Lewis Elm

You know how when you move into a new place it seems to take forever until you have everything "put together?" It seems to be never ending, actually. Oh yeah, and kind of pricey. Why did no one ever tell you that decorating a house could literally clean your wallet out?

Needless to say, we have been attempting to budget and buy things on sale, re-purpose items we already owned, and even attempt some D.I.Y. projects. I have been wanting a simple, looooooong, black shelf for the bedroom for a while now. I have searched this massive city high and low, and the only shelf that seemed to fit the bill perfectly was from none other than West Elm. The Deep Picture Ledge was just what I wanted, except for the price tag, of course.

So on a whim we decided to make the Lewis Elm shelf, a literal recreation of West Elm's picture ledge.

We did have to buy a few tools, but I grew up with a father who never counts tools in the final price of a project. They are merely investments, you see. It seems Russ has inherited that trait. Here is a rough breakdown of supplies:

Wood: $3
Stain: $7
Wall Mounts: $2
Wood Glue: (already had)

Yup, that's it. Pretty straight forward. As I mentioned, I wanted it to be long. So we even added a foot onto the original West Elm's dimensions (theirs is 4 feet, mine is 5). Even better.

And how 'bout them vases? Remember them from long ago? I didn't mean to leave you hangin'. Anyway, we still have a ways to go with everything, but gosh darn... I think it's coming together!