong enough to take a whole shelf of books.
• The paint is pure brilliant white colours everywhere by B&Q - I only used one coat and was pleased with the result.