DIY Wood Shelves

You know that big pile of leftover wood in my garage?  It has gotten a bit smaller.  That's because I have made another project with it - DIY Wood Shelves - made from reclaimed wood.  And I'm going to talk you through making some too.


DIY Wood Shelves | Instructions for making wood shelves from reclaimed wood | She's Crafty

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I am steadily working on cleaning up the stash of wood in my garage.  Instead of running to the hardware store, I'm trying to use what I have.  And I have a lot.  But I am one project closer to using it up!  I have been hinting that I had a tutorial for reclaimed wood shelves.  I've talked about them here and here. I finally took the time to write it all down.

How to make DIY Wood Shelves from Reclaimed Wood




Gather and Cut pieces of wood  


I searched through the piles of wood in my garage until I came up with 4 pieces of the same width. They were already partially painted and had holes and glue from previous projects.  That's ok.  I laid the pieces together.  2 pieces for the length and 2 pieces for the width.  Then I took them to my miter saw and cut the 2 pieces to the exact same length.  Repeat with the longer pieces.  

  • small shelf 7.5" x 21"
  • large shelf 11 " x 25.5"  



Attach Wood Pieces Together


Place the long piece on a flat surface.  Drill pilot holes on the ends.  Run a line of wood glue along the edge and place a short piece standing up.  Screw the wood pieces together at a 90 degree angle.  Repeat on the other side and then on the bottom.  It's hard to put into words how to put these together, but you can tell from the photos how simply they are attached.




Paint or Stain the Shelf


As I said above, these pieces of wood were reclaimed from another project, so they already had tons of screw holes and were partially painted.





They had a bunch of dried wood glue on them as well.  So I sanded and sanded and sanded to make them smooth.  I didn't fill in the holes, because I like the character.  I left the wood partially painted and applied stain over the top of everything.  




Style the Shelves


These shelves can be hung on the wall or set on top of a surface horizontally or vertically.  To hang them on the wall, I would use corner brackets, or if they aren't going to hold anything heavy, you could just put nails in the corners.  (My husband would kill me if you actually took this advice, he hates when I hang things this way.  So do it at the risk of catching fire from your husband)




They would look cute on the wall in the bathroom holding toiletries, in a kitchen holding small plants or sitting on a vignette holding faux vintage cans.  

Supply list for making Wood Shelves






I think they also look pretty cute with mini houses, made from reclaimed wood as well.  DIY Wood Shelves are super easy to make and a great way to use up some reclaimed wood! 


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