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As you know, I've been slowly updating my kitchen. It's taken me so long that moody has somehow become trendy, and white bright kitchens are out. So, I'm embracing my darker-ish kitchen with the wood cabinets and black granite counters for now. I'm not saying I won't paint them, but for now, I'm just embracing them and trying to play up the "moodiness". I have a few additions in here since these pictures were taken that have helped already....but let's talk about the railing I added to these shelves! I took down my cabinets and opted for these open kitchen shelves about two years ago now and would never go back! You can see the DIY on how I did them linked here. Now to update them a little more and add some character with this easy DIY faux brass railing. Yep. That isn't real brass...or metal for that fact. It's wood! Here's the tutorial on how I did it.
1/8" wood dowels at 36" long
1/8" drill bit
1/16" drill bit
Small nails with small to no flat top
wood glue
Shears/cutters for wood or just good scissors.
If you want the easy not so DIY route, here are some ideas:
I grabbed my wood dowels and wood boys from Hobby Lobby. For the amount of wood boys I needed, it would have been better to get them from Amazon. But that's okay :) I seriously can't get over the fact they are called wood boys, ha!
Using the gold metallic spray paint, spray paint the dowels and the wood boys.
Step 2:
Mark where the drill needs to go through the top of each wood boy. To make the spot the same on all of them, I used a piece of painters tape and marked it where I wanted the hole to be on the first wood boy. I then lined up the bottom of the painters tape to the bottom of each wood boy and made a mark in the same spot on each.
I then used a 1/8" drill bit and drilled into each wood boy on that mark, going all the way through. You can use an actual drill for this, but I found it easier to keep the boys in place when using my drill press. Here's a great one to get if you are in the market for one (link). If you need corner spindle pieces, then turn the wood boy 90 degrees and go through again.
Making sure each nail is equidistant. I have mine spaced 8" apart.
I then clipped the top little flat part off of each nail with some wire cutters. This helps the nail go into the bottom hole of the spindle.
Place the wood boy/spindle onto the nail. To secure better if needed, you can add some wood glue into the hole and then place the nail in.
Step 5:
Step 3:
You can ignore these steps and go to step 5 if you are okay with directly gluing the wood pieces to your wood shelves. If you want a different way to add them that's not so permanent, but stays just as well, here are the steps I used.
I used the 1/16" drill bit and drilled as far into the bottom center of each wood boy as I could, trying to make it as straight as possible.
Step 4:
Start by marking where you want each "spindle". Then hammer in a small nail into each mark.
Now determine where you need to cut your dowels. I used 36" dowels, but they didn't always line up where the end was in the center of a spindle. So, cut the dowel using pruning shears or really good scissors where the ends end in the middle of a spindle. You can glue them in with wood glue, or leave them free hanging.
If you are working on a corner piece, you will need to have drilled two holes 90 degrees from each other. Then measuring the dowels to fit perfect, or if you don't care about a hole on the end like me, just cut the dowels so they are flush with the spindles.
And that's it! I priced this out to be a couple of hundred dollars doing this railing with real brass and the amount of spindles I would need for these long three shelves. Instead, I made all of this for easily under $20. Not bad!
I love the look of this space now. It is crazy how this is my kitchen. 5 years ago I wouldn't believe you....I have wanted a white kitchen for so long, I never thought I would be embracing this wood and black. I say that, but that doesn't mean my mind won't change :)
I love the old world character and charm the faux brass railing brought to my kitchen. I would never have thought my kitchen would ever go in this direction, but it has and I'm totally here for it!
Here's another peak at a few new updates to this space. The kitchen faucet is a new much needed addition along with this cover for my dishwasher I'll be sharing with you soon!
Board and batten on the island brightened this area up a lot and added more character, you can see the tutorial for that here. And tutorial on that cool old stool here.
Pin for later:
The reason I made them not so permanent is because my husband is not a fan. And now my kids can't just easily grab a cup from the bottom shelf. They need to grab a stool to get higher to pull the cup/bowl over the railing. I've had these up for a few months now and they haven't moved though! They are holding up great!
And just because it's fun, here's a before of this space from a few years ago:
And how it is today... well, not today exactly but like last week when it was actually still clean lol ;)
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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