Remove Wall Shelves And Patch & Spackle The Holes, step by step

Let us talk about breathing room. One thing we learned from our last house was that we prefer to let rooms “breathe” a little. Which means resisting the urge to fill every corner and span of wall with furniture and plant stands and coat racks and storage baskets and everything else that you can stick in there to crowd the perimeter of a room. So after a bit of deliberation we chose that letting the previous shelf-riddled corner of the fireplace breathe was the best choice for us. I in fact attacked them after only a few days of living here and realized I never shared the pics while writing my list post– so here they are.

We are planning to add storage ottomans and to build or buy a new media cabinet with plenty of storage space in other areas of the room, so we will still have a pleasant amount of stash spots in there without potentially forgoing the whole balance thing by keeping those shelves.

See balance is key to us because it seems to keep spaces feeling more inviting and relaxing. And we knew that a shelf full of baskets, books, and stuff on one side of the fireplace would make that small niche feel heavier while the longer bare expanse of wall on the other side would feel, well bare and unbalanced by comparison. And we did not want that wall to feel lopsided. Especially since it is such a small nook. You know how you would not try to stuff the smallest corner of your bedroom with the largest piece of furniture (like a floor to ceiling bookcase?) and instead you’d save that for a larger expanse of space (and would likely leave that smaller corners well sufficient alone)? That is why we thought those shelves had to go.

Distinct strokes for distinct folks though- I am sure some people would have enjoyed to keep them around. I, on the other hand, could not wait to break out the ol’ screwdriver-as-chisel method:

The wood shelves lifted right out, but the shelf supports turned out to be tough cookies thanks to especially long nails holding the shelf supports in place on each side. But I was still able to get ‘er done all by myself while John was on Clara duty. Girl power (why do I consistently picture the Spice Girls when I type that?).

The walls were looking a little rough in some areas due to some particularly clingy nails. Yikes.

… but it was nothing a little spackle could not solve. And the previous owners had sweetly left behind this lightweight kind so I gave it a try for the first time in my life (we consistently get the heavy duty traditional stuff, also by Dap).

The verdict? I enjoyed it! It is truly airy and whipped, like shaving cream. And it is straightforward to get a especially smooth skim coat over every hole in the wall – even that insanely large one pictured above. Look how easily it cleaned up:

I simply used a flexible metal putty knife and smoothed it on. Unlike the heavy duty spackle that I am used to, this lighter stuff said that it did not even need to be sanded. But I gave it a good once over with some high grit sandpaper after it was fully dry simply to make it as smooth as possible. I am in love with how straightforward it was, so I already have a big tub of this new lighter spackle stuff on my shopping list. Now all we need are a few paint touch ups to make all evidence of those shelves a thing of the past.

If only we had the wall paint around to touch things up. Wop wop. We have not come across that yet (although it might be hiding in the basement somewhere) but if we do not find it we could consistently bring home a bunch of white swatches and try to make the closest match. Or better yet, we could get our butts in gear and paint the whole room in the soft gray color that we have yet to settle on (and take the trim to a pleasant glossy white color while we are at it).

That little corner might not look like much now, but we promise to share pics of the whole room from that angle as it evolves and we take on more projects (like painting, hang more stuff on the walls, and adding in more furniture). That small breath of uncluttered space in the corner will be a welcome break indeed. Plus we picture children hiding there with their eyes squeezed shut who fully believe that they are invisible. Ah youth. Remember when you’d close your eyes and hide somewhere totally obvious and fully believe that nobody could see you? Those were the days.

Pssst- We announced our random winner for this week’s giveaway. Click here to see if it is you.