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Swing Shelf (Pottery Barn Kids Knock Off)

May 12, 2014

Last week I posted photos of the Kids Bathroom that I finished for the One Room Challenge Link Party.  Which by the way, if you haven’t had a chance, there are some pretty amazing rooms linked up that you should definitely check out!

One of the items in the room that I know a lot of people wanted more info on, was the Swing Shelf which is a Pottery Barn Kids knock off.  This rope shelf is super cute and I love it.  Unfortunately where it is positioned in the bathroom makes it super hard to photograph, it either has shadows or looks uneven when it is actually quite straight.  So excuse the poor photos, it’s the best I could do!

swing shelf, nautical, pottery barn kids swing shelf

 

 

This was so easy to make and cost us less than $10.  We purchased a bag of sisal type rope in a bag from Home Depot for $5 and have enough rope left to make about 15 more of these shelves.   The good news is, I took a few photos during but the bad news is, I didn’t take enough for this tutorial.
Supplies:

1 (inch) x6 (inch) x3(feet)

some rope (we used Manila Rope 3/8 x 50 ft from Home Depot and only used about 6 feet total)

2 eye hooks

white paint

gel stain or regular stain would work too but you will have to experiment with that

 

This is the board we used, hubby cut some of the length off so measure where you want the shelf to go and cut to whatever length you need.

This is the rope we ended up using.  It was cheaper than the rope you can have cut to length so if we want to make more boards or just need some rope, now we have extra!

 

I stained the board with this Minwax Water Based Wood Sheen Rubbing Stain & Finish in Colonial Walnut.  It dries in one hour which I love and is less messy than actual stain.  Using a white cloth I wiped it on the board, making it slightly darker in some spots and lighter in others.  I did both the top and bottom and all sides, then let dry for an hour.

After the stain was dry, I put some white latex paint in a cool whip container and added some water, mixed it together until it was pretty thinned out.  I used a chip brush (from Home Depot for about $.60) to apply the watered down white paint.  I kept a white cloth nearby so I could wipe it off right away, letting it give me the gray weathered look I was going for.  Again, I let some soak in more in certain areas and less in others.

Here is the board after I added the white watered down paint.

I then used some fine grit sandpaper and sanded a few areas to make them lighter and less worn looking, letting some of the original wood color come through.

During his lunch break I had the hubby drill some holes for the rope.  We just guessed and did about 2 inches in from the ends and around 3/4 of an inch from the front and back of the boards.  He used a 1/2 inch drill bit for the size rope we used.   And yes, we drilled the board in the kitchen off the counter top with a random one dollar bill in the photo.  We are rebels.

After drilling all 4 holes for the rope, we then measured the rope out and cut two separate pieces, one for each side.  And because we are great tutorial people, we forgot how long we made the rope but the hubby thinks it was 36 inches.  You may want yours longer or shorter so I suggest not cutting the rope until you figure out the length you need to achieve for the right height is what we would suggest.

Now for the important part, make sure you don’t tie both knots because you need to feed one end of the rope through the eye hook first!  Repeat for the second side of the shelf and then it’s on to the fun part, styling!

swing shelf, nautical, swing shelf pottery barn kids

kids beach bathroom, nautical, rope shelf

So there you have it, how we made a Swing Shelf for less than $10!

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Comments

  1. Tim emery says

    March 20, 2015 at 11:48 am

    Thank you for this. In spite of your unconventional rebels ways. I love it.

    Reply
    • ange says

      March 21, 2015 at 5:03 am

      Thanks Tim!

      Reply
  2. Lizz says

    March 31, 2015 at 12:26 am

    What is the color on your walls? Love the shelf!

    Reply
    • ange says

      April 1, 2015 at 11:23 am

      Hi Lizz, The wall color was a mis-tint from Menards so I have no clue what color it is. Sorry I can’t be of more help! Glad you love the shelf, thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  3. Lorraine Castellon-Rowe says

    April 2, 2015 at 8:41 am

    Love this!!! Thanks so much for your tutorial!! It was perfect and made me laugh a little. Going to do this in our bathroom!!! Thanks again!!

    Reply
    • ange says

      April 9, 2015 at 4:31 am

      Thanks Lorraine! Enjoy the new shelf in your bathroom! 🙂

      Reply
  4. elicia says

    June 25, 2015 at 12:51 am

    Hey can i do the same shelf but without the rope too?
    I wanted to do one with rope and a few without

    Reply
    • ange says

      June 29, 2015 at 5:12 am

      I am sure you could!

      Reply
  5. Jeff says

    June 25, 2015 at 4:49 am

    Thanks helped a lot ended up making 48 for gifts at work

    Reply
  6. Lonnie says

    August 9, 2015 at 6:56 am

    I love this shelf & since I’m creating a “beach inspired” room for our dark winter days I’m making 2. (I live in Alaska.). Anyway, I purchased the same exact rope, however the cost was $15. I splurged on a nice piece of red oak which was also pricey. Then I was searching for eye hooks and of course there were a bunch & I know nothing about these things. I also couldn’t find the same stain you used. I was stressing needless to say but I think these shelves will come out awesome & work perfect in my beach room.

    Thanks for the great idea.

    Reply
    • ange says

      August 10, 2015 at 7:52 am

      I am sorry to hear it was all so much more expensive than what I paid, that stinks. I would love to know how they turn out! I am creating a beach inspired dining room for the winter days here in Minnesota as well! Good luck with the shelving!

      Reply
  7. CERRA says

    October 27, 2015 at 12:33 am

    Hey Ange, when you tied the knots, did you burn the ends to keep them more secure? Or did you do anything extra to them? Glue? I’m just thinking I’ll need to add something extra because we are doing our shelves longer and actually double stacking one shelf. Any thoughts?

    Reply
    • ange says

      October 27, 2015 at 2:15 am

      Cerra,
      hmmm….we did not do anything to the knots but I don’t think adding some glue would hurt. I would love to see a photo of them when you are done!!!

      Reply
  8. Dan says

    May 10, 2016 at 12:10 pm

    Nice shelf! Do you have to keep the items balanced on it to keep it from tipping forward or backwards?

    Reply
    • ange says

      May 12, 2016 at 12:50 am

      Thanks Dan. The shelf is pretty stable, we don’t have anything that heavy on it though.

      Reply

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