January 14, 2019
This past weekend I got to work and finished picture ledges for our family room. I love the ones that Pottery Barn sells but the price is a bit steep for me especially because I needed three of them. They run about $150.00 each. This DIY with the cost of all materials cost me around $15.00 per shelf. It’s also nice that you can customize the length of your shelves and the color. I really wanted shelves in a similar wood tone as our floors.
First thing, we took a little trip and picked up supplies at Home Depot.
Here is what we bought:
1 8ft 1×4 in select pine
1 8ft 1X3 in select pine
1 8ft 1×2 in select pine
2 1/2 inch wood screws ( for securing shelves to walls into studs)
1 1/2 inch wood screws to put shelves together( you could use a nail gun for this part I just don’t have one…yet.)
Stain or paint color of your choice
matte finish polyurethane
cheap paint brushes to apply stain, and poly.
Tools and other items you will need:
Sander
drill
gloves
level
stud finder
Once we got home we marked the center point of and cut all 3 of the 8 ft boards. I needed three 48 inch shelves for my project so you will have to measure and mark accordingly to the size shelves you are working on. After we cut the boards we sanded the ends with our hand sander. Then we started on shelf #1 and place the boards how they would be put together. Bottom 1×4 with a 1×3 as a back piece and a 1×2 as the front to keep your pictures from sliding off the front of the picture ledge. See picture below.
The next step is to assemble the shelf. Be sure to pre-drill all spots where you will be placing a screw! Then screw in four of the 1 1X2 inch screws into the 1X2 (front of the shelf) to attach it to the bottom of the shelf (the 1X4) I didn’t measure out my spacing for the screws just kind of eyballed it to make them somewhat equally spaced. I used a drill to do this and you want to try and sink your screws in as much as possible so you can cover the screw heads with wood filler so you don’t see them once you stain or paint your shelves.
After you finish that step put another 4 screws into the back of the shelf the 1X3 into the bottom of the shelf (the 1X4). If you look at the picture above you can see where my screw heads are placed. Do this to the following 3 shelves.
Next you will want to use your wood filler and fill the spots over the screw heads. Try not to use to much of this or to be to messy with this. It doesn’t always stain exactly like the wood does so you may see a slight color variation where you use this. If your painting your shelves this isn’t something you have to worry about. Wait as long as the manufacturer of your wood filler recommends for it dry completely then sand smooth with your sander.
Next step mix up your stain or prep your paint. I mixed a combo of three different stains to get a color similar to that of my flooring. You don’t have to do that.
I applied three coats of stain with a paint brush wiping away any excess with an old rag. You are gonna want to wear gloves during this step. I waited about an hour in between coats. Then applied 2 coats of Polyurethane. I waited about 2 hours in between coats on the poly. Here is the result below.
Once the shelves are all dry they are ready for install. You are gonna need a level, stud finder, drill, and your 2 1X2 inch wood screws.
Mark the center where you want to center your shelves on the wall, find the studs and mark them with a pencil. Mark the distance on the wall you want in between your shelves. Hold the first shelf up on the wall centered with a level on the center of shelf and mark the shelf on the front of the back piece of the shelf where the studs are. Pre drill holes on your shelves where you marked the where the studs are in relation to the wall. Do this to all shelves. Install first shelf by having helper hold it up making sure it is level with a level centered on the shelf and drill your screws through your predrilled screw holes into the wall and stud behind. We only had two studs the length of our shelve so we put two screws into each shelf into the studs. Here is what they look like installed.
And here they are Completely styled:
