Reclaimed scaffolding wood for new kitchen shelves...

How do you like my new kitchen shelves?

So....here's the reason why I needed to drill holes in my tiles (see my previous post here to see how)!!

Nice, hey??

And do you know what the best thing is about my new kitchen shelves??....I got the wood for free....fished out of a skip!! So apart from the 2 IKEA brackets, at £2 each...I made this shelf for practically nothing!!

Today I will show you how I reconditioned the wood to make these rustic looking kitchen shelves!!

I swear people think I'm mad around here! I am always looking through skips and bringing home items in various states of distress : Lugging home pieces of wood on the bus etc....

My husband certainly thinks I've lost the plot, as my shed is slowly filling up with rubbish....useful things for future projects!! Anyway, I had been on the lookout for weeks for a piece of wood to make some kitchen shelves with!! Actually: I did want to make a table, but lets start with the shelves!!

The other day, as luck would have it, I passed a skip: Lo and behold: the holy grail!! A dusty plank of old scaffolding board!! OOOH...the joy!! (And not too far from home either!! Result!!)

I pulled it out of the skip...getting covered in dust in the process (and some serious strange looks from passers by...) Brought it home and set to work immediately!!

First: I gave it a good scrub with bleach and water! (after all who knows where its been??....Oh! That's right: a skip!!)

Then I pulled out any old nails and staples...

Cut it to size with a wood-saw. (I chose the area of the plank that had most interest in the wood, in form of knots and cracks and damage etc......the more the merrier!!!)

Then I got out my trusty old palm-sander + 40grit sandpaper, and set to work!!

I wasn't after a very smooth finish, as I wanted it to look quite rustic (!!) But I sanded it back just enough to smooth down the surface and get rid of any splinters etc! I paid particular attention to the edges of the wood, using the palm sander to round off the corners a little!! 

When I was satisfied with the surfaces, I dusted it down and applied 1 coat of Danish oil to seal the wood!!

This darkened the wood initially, but later faded to reveal the beautiful patina of the old plank!! 

I left the plank overnight to soak up the oil, before attaching the IKEA brackets the following day!!

My new kitchen shelves were ready to hang up!!

I love how they turned out...better than I had imagined actually!!

(Oh! by the way: If you like my labelled glass jars, I will show you how I made the labels soon)

I love the way the rustic wood looks against my crisp new tiles!!

What do you think?

From a skip to your kitchen: Yay or nay??

I am so-nearly-there with the whole kitchen reveal...just waiting for the neighbor to come and fix up my new spotlights in the ceiling (There's another post, coming soon!!)

I am soo pleased with how it looks now!!

If you are curious, you can see how it used to look here

Cant wait to show you guys!!