Pull My Rope
Do you remember the dancing banana/peanut butter jelly time video on YouTube? Here is a refresher. That’s what I get stuck in my head every time a Pinterest Challenge rolls around. Except that it’s more like, “Piiiiin-ter-ist challenge time…piiiiiin-ter-ist challenge time…pin’trst challenge, pin’trst challenge, pin’trst challenge”. You’re welcome…for getting it stuck in your head too. So without further ado, I bring you the spring Pinterest Challenge reveal day…drum roll not necessary.
If you want a little more info about the challenge or my inspiration for the spring edition of the Pinterest Challenge, you can check out this post from last week. It has oodles of info for you along with all the deets. This time around, I went with a little rope shelf inspiration, and wanted to tackle something like these guys in our bathroom:
- Industrial Pipe And Rope Shelf from Restoration Hardware (which costs a whopping $299โฆthatโs almost a mortgage payment!!!)
- Double Roped Shelf (which I couldnโt find the original source forโฆbut found it via the Seaside Style blogโฆanybody know where it comes from? Bueller? Bueller?)
- Single Roped Shelf from the A Walk Through blog, which they also DIYed for their bathroom
And here is what I made (for a whole lot less than $299):
And a zoomed in shot for the cheap seats in the back:
The total out of pocket cost for us with this project was a whopping $9 ($3 each for the pulleys and $3 for a package of s-hooks). All the rest of the materials (wood, stain, poly, eye hooks, rope) we already had on hand leftover from other projects. And can we just take a moment to talk about the pulleys.
I loved the idea of upgrading the shelf from a basic, run of the mill, rope shelf to a pulley rope shelf. And I dreamed of one that actually works. So you could have a rope anchored to the wall that you could use to adjust the shelves up and down via a pulley system. But that turned out WAY too complicated for Colby and I to tackle. Tears may have been involved…thankfully no blood…for once. In the end we just decided to find middle ground between the pulley system shelves we envisioned and the basic rope shelf. So our shelves are attached to a ceiling joist with eye hooks linked to pulleys. They even magically help the shelf level out.
My second most favorite part of the shelves, with the pulleys pulling in top rank, is that we recycled a sign we DIYed for our wedding to make the shelves.
We tend to be wood hoarders…especially old wood hoarders. You just never know when you’re going to need good wood…wait…that sounded dirty…statement retracted. The length of the sign planks was perfect for shelf building. So we un-assembled the sign and converted it. I’ll give you a full tutorial for how we made our shelves tomorrow. So for tonight, let’s just ogle our bathroom a little bit. Here’s some of the progression from before to installed shelf:
When it came to styling the shelves, I started with a mish mash of bathroom-ie things, hated it, switched to a mish mash of random accessories, also hated it, and then turned to the things-look-good-as-a-collection mindset. We had a collection of found bottles from our yard, another leftover accessory from our wedding reception, which were perfectly sized for the shelves. The shelf looked pretty good with just the bottles on it, but I also happened to have a starting-to-die-off-bouquet-of-flowers from Colby. Snippety snip…we have a winner.
I love how cottage-ie the bathroom feels these days with the addition of the rope shelf, found bottles and the flowers. I’m sure I won’t keep flowers in the bottles all the time since that could get pricey. But maybe in the summer I can cut green things from the yard to fill them up. Here’s a shot of the shelf from the side to give you an idea of its depth.
And the full monty shot of the bathroom, looking into it from the hallway.
Totally loving the direction the bathroom is taking these days, especially with the recent additions of the first aid cabinet and now the rope shelf. And don’t worry, for those of you who want to see how we made the rope shelf, I’ll be back tomorrow-ish for a full-blown tutorial. It’s a little convoluted so I’m still sorting it out.
Pssst…What have you conquered that was Pin-spired? Or did you play along this Pinterest Challenge? Dish!
Ummm…I ADORE your shelf project!!! Love the rope and pulley system. It looks so awesome! Your bathroom is beautiful too! Love that first aid box. BTW…about to e-mail you with some Haven stuff and some SUPER EXCITING ideas about collaboration! I’m ready to go, yay!
Eeeeee…thanks so much Lindsay! And have I mentioned lately how excited I am about Haven and the blog?! Haha! I can’t wait!!
I totally love this. In fact, I just pinned it! Hm…maybe this could be my project for the summer Pinterest Challenge! Great work! This is the prettiest project I’ve seen yet today.
This comment totally made my day! Haha…let the vicious Pinterest Challenge cycle continue!
I love it! The bottles and flowers display is so pretty!
Awwwww….thank you so much!
LOVE it!!!! So super awesome. I just saw a shelf idea like this – only with one shelf and was wondering how in the world you would hang something like that. I am definitely a wood hoarder too, so I’m going to elect myself into your club. ๐ Thanks for the gorgeous after shots and inspiration!
Yes! Welcome to the wood hoarders club! And thanks so much for the sweet comment!
That shelf is super cute, and I really like the use of the pulleys. And you made a great decision going with the flowers. They’re spot on!
Awwwww…thank you so much for the sweet comment! And aren’t flowers always the best choices?! Hahaha…any excuse for flowers! Thanks for stopping by!
This is amazing! I love the medicine cabinet with the Swiss cross too. What a cute bathroom!
Yay! You’re too sweet! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Love it! The flowers looks awesome on the shelf too. Great job you guys
Yay! Thanks so much Kimberlee! You always have the sweetest comments!
Wow! Love the pulleys. What a cool idea. I wonder if I can find some to try it myself. Pinning now!
//Justynn
YES! And the Pinterest Challenge vicious cycle continues! Love it! Thanks for the sweet comment!