If you follow my blog you know that we just did a HUGE renovation and moved in a few months ago. I would say we are about 90% settled. But one thing that is hard when you move is that not all of your furniture goes well in the new space. I had previously painted the IKEA Vittsjo Shelf Unit in white chalk paint and kept the glass shelving. (it was only available in black but now you can buy it in white but can’t be distressed which is why I like the painted version) It went well in the old house as the floors were the old yellow oak and the living room was separate to the rest of the rooms and fairly warm feeling.

**IKEA Vittsjo Shelf Unit.**
**Here it is in black.**

But in our new house the kitchen, dining room and living room are all open concept and the kitchen is white on white. So I wanted to take out the glass shelves and warm things up by adding wood shelving.

It was so simple since I had already painted the unit white with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint so I just needed some wood for shelves. I decided on birch plywood as it wasn’t too expensive and had a nice grain. I then proceeded to layer different stains.

The first layer was Minwax Early American Stain

Then the second layer was with Minwax Classic Gray stain

And finished it off with a Varathane Polyurathane Spray for protection. All stains and spray were purchased at Home Depot.

And this was the final result! I love how the wood shelves warm up the unit and it’s perfect for me to display some of my milk glass collected pieces. 🙂

I did mix both of the stains and painted extra layers around the edges because you could see the layers of plywood.

Overall I am super pleased at how it turned out and now it fits well in the space.

If you have a good Ikea hack please share in the comments below.

I’m headed to Palm Springs for the weekend for some R & R so follow me on Instagram

Have a great weekend everyone 🙂

If you would like some help making your home a place you love, contact me to book an In-Home or Online Consultation.