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Around the House: Locker Clearance

That title kind of sounds like a sale on lockers, which would be awesome, but is sadly not what this post is actually about. Instead, it’s about a little switch-a-roo that I had to make to get enough clearance to actually open my new(ish) locker, which is currently residing in the dining room and housing both sports equipment and cat food.

When I brought this big boy home, the only place it would fit in the dining room was the far back corner. The problem was, with the shelves that were already on the wall, you couldn’t open the locker more than a couple of inches. Not exactly functional.

So I made room with some decor maneuvering. First taking down both the shelves and the paintings that were hanging on the opposite wall, and patching the holes left by each.

Here’s a ‘before’ view of the opposite side of the room for reference. (I should maybe mention that the bench is in a temporary home to make room for our Christmas tree.)

Then I touched up the paint and measured to hang each in their new spots. I have a great trick for hanging pictures or shelves. I really can’t take credit for it because I learned it from Dania, but it’s super simple and effective. For the shelves, I just use a piece of painters tape and tear it so that each side is exactly where the hanger is located.

Then I move the tape to the wall in the place where I want the shelf to hang and make sure it’s level. In this case I also used my stud finder to make sure my screws would have a nice sturdy grip that could support the weight of the serving dishes we display on these shelves.

After that it’s just a matter of positioning my screws on each end, peeling the tape off the wall, and hanging the shelf up.

Presto, you have a perfectly level shelf with minimal work and without a bunch of trial and error holes to patch.

So with my previous decor in its new home, I added a few accessories and called it a day. Now the locker opens nice and wide and I love the change in view from the kitchen.


Sometimes it nice to just freshen things up by moving around what you already have. No purchase necessary. Anyone else making decor updates lately? Are you making use of what you have, or adding something new?

-Dawn

 

3 Comments

  • Christie Funchess

    Thanks for this; it will be so helpful! I just sat to google how to hang something straight without a level since tomorrow is my daughter’s first day of kindergarten and her chalkboard has to go up now!

    Reply

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