The post in which I finally use my $1 shutters.

I enjoy a good repurposing. If I didn't, I doubt that I would have hung this ladder or these baskets on the wall. Naturally, then, when I saw this whole pile of wooden shutters for only $1 at a yard sale, Rick didn't have time to say "Your repurposing is out of control" before I had handed over the dollar and was plopping half the pile in his arms to carry to the car. He's such a good sport--and I love him for it. :)

The shutters have been sitting, unused, in my personal project storage hallway our front entry for several months now, and I decided that it was high time to use them. It was actually Rick who suggested that we lean some of them next to our newly upholstered chair against the back of our desk. Good sport and clever--does it get better than that?

They were already white, but the white had seen better days, so I took a coat of fresh paint to three of them. And let me tell you, I am not in any hurry to do that again. The slats were pretty tricky to get painted, and the whole process definitely took more time and patience than I thought it would. I might try spray paint next time. But, after about 45 minutes, I had clean white shutters. You can see the "before and after" color difference in this picture:

Is it a problem that this whole process reminded me of teeth whitening?

The knobs were also looking like they needed a serious supply of Crest Whitestrips. To make matters worse, by the looks of them, someone had gotten hungry and decided to chew on them. This is stress-eating at its most bizarre.

I couldn't find a way to correct the teeth marks without replacing the whole knob (which I might do someday...but right now, I like to work with what I have) so, instead, I used my secret weapon: spray paint.

And here they are, sporting new silver knobs, leaning casually next to our chair. If they were leaning any more casually, I would half be expecting them to grow hormones and ask the chair out on a date while suavely examining themselves in their locker mirror.

Do I spend too much time in a high school?

In all seriousness, I think they add a lot of texture and interest to the otherwise gaping hole created by the underside of our desk.

And I have another shutter project in the works (which apparently means that I am in a hurry to paint shutter slats again?) since I was recently inspired by the oversized 6' version that I saw at an architectural salvage store. Stay tuned! :)