Mid-Century Industrial Storage

This is one of those projects I'm having a reeealy hard time selling. 

You see, it all started a couple months ago at a casino flea market (classy, I know). Bryce was trying to wrangle our boys while I quickly ran through the aisles, browsing. I spotted a cool, industrial metal shelving unit. Not thinking it would be in my price range, I asked the owners "how much". 

Ten bucks!

I do not drive a large vehicle, but my boys both sit in a very large car seat. Before I pulled the trigger, I called the husband, gave him estimated measurements, and asked if he thought we could squeeze it in my car. As soon as I heard the word "probably", money was exchanged. When the husband found us, he made a nasty face. He couldn't see "the vision".

Long story short, there was no way we were going to shove this heavy metal shelf into my car. Not even close. So, I sweet-talked a security guard into storing it in his trailer while I drove an hour home, dropped off the family, and drove an hour back. All for a $10 office bookshelf. 

The first step was to scrape off all the darn, paper labels stuck on it. I don't know who "Zaida" is, but she must be important because she had 3 cubbies and everyone else had only 1.

Then, I got my weld on and fabed up 4 DIY hairpin legs. I've been wanting to try hairpin legs for months now, and was surprised how easy they were. Don't fear, step-by-step tutorial coming soon!

Once the legs were built and clear coated, I attached them to the bottom of the shelving unit, using self tapping, sheet metal screws.

I decided the cubbies were cool, but needed something extra. So, I came up with the brillant idea to make a stained wood box for. each. one. If you are observant, you may have counted 30 compartments in the "before" photo. Yes, 3-0!

I went cheap and cut up 2 whole sheets of 3/8" plywood.

Don't have a vehicle to pick up a whole sheet of plywood? You can usually get someone at the hardware store to cut it down for you, or you can even order it online. Here is a link for similar plywood to what I used: 3/8" Birch Plywood, 12" square.

Aren't family members great? I own a small and very crappy miter saw. My father in law owns a DEWALT 12-Inch Double Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw. The man is kind enough to let me borrow his awesome saw on an almost permanent basis. Love that man.

Since the dividing walls of the cubbies are sloped, I decided so should the sides of the boxes. I found the angle of the dividing wall, and cut off the corner of my side pieces at the same angle.

Several hours, hundreds of finish nails, and a bottle of wood glue later, I had 30 sloped wood boxes. Each box received a coat of Minwax stain in Dark Walnut, and they were ready for jewlery. 

D. Lawless Hardware, generously donated 30 Antique Copper Cabinet Label Holders  (the same kind I used on my milk paint card catalog).

I've discovered, if you are going to do something 30 times, its worth it to make a jig. I quickly put this jig together using scrap plywood, and it made it easy to attach the label pulls perfectly centered every time.

All that was left was to print off some labels, grab some books, and it was ready! I love it!

I think the  Antique Copper Cabinet Label Holders worked well to give an vintage industrial look to the rustic wood.

As I was placing books in the boxes I kept thinking "I knew I had more antique books than this." After I was done taking photos, I turned and saw my bookshelf full of old books. Duh! (palm to forehead). Oh well.

I am so glad I figured out hairpin legs and can't wait to share with you guys!

So what do you think? Was I crazy? Or do you share "the vision"?

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If you dig the vintage industrial look, check out my:

+ World Market "Aiden" Coffee Table knock off
+ Industrial Farmhouse Table
+ Zinc Top Coffee Table


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Savvy Southern Style