Gorgeous DIY Floating Shelves
Updated: Mar 11
Buying solid wood shelves that are longer than 24” can be soooo expensive. I needed large, heavy duty shelving for my studio to store things out of children’s reach. The ones I have pictured above are 6ft each and the materials cost about $45 each. If you just need function or are painting your shelves anyway, you can opt for plywood. It's sturdy and less expensive.
Here is how I created my look:
Materials:
10in x 8ft Fir boards: Roughly $25-30/ piece
LEOPO 10 in floating shelf brackets (affiliated link)
At home Tools needed:
Drill & bits
Electric Screw driver (if your drill isn’t already)
Level (the LEOPO brackets came with a magnetic level!)
Stud Finder
Sandpaper (optional)
Stain (optional)
Painters tape (optional)
Most hardware stores will cut your wood for you, so you don’t need a saw as long as you know what length you want your shelves to be.
Tips:
Find your studs before you get your wood. This will ensure that you don’t cut your wood too short for your studs.
Place painters tape on your wall where you think you want your shelves to go (as if it were the piece of wood). This will help you visualize before you make any unwanted holes.You can also use these pieces to
Call around to your hardware store/lumber yard to see if they have your desired wood. Supply chains are so messed up right now, it was hard for us to find a decent looking batch of fir (we were looking for pine).
Shelf brackets come with anchors; DO NOT use them! Never put your shelves into drywall only. You should only put your shelves into studs or sturdier surfaces. The wood alone is heavy, so you want your shelves to be sturdy. I personally have not put shelves into concrete or brick yet, but when I do, I’ll let you know how it went.
Unstained Pine
