Some people bring home stray pets.

Others bring home stray shelves… Wait, what? Only my boyfriend, apparently. Now that I think about it, there are many refurbished pieces of furniture around the house. I wish I had taken pictures of all our shelves, but here are the latest and greatest.

Moral of the story

There are plenty of unwanted shelves out there, so rescue one from your local goodwill or salvation army today. We have fostered quite a few in recent months, and it all started with this one:

Joe brought this guy home one day.

“Can we keep it? Can we, Can we?”

Hinges mangled and door completely backwards, he saw something in this little unit. It did have potential: Frosted glass and a slow-close door (so it never slams shut). And for only a couple bucks, it was worth the fix up. Joe re-hinged the door and flipped it upside down so it would open the right way- away from us. It’s perfect for keeping extra things off the counter. I give this a thumbs up. I guess it needed a brother because a couple weeks later Joe brings home shelf #2.

I call this one, the media shelf. I have no clue where it’s from, but I guess it can stay. It definitely gets utility points. I can overlook its resemblance to a kitchen spice rack, since it keeps our gadgets off the floor.

Here’s the real winner. Lucky shelf number 3 ladies and gentleman:

We needed a little somethin’ somethin’ on the walls. I think Joe scored big on this unwanted shelf. It was pretty scuffed up, and the doors a bit loose when he brought it home from the shrift store. It fits the new bathroom theme, is multi-functional, and it was a bargain.

First, we dismantled the doors and painted her a fresh white.

Good as new!

After a few unplanned screws, a little more paint, glass cleaner, and reattaching the doors. Whew.

Measured, leveled, and hung:

Lookin’ good after some crisp white paint!

(Those rolled towels were all Joe.)

So at the end of the day, I have to make room in my heart for these little creatures. Some of them turn out to be gems. At least we’ve saved a few good shelves from ending up in the trash. I’m getting a little sentimental, like Brave Little Toaster sentimental. I can’t even watch the junkyard scene…

Here’s a shelf from Room and Board that I think is cool too. If we see something like this secondhand, we may need to salvage it. This would be great next to the shower with the new weathered birch tile. I better not give Joe any ideas though. He’ll be home with another stray shelf soon enough!

What kind of shelves do you have around the house? Any particularly unusual or useful ones?