Shanna's Designs: Shelves

Well I had a lot of interest in my crafting shelves. Although I got the idea from my good friend Marta. You can check out her video here.

So let me start off by saying this is really easy and cheap compared to buying shelving from a store like Hobby Lobby. If you love Hobby Lobby like me but hate paying a crazy amount of money for something that wasn't even handmade!!!

So I went to town on my own vintage shabby looking decor. You can make these really however you want to whatever size you want. Just make sure you measure out what you want on the spot you want to hang it so you don't make one too big or too small.

I used lumber from my local hardware store. My store was Lowe's. DO NOT USE TREATED LUMBER!!!!! That is for things outside like fencing, or decking. The chemicals used to treat that is not for indoors and if I remember correctly extremely bad for your health!

I also used some screws, screws with anchors for the wall, some stain, some paint, and sand paper. And a leveler.

So to start measure your wall you want to hang and get an idea of how big you want your shelving.

Next, I like to draw a diagram in detail so I know how much wood I need. However, if your not really a planner and more of a just go with it more power to you.

When it comes to buying wood you want to knowhow deep you want your shelves and how wide you want them. I used wood that was 1 in x4 in x 8 ft I believe. Realistically they are not true measurements these are rounded up. The 8ft is probably the only accurate part. My boards were more like .75 in x 3.5 in x 8 ft.

From the diagram my lovely hubby cut my wood for me. Now before you do this you could stain the wood, and paint it, or finish it however you want it to look before cutting. I did this with my book shelves we made and it made my life so much easier. If you like to paint things after they are put together go for it.

With all my pieces cut we used this kit to to make drill holes so you wouldn't see the screws. Of course if your like me and don't care about seeing screws you can skip this step. It gave him a reason for a new toy to add to his already large collection lol.

So first for a little added effect I tried burning parts of my wood first. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO THIS. It was a trial thing for me. Then I stained my pieces.

Then we started putting it together.

We used a chunk of wood cut to the length we wanted spaced between the shelves.

Lined up the rest of the pieces and screwed it all together.

We cut 90 degree triangles to use as a way to mount the shelf to the wall.

Then I went to town painting it with my Prima Chalk Paint. Once dry you are more than welcome to add a second coat.

I went ahead using sand paper to scuff off some of the paint so the stain would show through.

Here is a before

And after

Now time for the hanging part. I won't lie I AM NOT GOOD AT THIS AND DON'T HANG THINGS EVER!!!! EVER!!!!!

My hubby used a leveler to make sure things went up nice and neat and not funky. So once everything was level holding that shelve extremely still he used a drill bit to pre-drill the holes to mount it.

Then screwed in the anchor for the main screw. This is a great way to make sure when you put weight on those shelves it doesn't come ripping out the wall. However, if you are lucky and are screwing your shelves into the studs behind the walls I don't think you need anchors.