We live in a cute little townhouse that is pretty great for our family. Biggest issue I have with our upstairs is the lack of linen closet. Really. Who builds a house for a family without a linen closet?! Apparently our builder. Moving on. We don't have a linen closet but we DO have a nook at the end of our hallway that would have been a perfect spot for one. My mom is pretty great and can do just about anything she wants to. If I were her, I would have gone ahead and learned how to frame and finish the space as a closet. Actually, I'm about 99% sure she DOES know how to do those things- too bad she lives 2,363.6 miles away. In any case, we decided to do a combination of shelves and closet in the space. I like how they turned out and that the hall doesn't feel closed or darker, as it might have with a door. The whole project went quite quickly once I was able to get the husband to be interested in doing it. Once we started, he took over and did a great job.Supplies:
- Tape measure
- Level
- Good nails
- Wood suitable for shelves
- Wood suitable for brackets. (We used thinner pieces since I'm not planning on storing heavy items on the shelves)
- Wood glue
- Wood filler
- Sand paper
- Paint
Random tips:
- Lowes has some very nice prefinished shelving wood. It's a little pricier than the unfinished but I think it's completely worth it to not have to sand and paint for this project.
- If you don't have a table saw or something similar to cut your wood, you can pay to have your wood cut at Lowes and/or Home Depot. The first two cuts are usually free. Keep in mind, they don't guarantee that your cuts will be 100% perfect but you can get pretty close and then sand the edges to fit your space.
- Not all walls are perfectly square. Be smarter than us and check that before cutting your shelves.
To Do:
- Measure the space from the floor to ceiling. Determine how many shelves you want and the distance between them. Take the thickness of your shelf wood into consideration.
- Decide how deep the shelves are going to be.
- Take your depth measurement, subtract 1 inch and then multiply by 2. That is how much wood you will need for the SIDE brackets for ONE shelf. We had the brackets about two inches shorter than the wood was deep because I didn't want them to show all the way to the end.
- Measure the length of the length/long end of the shelf. Measure the thickness of the wood. Actually measure-don't rely on the size of the wood. (A 2x4, for example, isn't actually 2x4. It is closer to 1 1/2x 3 1/2.) Multiply that by 2 and subtract. That should give you the length you'll need to fit the 3 pieces together in the space you have. |_|
- Get the wood you will need for your project, measure it at least twice, cut once and get ready for some fun!
- If your brackets and/or shelves need to be sanded and painted, do that now.
- Measure and mark the wall where you want all of your shelves to be.
- Using your level and an extra set of hands, again, mark where the brackets are to go. Nail the brackets to the wall, starting with the sides.
- Put a line of wood glue around the top of the brackets where the shelf will sit. Place the shelf on top. After the glue has dried, feel free to nail the shelf to the supports, fill in the top with some filler, sand and paint. Repeat for all of your shelves.
- If your walls aren't perfectly square and you, too, didn't discover this until after you had done all of the above steps, fill in the gaps with wood filler, sand and paint to match the rest of the shelf.
- Now, stand back, admire your work and go fill those shelves with cute baskets, towels and everything else that has been screaming for a new home on display!
No comments:
Post a Comment