Tuesday, August 10, 2010

You've Got Mail : Holder

We have a perpetual problem with mail in this house. We can't figure out one 'drop zone' that we like to leave it at, so it winds up everywhere. I finally put a basket on top of the dryer for mail, but that really only works if we come in from the garage. Otherwise, the mail gets left in the office on the desk. And I work from home, which means that the mail gets shoved into a drawer and forever forgotten about. Not good...I think I've reached the limit on the number of times you can claim you're late for this or that because you never saw it in the mail.

And while that's a valid and true excuse, it was time for something to be done about it!

Last week, I took a scrap piece of hardwood plywood from another project I'm working on and stained it with Minwax's English Chesnut.


A few days later, I took Krylon's Spray Paint in Blue Ocean Breeze and sprayed about a million seven light coats on top until I couldn't see the brown anymore.


In hindsight, this was kind of silly.  After this was completely dry, I sanded and sanded and sanded  until I created distressing streaks for the brown to come back through.

After I had sanded until my arm felt like it was going to fall off, I applied a coat of Minwax's water-based Polycrylic Protective Finish in Clear Semi Gloss. (To read why, see my sewing cabinet makeover.)


At this point, I had also put together the shelf for the mail to sit on, but I don't have pictures of the process. I measured the length I wanted, and then cut a 2x4 and a 1x2 at that height.  I took my nail gun and attached them (along with wood glue), then spray painted it the blue plus a brown on the outside and a white plus the blue on the inside.

Here's a shot of the outside before I attached it:


I wanted hooks to hang things like keys, Kodi's leash, my purse, an umbrella, etc., so we bought hooks at Lowe's this past weekend and attached them on the bottom.  First we pre-drilled the holes for the screws, so that we didn't split the wood.


I don't have step-by-step pictures after here.  We screwed on the hooks, then pre-drilled the back of the board for the shelf, pre-drilled holes for the shelf, and screwed them together.

And here she is, all put together!




Details shot:

And last, but definitely not least, her in action.  I took a few things from my desk and put them in their new home.


So what do you think?  Do you like the way it came out?  This is my first adventure for building in seeing something in my head and creating it without any plans.  Not too shabby for my first go round without concrete plans to help me out!

I'm linking up to the fun parties in my links tab...go see what everyone else is creating!!


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56 comments:

  1. wow you have inspired me, I would love to show who I am but apparently every time I have tried to get on the circut of the blogs its usually a big mess and then it never works but I love your idea!!! :)

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  2. What a good idea and I love the finished project. The blue is gorgeous. You did a great job.

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  3. Kara, it is gorgeous. Turquoise blue is my favorite color!! You are truly crafty and you have a good eye for design. If I saw that at a store, I would buy it!!!

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  4. Bravo for thinking all your mail will fit in there. Hopefully it'll be motivation to keep it close to empty. =) Great idea girlie. We have a pre-made one that is similar but it isn't nearly as colorful.

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  5. great idea with that little lip for mail. love your title that you're linking up with-you've got mail holder! genius!

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  6. Very cute! Love the bright blue!

    I would love for you to check out my blog for a fun giveaway! http://alittleknickknack.blogspot.com/2010/08/another-csn-store-giveaway.html
    Have a wonderful day!

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  7. SO cute! Love the colors you used :) Just popping over from Today's Creative Blog.
    @Paisley Passions
    @Laughter & Memories

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  8. Great idea! I love how it turned out. I could really use something like this in our house since our mail just piles up on the coffe table...

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  9. It turned out gorgeous! I love the blue!! :)

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  10. This is incredible!!! You make me want to make my own! Love your colors!!

    ~Alison
    http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/

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  11. Really great job, I love the way it came out!

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  12. That is so dang cute. I love the color you used. I think everyone needs one of those in their entry.
    Brooke

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  13. I really like the way your mail organizer turned out! great job.
    gail

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  14. love it! this color is my latest obsession! lol

    thanks for sharing!

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  15. Great idea!! I have the same problem with mail in my house. Looks like I have a weekend project coming up :)

    Caroline
    http://ateliercaroline.blogspot.com

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  16. I really love the paint effect you created, great colours!

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  17. I am in love with this! Gosh, I love it - I want to make one now. Thank yo for sharing! Found you from NFF!

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  18. Wonderful job, Kara! You always do a wonderful job! :) I love that color -- it's perfect!

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  19. I love the color and the shelf. Great detail. It's fabulous!

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  20. Great job! That is my favorite color of krylon too!

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  21. Thanks for all the kind words everyone!!

    EH - You must have a TON of mail...that things holding the entire weeks worth, and there's still room!! I try to go through it all once a week, so it doesn't pile up TOO much!

    Amanda at Home and Garden - Thanks so much for featuring my mail holder, that was super sweet and super exciting to see my project over there!

    You guys are all really sweet, I so appreciate the comment lovin!

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  22. What a great job! Love the color.

    Jocelyn
    http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com/

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  23. useful a n d cute!!! come on over and link up to MMM :)

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  24. I am super impressed with your creativity and skills! Love the color!

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  25. This turned out amazing! That was a lot of work and it paid off. LOVE your color choice.

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  26. I LOVE this "exit strip" idea and featured it here! So clever!

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  27. Heather said...
    Love this! Hubby and I really love the modern line to it. :) I am building one right now, almost finished! Just wondering if you would mind sharing how you hung it on the wall? Thanks!

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  28. Heather - I just took some j hooks and hung them a few inches in and down along the back of the board, and hung from there. Good luck! I'd love to see what yours turned out looking like!

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  29. I'm visiting from "Tute"-in Tuesday on Oops I craft my pants! I love this and that is my fav paint color right now! I might have to steal this idea!

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  30. whoa, I'm thinking I need to make myself one of these. Our mail stack is awful.

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  31. That is GREAT! Thanks for linking up at gettin' crafty on hump day! :)

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  32. i think it looks great! love that color too. Im trying to update mine as well but i just cant find cute hooks?!?! can anyone tell me where to look?? online please

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  33. This is FABULOUS!
    You should come link it up to my new Making It Link Party!
    Allie
    AllieMakes.blogspot.com

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  34. Seriously loving this creation!! Way to go girl! :D I am so happy to be your newest follower of your delighful blog and I would love to have you as a friend at Frou Frou Decor! I would also like to invite you to my link party every Friday-Monday..so be sure to pop over with your wonderful creations! Hope to see you there!
    Hugs,
    ~Terrell @ Frou Frou Decor~

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  35. I love it--great color and oh so useful--thanks for sharing!

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  36. LOVE THIS TOO! Wow! Thanks for linking up to Thrilling Thursday @ Paisley Passions. Can't wait to see what you come up with next :)

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  37. This is a great idea! The color is awesome!

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  38. Rhiannon - I got my hooks at Lowe's, and I'm sure they'd have them online. Good luck!

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  39. Morning! Love this! I featured it on my blog today. I hope you don't mind! If you do, please let me know and I'll take it down. You can see it here: http://oxfordfam.blogspot.com/2010/09/things-i-like-thursday.html
    Thanks again for the inspiration!
    Scotti

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  40. I love this!! What were the dimensions of the plywood and length of the other boards?? I would like to try and make one and yours looks like it is a perfect size.

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  41. Thanks for the inspiration! This is just what we needed so I had my hubby build one for me! Here's the link if you would like to see the pics: http://marievilla.blogspot.com/2010/09/another-finished-project.html

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  42. Mallorey : The board is 3/4'' plywood and is 24" long by 12" high. The boards for the mail are 18" long.

    Marie : So glad you shared...off to check yours out!

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  43. I LOVE this idea...my mail is always ending up all over the place! thanks for sharing :)

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  44. This is so unique!! I love the color and the way you made the shelf. Visiting from the CSI Project.

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  45. It's really nice! I think I could actually manage to do something like that.

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  46. this is awesome! love your distressing - wow!

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  47. Our incoming mail gets dumped on the hall table, so at least we know where it is... but, I've been thinking about what to use for an "outgoing mail" holder in my office and this is a wonderful idea! Congrats on having something come out the way you envisioned it - LOL - that doesn't always happen for me! :)

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  48. I really like this shelf! I need something similar to hang our keys and mail for our kitchen, but everything I've seen so far is so flimsy looking. Your shelf looks very sturdy. It is beautiful and functional. Great job!

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  49. I love the design! It looks great!

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  50. Hi:
    I love your mail catcher shelf. Beautiful job, love the blue, anything blue I just love. I just started a new blog to match my etsy shop, I would love for you to follow me, I'm very new, please visit me, I'll be posting tutorials and new finds, thanks,
    katecreativesalvage@blogspot.com

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  51. Hi Kara!

    I just realized I never had posted a picture of my completed shelf. So, here is the link! Thanks so much!

    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2385754&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=192123916614&id=1065363217

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  52. We have a perpetual, where is the most current mail problem too. So when I showed this to hubs he said (and I quote) "Why do we need ANOTHER place to put mail?" Because currently we have a basket on the entryway coffee table and a BIG basket in the tv console stand where most mail ends up. But then I explained we could use JUST that for mail and use it for the leashes (I've been wanting a place for the leashes anyway). He rolled his eyes...

    Anyway, I came from ana-white.com and I love your projects!

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