DIY Wall Shelves

This week I’m sharing plans for some oak DIY wall shelves that I built to hang in my guest bedroom/office. 

I was storing my Silhouette Cameo on top of my printer which probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. I’m lucky that I didn’t break it.  To provide some more storage for my Silhouette and other craft items, I designed two simple oak shelves that match the desk that I built for the room a few months ago.

I went with oak to match the desk but also because the design has the 1×12 cantilevered off of the 1×6 and a hard wood is going to be more durable with a design like this.  It would work with pine as well if that’s your material of choice but I would definitely limit the amount of weight on the shelves as they could sag over time if too much weight is used. 

I love how these shelves turned out.  They look so nice in the corner of the room positioned above my printer and storage cart.  I now have the storage that I was in desperate need of and I added some wall décor at the same time!

Woodworking Comfortably in the winter

When I started making these shelves a few weeks ago it was a super cold day and snowing.  I work out of my attached garage which isn’t heated so if I want to do any work in cold weather I used to just tough it out.  However, this year my husband convinced me that we needed a heater for the garage and WOW does it make a difference! 

This isn’t a paid advertisement or anything like that.  My Ridgid Propane Heater is just amazing so I wanted to share it with you  in case you live in a cold weather climate like me and suffer through miserable builds in the winter months.  Hopefully now that spring is officially here we can kiss these bitter cold days goodbye.  Who else is totally ready for some warmth, green grass and flowers?

Just look at this little guy.  I can’t believe that this small heater manages to warm up my entire garage to a comfortable working temperature.  Why did I go so long without one?

Ok, enough about my heater.  Let’s talk about how I made these shelves.  Below is a list of tools and materials that you will need to complete the build. 

This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will make a commission if you click-through and make a purchase.

How to Make DIY Wall Shelves

Tools

Drill

Drill Bit

Miter Saw 

Clamps

Brad Nailer 

Tape Measure

Pencil

Ear Protection

Eye Protection

Materials

1×12 x 72″ Board

1×6 x 72″ Board

1×2 x 72″ Board

(14) 2″ Screws

Brad Nails

Wood Glue

Sand Paper

Stain

Polyurethane

HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE BUILD PLANS

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Directions

Step 1 – Make your cuts

First, cut each of the 72″ boards in half.  This will leave you with boards that are just shy of 36″ in length since you’ll lose the thickness of the blade from the cut.

Step 2 – Pre-drill the boards

Mark and pre-drill holes where the 1×6 will attach to the 1×12.

Step 3 – Screw the 1×6 into the 1×12

Use wood glue and 2″ screws to attach the 1×6 to the 1×12 board.  I left a 1″ lip at the bottom.  For detailed dimensions scroll up to download the pdf plans.

Step 4 Attach the 1×2 to the front

Finally, use wood glue and brad nails to attach the 1×2 to the 1×12.

And that’s it.  These shelves were super simple but add so much character and warmth to the room.  I’m happy to have a sensible place to store my silhouette and additional storage for craft items in the basket and buckets.  You can finish them with your choice of finish.  First, I sanded the oak boards with 120 grit and then 220 grit sand paper.  Then I applied Minwax Early American stain and followed with 3 coats of Minwax Semi Gloss Polyurethane.

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If you’re interested in building the desk that matches these shelves (pictured below) you can find a full tutorial for that here.

Thanks for reading!