Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on one of my links and make a purchase, I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
These DIY shelves are seriously so easy to make and are super budget friendly!
There are only two main components for this projects: a wood board and “L” brackets. You will also need a few more supplies depending on if your choose to paint or stain the wood. I was able to create a picture ledge for our living room and a set of shelves for our office for under $40! Our shelves have been up for almost a year and they still look amazing and hold up so well!
To build the shelves, I bought two wood boards from the hardware store. I do not remember exactly what type of wood I got but it was fairly inexpensive, smooth and had minimal defects. I made sure to get boards that had no warping in them, as well.
The board I used for our picture ledge in the living room was 8 feet long by 4.5 inches wide, while the board I used for our office was 6 feet long by 5.5 inches wide. I had the 6-foot board cut in half at the store to create two shelves. The wood cost just $12 total.
SUPPLIES
When I got home, I sanded each side of the wood and applied wood conditioner before staining. I wanted my shelves to have a light but warm toned color, so I used Varathane Wood Stain in the color Flagstone and let it sit for about 15 seconds before wiping it off. I used the same color and process for all of the boards. Once everything dried, I applied a coat of matte polycrylic to seal it.
To hang the shelves, I used these heavy duty “L” brackets from Amazon, which includes hardware, but I did have to buy stronger drywall anchors since the provided ones kept falling into the wall.
My husband drilled pilot holes first to ensure the wood wouldn’t crack when screwing in the brackets. He attached the brackets to the wood first, then mounted the entire shelf to the wall. To create more of a floating shelf look, we placed the brackets like a right-side up “L” so the top portion of the bracket could be hidden behind things sitting on the shelf.
This turned out to be a super simple and affordable project for us! I love how the shelves look in our home and how easy they were to customize to our needs. I’ll definitely be making more shelves like this in our future homes!
PIN IT FOR LATER!
