The Floating Shelf in Dining Room

It started out as a shelf and scones to add something to an empty wall, and what it turned into was a two weekend project.

Jesse found the candle scones at Hobby Lobby and I bought some lumber at Home Depot. Between the initial concept thoughts of the space, Jesse was given a bridal shower in her hometown. One of her good friends gave her wood initials for a gift. Jesse had the idea of painting them teal to go with the color scheme of the house, since they were white and the walls were khaki.

After painting the initials, I mounted the candle scones, added the floating shelf and then drilled out the holes for the initials. During the process of the build, I decided against the vision of my future bride, to backlit the initials with white LEDs. I wired up the LEDs and dropped the wiring through the wall and into the empty portion of the shelf.

 

I ran the wires from the LEDs and power source to a switch, which is tucked away in the bottom of the wooden shelf. After hanging the initials, I taped off the areas of the wall that would be affected by paint. I added a dark walnut stain to the shelf and called it a finished project.

Welcome to Modern Cajun!

I'll start out by introducing myself and telling you a little about me. I'm Stephen, currently working the Supply Chain Management within a Higher Ed setting. I am currently engaged to my fiancée, Jesse, and am roughly under 40 days until the wedding day. I love the culture of Southern Louisiana and love incorporating many of the simple times than make Louisiana unique into my life and my new home.

One of the many things people initially think of as a Cajun must have are Fleur de Lis throughout your home. I'll be the first to say that I love Fleur de Lis within reason, and Jesse is the same way, so we try and limit the amount throughout our home, just use them as accents.

I little backstory into my life, I grew up playing sports and focused on that until I switched gears and focused on my education. I took a little time to figure out what I wanted to do in life, so I took many twists and turns in my education and work career. I have an associates degree and two bachelors degrees. When I was thinking of getting engaged to my fiancee, I started a business to supplement my income since I was working on my second bachelors degree. I ran a business out of my house and paid for her engagement ring. After we got engaged she was about three months out from renewing her apartment lease, so since our wedding was less than a year away, we decided to look for a house.

With rates for rent and for mortgages being so close to one another in our area, we made the decision for both of us to travel about 30 minutes to work each way, which enabled us to get more bang for our buck in the way of square footage and property size. We went with a new build that was within our price range, but needed a few additions to add character and our touch in our new home.

I myself like the outdoors, so its only natural that I wanted a fire pit and outdoor kitchen. Jesse would prefer inside touches to be added and make life more enjoyable, so as the saying goes, "Happy wife, happy life."

A heads up as to the types of things you'll find in the Modern Cajun blog: do-it-yourself home improvement projects, cooking recipes, workout tips, travel, family, and enjoying life as a young couple living in Louisiana.