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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

Kitchen Sink Shelf Refresh

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Have you ever started a one-hour project 
that turned into four times that? 

Over time ceramic pots holding plants marred 
the painted wooden shelf behind the sink in several places,  
and the shelf needed the paint refreshed.  


Just a quick sanding, then repainting with the leftover 
white paint from the bathroom vanity project should have 
made this a quick and easy project. 



On a nice sunny day, not a scorcher, the hand sanding began. 
Just a little sanding to create a surface ready for new paint. 



Uh-oh! 
The paint peeled off in long strips. 
With each curl my spirits sank a little lower, 
dreading the work I knew it was going to take 
to refinish the shelf.  



A quick sanding of the top surface that should have taken only a few minutes 
was turning into a sanding of the entire shelf to remove the peeling old paint. 



Two hours later, the shelf was less than half sanded by hand. 
Perhaps the shelf would look good with a white-washed finish? 

Tired and hungry, I decided a break was needed 
before resuming the arduous hand sanding that 
was causing blisters on my thumbs. 

The carpenter who was replacing the cedar siding on the house 
stopped to look over what I was doing as he was leaving for his lunch break. 
We talked about the options I was considering, 
white washing, repainting, or leaving the shelf natural 
with just a clear sealer. 

He left, and I went inside to have lunch and to rest. 



Surprise! 
When I went back outside a couple of hours later 
I found the carpenter had power sanded the shelf down to 
its natural finish and had applied a coat of clear sealer. 

My thumbs thanked him 
for saving them from the forming blisters. 
For now, the little shelf is natural with a sealer. 



But, I think another sanding and some white paint to match 
the cabinets are in the little shelf's future. 
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