Open shelves in mudroom

When we finished our mudroom cabinet project (see it here), I decided to repaint the whole room and give the wall with our sink a makeover. And I'm so happy with how it turned out! I was debating between going with a white or dark color for the walls, and in the end, I decided to paint one wall dark and the rest in white (Benjamin Moore Simply White is my favorite).

The wall color behind the sink is Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze. I decided to install open shelves above the sink and rummaged through our workshop until I found the perfect boards. That is one of the perks of constantly having reclaimed barnwood available in the shop! I didn't even have to cut them to size - they were perfect at 6" deep x 48" long. And the color was perfect too. I didn't stain them or put a finish on them. I just left them as is.

We attached the shelves to the wall by putting long screws into the bottom of the boards at an angle and into the wall. I have to be careful about how much weight I put on the shelves, because it won't hold anything too heavy. But I prefer to have this look rather than using brackets.

I styled the shelves with old books, plants, pottery, jars and whatever I could find around that house that I felt went well together. The painting came from Goodwill. I try to think about the height of items to balance out the shelves. And I also want the colors to coordinate and look cohesive.

For this space, I wanted it to feel natural and organic, so I used greens, browns, white, and touches of gold. You can find so many items for shelves at thrift stores or by just looking around your house.