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DIY Shelf

Learn How To Build Your Own Shelves In No Time!

My wife is always looking for new home decor to make our place look unique. I enjoy working on some minor carpenter type of projects too. So when we she showed me a pin for a shelf that she found I decided to give it a shot. Here is how it went…

Step 1: Material

Your going to have to decide what size your are going to want your shelf to be. Since we wanted two shelves on top of each other we went with two 1” x 4” that were 72” long. You will also need a 1” x 1” that is 72” long for the front of the shelf.

So:

2-1” x 4” x 72”L

1-1” x 1” x 72”L

I think we spent about $15 at Lowe’s for the three boards.

Also, try to pick out the better boards at the lumber yard. Look out for curves and splits in the board. 

Step 2: Cutting the boards

Simply cut the 72” long boards in half giving you three feet for each. I used a Miter Saw, but a regular circular saw would work fine.

Step 3: Preparing the board with a pocket hole jig

I used a pocket hole jig to make the holes before drilling the bottom to the back. If you are using a jig be sure to set it to the right height before using the drill bit.

This is what it will look like…

Also I drilled 3 holes on each shelf.

Step 4: Attaching the bottom to the back

Now that you have a hole for the screw simply attach the back to the bottom of the shelf with an appropriate screw. If you don’t have a jig then drill a screw from the back of the shelf instead of the bottom.

Step 5: Attaching the front board

Now attach you 1” x 1” with a small nail. I used 4 nails on each shelf that were about an inch long.

Step 6: Staining

We used the Rust-Oleum oil based wood stain in the Kona color.

Step 7: Hang it up!

Here are the shelves hung in our house. These shelves would good above one of our sideboards in one of our darker stains like Goudy Golden Oak, Late Harvest, or Golden Brown. 

 Any thoughts or suggestions?  Give us some feedback below!

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Hi, Our names are Cordell and Brad, and we’re just a couple of guys with Amish blood who strive to meet the needs of people by bringing ideas and hard work together. We live in Holmes County Ohio, the heart of Amish country and home to the world’s best furniture crafters. We’re proud of our heritage and the hard work, skill and dependability that it taught us.

We want to write frequent blogs about things that we find interesting about the furniture that we sell. As well as provide tips that we found helpful relating to furniture. Including design, care, and DIY.

Remember that your comments and feedback is encouraged and appreciated. Either comment below or contact us directly at

Phone: (330)-818-6270

or

Email: Brad@industrialcraftsman.com