Vintage Shelf Makeover - FINALLY!

Way back in the summer, I showed you these shelves which I was beginning to strip before painting... .. and then it all went pear-shaped. Ben took an interest in the shelves, gave me terrifying and seemingly endless instructions on how to paint them properly, took them apart to facilitate proper painting, and generally left me exhausted and traumatised at the very THOUGHT of all that work (which I would certainly have done badly). I just wanted them looking a bit distressed...

But Ben likes things to look GOOD, as I mentioned in my Advent post, and somehow, possibly realising what he'd done to me, but possibly because he knew I'd do it in a way he wouldn't like, he took over the work.

Wow - I couldn't have handed over a job better if I'd tried!

And as you can see, the results are very pleasing. He chose the paint ('moutarde') and I wasn't sure about it, but I really like it now. The idea was to hang the shelves over our sideboard, to relieve the incredible pressure on the sideboard storage, and to paint them in a colour that complimented but didn't attempt to match the oak buffet itself (which we bought in a troc shop shortly after moving in).

The big shelves are mainly practical, giving us space to store glasses in regular use, but I have been able to indulge in a bit of display on the top. Ben put a little bar along the front of each shelf to stop things dropping off, but he put a bar nearer the back of the top one too. I've used it to prop up the lovely shepherd plate my friend Ellie brought me from Germany whenshe was at university there, and also a blue Denbyware plate Ben and I bought around the same time in Windsor, and a hand-decorated bowl given to me by Ben's mum. The vase on the right came from Ele at Bit of Heaven, in our bird-themed swap. Do you note the number of Eleanors amongst those kind donors?

The little shelves have quite a lot of Portmerion on them - I really do like Portmerion when it's mixed up with other things. The Turkish cofee cups on the middle shelf were given to us by my mum earlier this year - Ben has always wanted a proper coffee set!

So there are my shelves, although perhaps now Ben and I are going to have to call them our shelves, don't you think?

These candid photos show a little bit of our pre-Christmas clutter (only a little bit of it!) There are three fabric-wrapped presents ready to go to my sister and her husband, and, if you look closely, a lovely needlecase and a fabric pen which give away a few clues about my Christmas projects.