Bright Baby Shelves

Today is all about bright baby shelves I helped a girlfriend paint for her new baby’s room.

She wanted to add a touch of color and to create a reading space for when the baby gets a little bigger, so we started out with a cute denim “Bean” chair from Pottery Barn Kids and some plain wood shelves.

Kate (the mommy-to-be) bought some unfinished shelves online, and it was up to us to make them shine.

First, we sanded around the edges just to make the wood smooth and get rid of possible splinters. Then, we went over the whole thing with a tack cloth (sticky cloths that get all debris off of an item before you paint… believe me, they’re worth it!)

My biggest recommendation when painting anything a bright color is to use primer. Sounds simple, but every time I skip the primer, I feel like my projects don’t look as clean. While she stood well away from any possible fumes, I primed them with a spray primer (which is my favorite, it just looks better than one you’d paint on, and you can control the coverage.)

After a couple of coats, we left them outside to dry. A few days later, she painted them a bright orange that we chose and had mixed. She painted them with a brush.

After a couple of texts back and forth on technique, I think I should tell you guys that the best advice I have for painting with a brush is light strokes with less paint than you think you need so you don’t get those streaky brush marks.

Streaky brush marks are the equivalent to paint drips. In other words, avoid at all costs. But if you do get streaky brush marks or paint drips (we all do sometimes), I to sand them down a bit with a fine grain sandpaper, run a tack cloth over the piece, then get back to painting!

Okay, so here are the finished shelves installed. Cute, right?!

And, just for fun, here is another corner of baby Caden’s bedroom. I love the animal theme!