This
project was a hundred thousand times easier to do than I ever would've
imagined. Seriously. You can kick this baby out in one afternoon or
less,... which is my favorite way to get sh*t done.
One
of the very first places I stumbled upon the week I moved to Rapid
City, South Dakota was the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. If you don't
know what this is, don't worry.. I didn't either. But I found one a
walking block away from my new apartment, & when I walked in I swear
I could hear Angels singing. There's a good possibility this is my
Heaven. For those of you who are unaware of this glorious treasure
trove, It's basically a store that sells all of the leftover, unneeded,
reclaimed, and donated housing materials from Habitat for Humanity. All
the money spent there goes back into the funding for new houses &
materials. You can find doors and windows of all kinds, flooring, paint,
lightbulbs & fixtures, and even some furniture... just to name a
few things. Literally, my mind was BLOWN. This place is amazing & I
more than suggest you google the closest one to you & pay them a
visit. I found myself frequenting the Rapid City ReStore AT LEAST twice a
week. Excessive? Maybe. Necessary? You bet!
I
found these babies there and I believe I paid around $3 each for them.
They're made of plastic and my store happened to have two different
sizes at the time (each ReStore will vary in what they have of course.)
They had taller shutters that were twice as long as the ones I picked
up, & I tossed around the idea of turning them into a headboard at
one point.. but never quite got around to it.
The
amount of things you could actually create with these are endless (and
seriously just SO fun.) Because these ones are just made of light
plastic, & they're intended to be purely decorative, the slats can't
be adjusted. I flipped my shutters upside down (but really, could you
tell!?) so that the slats would be able to hold the backs of picture
frames when hung on the wall. One can of the cheapest teal spray paint
from Walmart & about 3 layers(ish)... and that was it! I'm not
kidding. Just measure out your markings and hang them with nails (or
whatever your material of choice is).
The
picture frames I used to collage the shutters are all random thrift
store finds & each one ranged anywhere from probably 10cents to
50cents. I wanted something eclectic but also put together, so I chose
all random shapes & sizes & then painted all of the frames with
an off white chalk paint that I just so happened to have laying around.
The stand on the back of each frame slips perfectly into the slats. They
can be rearranged or changed out whenever I want, & I never have to
worry about doing any more damage to my walls. LOOVEEEE!!!
