Shutter Repurposed Into Shelves

This project is a shutter which is turned into a backing for three small shelves and it appeared a week ago as a Guest Post at My Repurposed Life.  Gail, who writes that blog, is the Queen of Repurposing, so it was a pleasure to be able to show my project on her blog.  Thanks again Gail!

I began with a shutter that I bought at a local re-use store.  I'm using a 12" x 30" fixed shutter.  By fixed I mean there is no mechanism to open and close the slats.

This is how it looked before and then after I put a quick sloppy coat of white paint over the whole thing.  I purposely allowed some of the stained wood to show through in parts (I filled the old hinge and handle holes with spackle first):

I decided on three shelves which I made out of 3/4" thick pine, because that was what I had in stock.  I cut them to 11 1/2" long and 4"wide.  Of course you could do anything you wish to fit your own shutter size.

Each shelf will be held up with 1/4" thick pine brackets, so I dadoed (cut a groove in) each shelf underneath where the bracket would go.  I use a router with a 1/4" wide straight bit, which will make the dado the exact thickness of my brackets.

I put the grooves in the shelf so that they would match up with the middle of each side of the shutter.

I planned the size of the brackets by making a template shape out of paper to see how the bracket would fit.

The bracket would look something like this with a jog in the length of the back making it shorter than the full length of the bracket.  This allows you to cut a slot in the shutter for the bracket to fit in with the bottom edge of the bracket covering it.  You don't have to be perfectly accurate in your shutter slot this way. The bracket goes into the shelf as well as the shutter, so when measuring, take this into account.

This length between the arrows is the length of each slot

Using this template, I cut six brackets from 1/4" thick pine.  Then I marked where my slots would go in the shutter to hold the brackets and cut them with my router, again using the 1/4" bit.  (This photo shows the shutter upside down)

The back of each bracket then fits in the slot on the shutter and the top of each bracket fits in the groove in the bottom of the shelf.  They are glued in place and there is no need for nails or screws since they are fitted into each other.

After the glue dried I put a stain on the shelves to make them match the old colour of the shutter and then put some vaseline here and there.  This doesn't allow the top coat of white paint to stick where the vaseline is.  I put a coat of white paint over top, as I did with the shutter.

On the back I screwed in two triangle shaped hangers and on the front at the bottom I put two hooks.

Updated to add:  See the turquoise shutter shelves I made here

I hope this gives some readers ideas to make their own shutter shelf.  I welcome any questions about the making of this or any woodworking project. Everything I make is for sale, this shelf is $80. SOLD

Sharing at the following blog parties:
Knick of Time                         Brambleberry Cottage
Cowgirl Up                             Beyond the Picket Fence
Primitive and Proper               House of Hepworths
Faded Charm                         aka design  
Jennifer Rizzo                        Shabby Art Boutique
French Country Cottage          Funky Junk Interiors
Too Much Time on my Hands