Installing decorative shelves on the wall allows you to decorate any living space. It becomes more functional and at the same time cozy. A place for these products can be found on the ceiling, floor or walls, so do-it-yourself shelves can be wall-mounted, hanging or floor-standing.

Decorating rooms with decorative shelves

Shelves of high height, placed on the floor, are called racks. Usually they are decorative items mounted on a bracket or pipe. The popularity of this option is due to its convenience and functionality.

You can decorate with shelves rooms that have different purposes. If this is a living room or bedroom, then using a finished or home-made product, you can install a TV on the wall. Shelves located in the bathroom or kitchen are considered especially convenient. For their manufacture, materials such as wood, plywood, glass, laminated chipboard, fiberboard are used. Racks are made of the same materials. However, they can be made from metal, plastic, etc. When creating unusual objects, you can use plastic bottles, unnecessary pipes, etc.

When making a shelf on the wall with your own hands, you should not only pay attention to the material used. It is necessary to ensure that it is decorated in the same style with the interior of the room. The functionality of decorative shelves may not play a primary role. If any interior items are placed on them, then their number is always limited. They should give the desired style to the room. In the process of its creation, it is necessary to take into account the stylistic relationship with products of contrasting colors.

In the interior, shelves sometimes play the role of the main element. For the competent design of free space above the sofa, shelves are used, matched in color to the walls of the living room. The shelf can be a separator for separate zones in the room. These types of products in technical rooms, for example, in a kitchen or bathroom, should not only be an aesthetic object, but also a useful product for certain needs related to the storage of any items.

The practicality of decorative kitchen shelves is due to their easy maintenance. The requirements for shelves in the bathroom are high. Since the humidity in this room is quite high, for the manufacture of shelves such types of materials are used that do not collapse under the influence of moisture and are safe for human health. These include plastic and stainless steel. Bathroom products can be made from moisture-resistant MDF material. To successfully operate them, the bathroom must be well ventilated.

Hanging shelf structures

If there is a place on the wall in the room where something should be hung, then many types of modern furniture can occupy the lower level, for example, sofas or tables. Since the upper part must remain empty, then there is a dissonance associated with an overload of the lower part of the room. The upper part of the room remains empty or half empty, so its walls will need to be decorated with decorative shelves.

In most cases, wall structures consist of jumpers and shelves directly. To combine these elements, a huge number of options are suitable. If you choose a simpler design, then you can make any shelves from it with your own hands. These products may be the first of the shelves that were made without any specific experience.

DIY wall shelves made from wood or other suitable materials are simple. It is easy to find many different diagrams and drawings on the sites, thanks to which it is enough to imagine how you can make a shelf on the wall with your own hands. It may be necessary to make changes to the drawings beforehand if the design will have different dimensions.

When using fiberboard, it is important to remember that the thickness of this material should be about 16-18 mm. The distance between the support posts should be no more than 1 m. It is better if the span is 90 cm, otherwise there will be a deflection.

If you want to assemble certain nodes yourself, and the diagram is not entirely clear, then you will need to prepare additional fasteners. The reliability of the design can be ensured in the presence of corners. They are necessary for attaching jumpers to prepared shelves. Installation of corners is made from below - 2 pcs. for each connection.

Shelf fixing

The traditional way to install finished shelves are hinges. In this case, the product can be made of wood and fiberboard, as well as materials with a suitable thickness to allow them to be attached. You can hang shelves on the walls using self-tapping screws. The distance between the centers of the hinge holes should be measured, setting aside its value on the wall surface. In this case, it is necessary to monitor the horizontalness of the line.

The marked points will allow you to drill holes for the dowels evenly. Fasteners will need to be inserted into the hole, and then a dowel-nail with a small cap is screwed into it. It should fit into a loop or a bracket, which is a pin, slightly bent upwards.

Then you need to hang a shelf on them. It is far from possible to make a hole in any material with a drill. For example, if the shelves are made of glass. For glass decorative products, special fasteners are used. They should consist of 2 parts, between which glass must be inserted.

Pelican is the most popular type of glass fastening, which has a peculiar shape and has different colors. This mount is able to hold glass with a thickness of 8-34 mm. It is a suitable element for various materials having the specified thickness, and not only for glass. Pelican allows you to give glass shelves a stylish look.

The arrangement of hinged glass shelves using this material is not difficult. You will first need to purchase a special mount by contacting the glass workshop for ordering a piece of glass with processed edges of the desired size and shape. If you have experience, then such glass can be cut independently.

After the assembly is completed, the structure can be fixed to the wall on pelicans. The collapsible case involves the removal of a decorative lining. The mounting plate has 2 holes: above and below in the body. After fixing the shelf, you can insert the trim back, and then mount the glass.

You can also strengthen the finished product with the help of reliable decorative brackets that perform the function of decoration. There is a mounting method that allows you to hide the fasteners. It is called secret, it assumes the presence of a seat for a pin. There are a large number of ways to attach shelves to the wall, which allows you to choose the most suitable one.

Installing book shelves

Bookshelves need to be strong enough to hold a significant amount of weight, so the mounting method and construction must be particularly robust. Shelves for books are traditionally made of wood, which can be laminated or veneered fiberboard. When choosing a material, it should be borne in mind that do-it-yourself wooden shelves made of fiberboard, in the presence of a long span (more than 90 cm), bend over time.

Before you make a bookshelf with your own hands according to individual sizes, you should take into account that the distance between the racks should not be more than 90 cm. Bookshelves are wall-mounted and floor-mounted. These types of structures can be angular. The simplest case is a board that is fixed in the most appropriate way.

Bookshelves

Making bookshelves with your own hands from improvised materials allows you to create the most exclusive products that are the main element of decor. If the bookshelf is floor-standing, then it is able to withstand greater loads than a hinged one. The design consists of racks and the shelf itself.

As a highlight, you can provide a broken line of shelves. Bookshelves can be unusual. A wooden structure for books, which has a small shelf in the center, can be painted in a bright color.

DIY kitchen shelves

For the kitchen interior, it is important to provide a more functional option. Since cabinets can take up too much space in such a room, you can buy or make your own shelves. For example, in the kitchen there may be a shelf for a TV.

Using free space to the maximum is the best solution. The gap between the refrigerator and the wall can be filled with a self-made shelf structure. It is important to accurately measure the gap so that the product can be used.

The design may include wheels that allow you to roll out and again hide narrow shelves behind the refrigerator or some piece of furniture. It is not difficult to make such a retractable structure for different containers with your own hands, having tools and improvised materials. If the sink or table is near the window, you can take the sidewalls.

The wall shelf sometimes takes up all the space in the kitchen. When hanging the entire wall above the kitchen table with small cabinets, remember that this is not the best option. Such designs have a heavy look, so it is better to provide them with glass doors or leave the shelves open.

Another interesting option is a shelf in the form of a grid on chains. It can accommodate various items. This type of design is suitable when the kitchen table is not near the wall. An additional way to save space is to equip a kitchen-dining room zoned with a counter. Above it, you can build a hanging shelf.

Hanging functional shelves

The designs of the suspended type shelves are original. They can be made from several boards including:

• 4 ropes;
• 2 straps.

Shelves of this type can be located at any level. You can make them with your own hands in a short period of time.

Hanging shelf suitable for children's room. It is enough to decorate a functional product with drawings of a child. It can have any shape, and for pasting it, you can use non-woven wallpaper. For pasting the product with thick paper, PVA glue is used. After the coating has dried, apply a water-based varnish on it 2 times.

The product can be easily washed. Along with the age of the child, you can also change the look of the shelf by removing the old decor and sticking a new one. The designs of the children's shelves are not too different. The floor structure or shelving for the children's room must be strong, as older children can often climb on various pieces of furniture.

Based on these considerations, it is best to strengthen the floor shelves to the wall. This will prevent them from accidentally falling under the weight of a large baby. It is better if the product is small in height, so that it is not scary if it falls.

Shelves in the children's room can have a variety of colors and patterns. They can be used for toy boxes. In general, the structure should be not only functional, but also safe.

Often, shelves on the wall play an exclusively decorative role. They attract attention, which is achieved due to the unusual shape of the product. It may have a contrasting color compared to the walls. It is impossible to place many items on such a shelf.

The construction of geometric shapes, i.e. squares with rectangles, is also an interesting idea. The structure can be painted in a bright color. Another interesting option is to use corners for small shelves. Knowing how to choose a decorative shelf for a wall or floor, you can make any room not only cozy, but also functional.

Shelves are quite often used not only to complement and decorate the overall interior of the room, but also for a clearer and more appropriate organization of space. Thanks to their use, the owner of the apartment gets the opportunity to conveniently arrange a huge number of small things that are simply lost in the cabinets.

Today, there are many different models on the market, which are made of different materials. They also differ in design.

You can choose not only products with a classic design, but also ultra-modern designs.

But more and more people prefer to make such interior details on their own. Asking how to make a shelf with their own hands, they re-read a lot of literature and look through a lot of catalogs.

However, this does not mean that self-manufacturing of a shelf is difficult and beyond the power of a person who does not have special skills. No, this is absolutely not true.

In this case, familiarization with the literature is necessary in order to create a product with a beautiful design that will fit into the overall interior. Let's consider in more detail what shelves are.

Types of shelves

Any specialist will tell you that before you start creating a product, you need to decide for yourself what kind of design you want to get and whether it will be combined with the interior. And only after that you can start creating the product.

Indeed, for a house decorated in a classically seasoned style, it is completely unacceptable to use trendy and modern shelves. They will look extremely awkward.

The most popular and widely known subspecies of shelves is the classic shelf. This is due to the fact that it is quite easy to install, and the appearance, thanks to its simplicity, seems refined and sophisticated.

Used with success and open, closed shelves. Closed products are most often used for decoration and installation in rooms decorated in more modern styles. Glass and sometimes plastic are used for their construction.

Open structures can be used both in modernly designed houses and in apartments with a classic design. Over the past few years, this particular type of shelf has gained immense popularity and therefore is gradually replacing the classic options.

In small rooms, you can often see corner shelves that have a special way of fastening. They are mounted on adjacent walls that are adjacent to each other. Most often they are used in bathrooms, kitchens and utility rooms.

In addition to the above types of shelves that are mounted on the wall, there are suspended and floor structures. Hanging shelves are mounted in an unusual way.

They are installed using cables and vertical racks, and are attached directly to the ceiling. This mount looks quite unusual and original.

Floor structures are most often used in hallways. After all, do-it-yourself outdoor shoe racks not only look beautiful, but also help you organize the space of a small hallway. It is quite easy to make them though.

How to make a simple shelf

To create the claimed product, you should purchase or prepare some tools and materials in advance. As connecting elements, you can use whatever suits you best. But the most popular are ordinary screws, brackets and dowels.

Note!

For example, take a photo of the shelves with your own hands, which is presented below. It depicts a product with the following parameters: width 250 mm, height 300 mm, length 1100 mm. The manufacturing process for convenience will be divided into stages.

Stages of work

At the first stage, you need to markup. To do this, you should lay the boards on a table or any other flat surface and transfer the measurements from the drawings. The side walls must have a height of exactly 268 mm.

This marking is optimal because the side walls will be located between the two parts.

At the second stage, it is required to cut the boards. To get even and neat cuts, you need to use an electric jigsaw. After cutting, you will get 2 fairly long blanks and 2 shorter ones.

At the third stage, you can start processing the received blanks. The resulting segments should be covered with a special protective varnish or stain, after sanding them.

Note!

In the event that you plan only to paint the shelf, you can get by with a conventional antiseptic primer. So you will increase not only the service life, but also achieve a more even distribution of paint.

At the fourth stage of making a wooden shelf with your own hands, you proceed to its direct assembly. The bottom board should be laid on a flat surface. Step back 8 mm from the ends of the workpiece and draw two lines parallel to the cuts.

They should mark 2 points with a distance of 5 cm from the edge. At the marked points, it is necessary to drill holes for self-tapping screws. With the second workpiece it is necessary to do the same manipulations.

After that, you should install the side blanks on the bottom of the board and secure them. Once you're done attaching the side panels, move on to installing the top panel and securing it.

At the fifth stage, you should fix the brackets on the ends of the side panels, and make several holes for the dowels in the wall. After that, screw in the screws so that they protrude by 5 mm. And now your shelf is ready.

You can make acoustic shelves in the same way, but you need to take into account the dimensions of the equipment itself. Measurements should be taken carefully, because if you make a mistake, the work will have to start over.

Note!

DIY shelves photo

In order for the interior to “heal”, it is necessary to fill it not only with furniture and textiles, but also with all kinds of accessories.

Books, souvenirs brought from travels, flowers, favorite photos in frames, various objects dear to the heart should take their places in the interior.

Various shelves, niches, racks come to the rescue, which are just designed to store such items.

Today we’ll talk about various options for placing shelves, which you can do yourself or purchase in a distribution network.

Types of shelves

A shelf is a piece of furniture made from different types of materials, without a front wall, designed to store various interior items.

According to the location in the interior, the shelves can be wall-mounted, hanging and corner.

• The wall shelf is attached to the wall, often located above any piece of furniture (above a table, sofa, bed).
• The hanging shelf is attached to the ceiling with cables, belts, chains and other devices.
• The corner shelf is located between two adjacent walls, attached to both the walls and the ceiling.

According to the materials from which the shelves are made, they can be divided into:

• wooden;
• metal;
• glass;
• shelves made of MDF, chipboard;
• shelves from GVL sheets;
• combined (combining two or more materials).

By design, the shelves can be cantilever, with and without side walls, with a back wall, vertical, horizontal, with a shift, multi-tiered, with right angles, inclined, rounded.

The options can be listed for a long time, because for each interior with its own design, its own type of shelves is selected, which becomes not only a place of storage, but also a kind of accent that stands out against the background of the walls in color, texture, complemented by various lighting.

Wall shelves in the premises of a house or apartment

In almost every children's room you can find a wall shelf, especially if the child living in this room is of school age. On the shelf, as a rule, textbooks, notebooks, various school supplies and toys are placed. Often the shelves are made of the same material as the furniture.

You can fix the shelf on the corners, brackets (open and hidden), hinges. The mounting option for wall shelves depends on the chosen interior style.

Mounting on a bracket with a pin. The shelf fits tightly on the pin. The thickness of such a shelf exceeds 25 mm. The design looks concise, no frills, often used in the interior in the style of minimalism.

Wall shelves on brackets that are attached to the wall. The shelf itself is mounted on top of the brackets.

Often, brackets carry not only a structural load, but are also decorative elements. Such shelves look good in a country-style interior.

An excellent solution for wall shelves for a nursery. Designs are made in the form of letters. Bright color accents not only create a mood, but also contribute to the development of the child.

I want to make a children's room for kids brighter than other rooms. Fill it with unusual details typical of childhood, create a cozy fairy-tale atmosphere for your kids. Shelves of an unusual shape in the form of a cloud, a tree or a flower are a godsend for loving parents.

You can make them from plywood by cutting blanks with a jigsaw according to a pre-made pattern, assemble the structure and paint it in the desired color.

Recently, it is no longer fashionable to clutter up the living room with an abundance of cabinet furniture. "Walls", which could be found in almost any apartment of the Soviet period, are a thing of the past. Modern living rooms, in addition to upholstered furniture, are filled with various racks and shelves, adding spectacular lighting.

Wall shelves are made of various materials. Drywall designs are popular, which are not difficult to do with your own hands. The future design is marked on the wall, to which metal or wooden rails are then mounted and sheathed with GVL sheets. The surface of the shelves is puttied and painted.

A plasterboard shelf in the form of a console in the color of the wall to which it is attached looks very light, does not clutter up the room.

You can beat the corners of the premises with corner shelves. The construction will perfectly fit both into the inner corner of two adjacent walls, and at the junction of the walls from the outside. An openwork metal corner shelf is an interior decoration.

Interior and furniture designers offer a large number of original wall shelves that can become a bright accent in the living room interior. We hope that the presented photo gallery will inspire you to make a wall shelf with your own hands. You can draw ready-made ideas or create your own design to your taste.

An unusual decorative shelf in the form of a tree branch against a monochrome wall.

Shelves-frames carry not so much a functional load as they are a decoration of the wall. However, this design can accommodate several interior items.

A shelf of curved wooden blocks, as if bent under the weight of books.

And this shelf, like the bright sun, will always warm you with its warmth, even in dull rainy weather.

Original round shelves can be made of plastic pipes of various diameters.

A shelf made of metal pipes is appropriate in a loft-style interior.

The budget version of the suspended structure combines wooden shelves strung on ropes. The shelf can be mounted both to the ceiling and to the wall on the bracket.

On a glass shelf, you can place a collection of souvenirs brought from trips to different countries. Such a design will not focus on itself, the objects placed on it will be presented to the eye.

The original combined wall shelf made of metal and wood for flowers in the form of a ladder will decorate any room.

Wall shelves find their place not only in living rooms. In the kitchen, the design can become a place to store kitchen utensils, books with cooking recipes, or simply decorate the wall.

A wooden wall shelf from a drawer is appropriate in the interior of a country-style kitchen.

Metal wall shelves are often used in bathrooms. They are made of stainless steel, so they are not subject to corrosion. On sale you can find a wide variety of them. In many models, metal is combined with glass.

The corner glass shelf for the bathroom is attached using a special bracket, which consists of two parts: a base and a movable console. The glass is clamped between the parts of the bracket by tightening the screw located at the bottom of the mount. The bracket is pre-attached to the wall, and only then the glass shelf is strung.

Arrangement of a wardrobe design of shelves on brackets and metal racks. Racks are fixed to the walls, floor and ceiling.

The shelves, hung with brackets on perforated rails, can be easily removed and set to the desired height.

It is perhaps difficult to find a house where there would not be at least one wall shelf. Today, this piece of furniture combines convenience, beauty, and functionality. Look for your solution, equip the interior, enjoy the work done.

Wall shelves can open up new storage possibilities or be a pretty backdrop for home decor. Small and large, bookshelf and kitchen, with hidden fastening and cantilever - almost any shelf can be made with your own hands, and not bought in a store. In this article, we presented 3 simple and budgetary ways to make shelves and shelves for various purposes, as well as 70 photo ideas for inspiration.

Universal hanging shelf

Hanging shelves on ropes have gained great popularity for a reason. They look much more spectacular than ordinary shelves, and at the same time they are really functional and versatile. They can be adapted to store heavy items such as dishes or flower pots, as well as light accessories. And thanks to the side holders, the shelf can also be used to store books.

Hanging kitchen shelf made from wooden boards and ropes

This cabinet shelf is suspended from the ceiling on ropes 2 cm thick. You can make such a shelf using our instructions, with the only difference being that the hooks in this case are attached to the ceiling and not to the wall

Such a homemade shelf made of rough wood and ropes will look great in the interior in the Scandinavian style, eco and country style, loft and rustic

And now we propose to move on to practice and make such a universal shelf with our own hands.

You will need:

• 4 wooden boards (2.5 cm thick and any desired length, for example, 1 m long as in our master class);
• Rope rope about 8 mm thick and 4 m long;
• Drill and feather drill with a diameter of 10 mm (the drill should be slightly thicker than the rope);
• 2 steel hooks and dowels for concrete with a diameter of 8 mm;
• Pencil.

Basic materials needed to make a shelf

Master Class:

1. With a drill and a pen drill, drill a hole in each corner of the board (pre-draw the markup with a pencil). Remember that the holes should not be too close to the edges.

1. Paint your board with paint/stain, and then, when the finish is dry, finish with a matte varnish or wax (this is not necessary, but desirable - if you want to protect the shelf from wet cleaning and scratches).

• If you want to preserve the natural color and texture of the wood, then simply sand the board on all sides with coarse sandpaper or a sander.

1. Install the steel hooks on the wall: first, make marks with a level, then drill holes with a hammer drill with an 8 mm concrete drill, insert 8 mm dowels into the holes and, finally, screw the hooks into them.

1. Cut your 4 meter rope into 4 equal lengths of 1 meter. Pass the ropes through the holes in the board, and then tie their ends on the back of the board in a knot as shown in the photo below.

1. Now that a pair of ropes has formed on each short side of the board, tie the ends of each pair with a knot and hang on hooks. Make sure the shelf hangs straight and adjust the top knots if necessary. By the way, in the future you will be able to adjust the length of the ropes due to the upper knots.

You can experiment a little with the ways of fastening the ropes and make not only shelves, but even hanging racks with your own hands.

If you have an unnecessary drawer from a chest of drawers, then you can make such a beautiful shelf with dividers out of it. It can store something that should always be at hand or in plain sight.

You will need:

• Box;
• Paint of the desired color and brush;
• Wax or matte varnish;
• Wooden board or plywood of small thickness;
• Carpentry glue or liquid nails;
• Loops for the shelf;
• Two dowels 8 mm and screws for them;
• Perforator and drill for concrete 8 mm;
• Phillips screwdriver;
• Jigsaw;
• Medium grit sandpaper;
• A piece of wallpaper for decorating the back wall;
• Putty for wood.

Master Class:

1. Cut the dividers out of the plywood/wood plank to the size you want with a jigsaw, then sand them down on all sides with sandpaper.
2. If the drawer has handles, remove them and seal the holes with putty.
3. Paint the crate in 2-3 coats, letting each coat dry completely. If you want to achieve a worn effect, rub the drawer in some places with sandpaper.
4. On the back wall of the shelf, glue a piece of wallpaper cut exactly to its size. You can stick wallpaper on wallpaper glue or any universal glue.

1. Install the dividers with wood glue or liquid nails.

1. Next, coat the box with wax or a matte varnish to protect the top coat from damage and moisture.
2. On the back of the shelf, nail or screw two metal loops onto the screws.
3. Make two holes on the wall, after marking with a level, insert dowels into the holes, and screw the screws into them, but not completely, but leaving about 5 mm. Well, that's all, now you can hang the shelf on the wall.

Shelf-hanger from ... the back of a chair

If you have an old wooden chair, or rather the back of a chair, then you can make a nice shelf with hooks out of it. It can be hung in the kitchen to be used for storing kitchen towels and aprons, and in the bathroom, and in the hallway.

Such a back of the chair was before the alteration ...

... and this became after!

You will need:

• The back of a wooden chair;
• A small plank of wood or plywood;
• Three metal hooks;
• Pendulum saw for wood, grinder or jigsaw;
• 5 or more wood screws and a screwdriver / screwdriver;
• Drill and drill 3 mm;
• Sandpaper of medium grit (for removing old varnish / paint from the back of a chair) and coarse grit (for sanding a wooden shelf);
• Black paint (if you want to create a worn effect), white paint or any other desired color, brush;
• Wax or matte varnish;
• Wood putty;
• Joiner's glue.

Master Class:

1. Cut the back of the chair to the desired size, after marking it out.

1. In this project, the wooden base of the former hanger successfully approached for the manufacture of the upper shelf. You can also use a board made of wood or plywood - it must be cut to the desired size, and then all ends should be sanded. If possible, it is desirable to shape the edges of the workpiece with a milling cutter.

1. With a medium grit sandpaper (for example, 220 microns), remove the old coating from the back of the chair, then paint both parts with black paint and leave to dry. This is necessary so that in the future the black layer shows through the scuffs of the top coating.
2. It's time to attach the plank to the back of the chair. To do this, drill a small hole from each of its edges (from the outside, where you want to fasten the parts), then screw in the screws, drowning them flush. If your chair back has vertical crossbars like in this project, then it is advisable to also fasten them to the shelf with wood glue.

1. Cover the attachment points with wood putty, following the manufacturer's instructions.

1. Now screw the hooks to the bottom rail of your shelf, after marking it out. If necessary, the hooks can be painted (before attaching to the craft).

1. If desired, screw a sign over each hook. The plate itself can also be decorated with numbers using a stencil, a small brush and black acrylic paint. However, you can come up with your own way to decorate the shelf.
2. Paint the entire craft white (or whatever color you choose) and then rub some sandpaper over to expose the black layer of paint.
3. Finally, cover the shelf with a matte varnish, or better yet, wax it to protect the top coat from chips, moisture, and scratches.

In fact, shelves of various configurations can be made from chairs. Here are some more photo ideas for your inspiration.

Bathroom shelf from the back of a chair

Want to make a shoe rack without using a jigsaw or drill? This is possible, you just need to find / purchase a wooden pallet (pallet) and modify it a little.

• Used pallets are often given away for free or sold for 100-200 rubles on flea market sites like Avito. You can also ask around for used pallets at local construction sites, warehouses and wholesalers. New pallets can be ordered in specialized online stores for only 200-250 rubles.

How to turn an old pallet into such a pretty country-style shoe rack with your own hands? Take some free time and follow the next step-by-step instructions.

You will need:

• Wooden pallet;
• Hand/electric grinder with triangular and standard attachment or grinder. If there is no machine, use a small wooden block and wrap it with sandpaper;
• Sandpaper with grit, 40, 80 and 120;
• Brush;
• Gloves;
• Soft rag;
• Protective dust mask;
• Moisture-proof primer for wood (preferably with an antiseptic);
• Paint/stain and brush;
• Wax or matte varnish.

Master Class:

1. Sand your pallet from all sides or just the part that will be visible: first use coarse grit sandpaper to remove the roughest bumps, knots and dirt. Then continue sanding with medium to fine grit sandpaper. Next, remove the dust with a brush, vacuum the entire pallet and finally wipe it with a damp cloth.

This is what your pallet will look like after sanding

1. Apply a water-repellent primer to the entire (!) pallet. It will protect the wood from rotting and moisture that will drain from the shoes, and prepare the surface for painting.
2. When the primer is dry, start painting the shelf. You can paint the entire pallet or just the "front" part, as in this project.

1. When the paint is dry, cover the pallet with a matte varnish or wax. If you want to preserve the texture and pattern of the wood, treat the pallet with a stain of the desired tone or completely cover the shelf with matte varnish / wax.
2. Using a stencil, acrylic paint, and a brush, write "Shoes!" in the top center of the shelf. like in this project or any other word/drawing.

1. The top of the shelf can be decorated with houseplants, such as succulents in containers and baking buckets.

1. You can upgrade your shoe rack by embedding a bottom of wooden slats into the middle and top tiers (they just need to be cut to the right size and nailed down).

Here are some more photo ideas for making a shoe rack with your own hands.

With a little work with a nail puller, a hammer and a jigsaw, you can convert a pallet into a kitchen shelf, display shelf, flower or tool shelf.

Homemade pallet kitchen shelf

Homemade kitchen shelf-showcase from a pallet

Shelf-showcase from a pallet in the living room

Photo gallery of ideas

If you didn’t like any of the ways we proposed to make a shelf, we suggest looking for ideas in our photo gallery. Here we have collected other examples of wall shelves that you can make with your own hands from wooden boards, the same pallets, boxes and other easily accessible “lumber”.

Making a corner shelf with your own hands is as easy as shelling pears. To make one shelf, as in the photo below, cut a triangular blank of the desired size and with the required angle (rarely the inner corners of the walls are exactly 90 degrees) from plywood or wood 1.5-2.5 cm thick, as well as two small support strips (length one plank should correspond to the leg of the triangular blank, and the length of the second plank should be calculated by the formula: the length of the leg minus the width of the first plank).

All parts must be carefully sanded and then painted or simply waxed / varnished. Next, make markings using the building level both on the walls and on the planks (note that the holes will be through!). Drill holes in the walls, insert dowels into them and then hang the supports on the screws using the push-through mounting method. It is important to choose the right screw length - it should be calculated according to the formula: dowel length + support bar thickness + screw diameter. Finally, you just have to install the shelves and fix them either with wood glue or with nails / wood screws. If you want to hide the self-tapping screws, use wood putty, and then paint over the "patches" with paint to match the shelf.

Hooks for mugs can be screwed into the bottom of the kitchen corner shelf

Homemade bathroom corner shelf

Homemade corner shelves in different sizes

To make a shelf from a skateboard, you need to remove the wheels from it, and then hang it on the wall on the brackets.

Shelf in a baguette

A shelf framed by a frame is easy to make: first you need to put together a frame of boards according to the size of the frame, then you need to install several separator strips inside the box.

Shelf with flywheel hooks

If you have a simple wooden bathroom shelf, decorate it with cross ceramic faucet handles. It's hard to imagine a more stylish thing!

Hanging drawer storage system

Drawers are almost ready-made shelves that you just need to hang on the wall.

From several boxes of a lone type, you can make a full-fledged modular storage system.

Hanging shelves made of wooden board and leather straps

From a wooden board and a pair of leather belts, you can make such a stylish hanging shelf with your own hands once or twice.

Shelf for storing fruits and vegetables

As you know, some fruits and vegetables need to be stored at room temperature. But where is the place for this? Our answer is on the wall with the help of such a shelf made of wooden boards and metal baskets.

Pallet shelves

This mini shelf, rough-hewn from pallet boards, is perfect for storing bills and keys.

Here are some more ideas for shelves and wall organizers that can be made from pallets or boards from them.

Homemade wine rack

The following video instruction will help you make a wine shelf as in the photo above.

Wall shelves are a great way to organize space and decorate your home. Of course, in stores the choice of furniture is now great, and you can simply buy them. However, if you make a shelf on the wall with your own hands, you will get not only a useful, but also an exclusive piece of furniture that will perfectly fit your needs.

Don't know where to start? Our article will reveal to you the basics of creating beautiful and practical shelves for every taste with minimal effort.

Choosing materials for manufacturing

To create a structure, you can use almost any sufficiently strong material. Consider the most popular of them.

Wood

Wood is a classic material for shelves

Wooden shelves are the most familiar, classic option. Most people choose it for its practicality, solid appearance and ease of care. In addition, wood, in comparison with other materials, is easy to process. It can be easily given various shapes and colors, and even a person who does not have special skills can handle the creation of a simple wooden shelf.

The costs for them, depending on the type of wood, may be different. From the most modest, for example, for the manufacture of pine products, to quite impressive for oak or maple.

Plastic

Plastic shelves are a practical and inexpensive solution. Plastic washes well, is not susceptible to mold and has a wide color palette, but it may not organically fit into any room. Such shelves will look most appropriate in the bathroom, in the hallway, in the kitchen or on the balcony, but for the bedroom and, especially those decorated in a classic style, plastic is hardly suitable.

Homemade design made of plastic pipes

More often, such products are purchased in a store, but with some skills and desire, you can make plastic wall shelves with your own hands. At the same time, cuttings of plastic pipes or bottles and similar materials are taken as the basis for them.

Metal

Metal is not the most common material for this type of furniture, but sometimes it is quite appropriate. For example, a metal shelf or rack may look good in an interior decorated, and forged products will successfully fit into an Empire or Baroque room. Disadvantages of metal shelves: their heavy weight and complexity for self-realization, because in this case one cannot do without the experience of welding, and even blacksmithing.

Exquisite wrought iron shelf

MDF or chipboard

Under these abbreviations, cheaper analogues of wood are hidden. Since a real tree, especially when it comes to noble varieties, is not affordable for everyone, substitutes can come to the rescue to imitate its structure.

Chipboard is a material with a laminated top layer, inside of which there is a compressed chip and a binder. It is very easy to process, although it will require additional decoration of saw cuts. Usually melamine film is used for this.

Laminated chipboards

MDF is an abbreviation for the English version, which in translation stands for medium hardness fibreboard. For their manufacture, an adhesive and finely ground wood fibers are used, which are pressed together under pressure and high temperatures. The material has excellent strength, lends itself well to processing and subsequent finishing (painting, varnishing).

Substitutes in appearance are practically not inferior to natural wood

In general, chipboard and MDF are suitable raw materials for making shelves on a limited budget. This is confirmed by the experience of many furniture factories that regularly use these materials to create their products.

Design choice. What to pay attention to?

In addition to choosing the material of manufacture, in order to make a shelf with your own hands, you will also need to decide on its shape, design features and type of fastening. According to the type of fastening, the shelves are divided into wall-mounted and suspended. The former are attached directly to the wall using nails, screws, brackets, and the like, while the latter are fixed with various cords, hummocks or chains.

Suspended two-tier structure

The shape of the shelves is the most diverse, while they can have several tiers or consist of one element, be closed or open. Corner structures look original when the shelf is placed at the junction formed by the walls.

It is important to consider the intended purpose of the shelf. Whether it will be only decorative or designed to store a significant amount of things affects its size, design features and often determines the most suitable material for its manufacture.

Do you want to decorate a beautiful flower arrangement in a room or on a balcony, but do not know how to make a flower shelf with your own hands? In this case, you will need a moisture-resistant material that can withstand significant weight, and the structure itself should be well fixed. If you plan to store books on it, then it is better to opt for fairly wide varieties of shelves and take care of the reliability of fasteners, because they will have a considerable load.

original pallet kitchen shelf

For a kitchen shelf on which it is planned to store all the necessary little things (spices, various utensils, etc.), it would be useful to take care of the doors or some kind of partition that can prevent fragile things from falling. But as for the decorative shelves designed to decorate the home, here the fantasy is practically not limited to anything. Below are a few examples of how you can diversify the interior with an original homemade shelf.

Making a decorative shelf: examples of interesting models

So, option one. Convenient, but at the same time unusual can be a corner shelf made of wood or its substitutes. To make such a design, you will need:

• boards of sufficient width;
• hacksaw or jigsaw;
• Sander;
• drill;
• wood glue;
• ruler and pencil for marking on the wall;
• level;
• varnish or stain to give a shade (optional);
• fasteners (self-tapping screws, dowels, brackets).

corner bookshelf

First, you should draw a plan for the future shelf, transfer the parameters to the materials and cut out the details of the desired size. For cutting, it is better to use an electric jigsaw - it gives the most even cut. For a simple single-tier shelf, 6 parts are cut out, while the upper and lower ones should have ends with an angle that repeats the bend of the wall.

Further, the parts are ground and connected with glue. After drying, the structure is opened with varnish or other selected coating, for reliability, the side walls are fixed with self-tapping screws. Places for fasteners are marked on the wall and shelf according to the level. Then brackets are attached to the shelf, and holes are drilled in the wall into which dowels are inserted. Now it remains only to hang the structure on the wall - and the shelf is ready.

Method two. Consider how to make a wall shelf with your own hands at minimal cost, using materials that are in almost any home, namely, a few belts and a plank. For this you will need:

• edged board 20-30 cm wide, 75 cm long and about 3 cm thick (you can take several boards if the shelf is multi-tiered);
• leather belts (2 pcs. for a single shelf);
• the required number of dowels - one for each fastener;
• self-tapping screws (long and short);
• ruler and level;
• stationery knife;
• drill.

Belt shelf

First you need to prepare the belts. They should be the same and perfectly even, so they may need to be trimmed. Further, the belts are bent in half and holes are drilled 2 cm to the edges - this will be a place for fasteners.

Holes are marked and drilled on the wall at a distance of 60 cm, then dowels are inserted into them. After that, belts are applied to them with prepared holes and fixed with long self-tapping screws.

The board should be sanded, treated with compounds (lacquer, stain or paint) and inserted into the resulting loops. Then the base of the shelf is leveled, and for greater stability, parts of the belts near the board are additionally screwed with short self-tapping screws. A beautiful and quite budgetary shelf is ready!

And, finally, we will talk about how to make a glass shelf with your own hands. Such shelves look neat and fit well into any interior. However, their independent production will require some effort and skill. Necessary materials for glass construction:

• tempered glass;
• drill;
• level;
• Ruler and pencil;
• transparent adhesive tape;
• special aluminum profile;
• dowels and screws.

Glass shelves in the interior

For safety reasons, as well as to obtain a high-quality cut, it is not recommended to cut glass at home without experience in such work. It is better to order this service with simultaneous grinding of sharp edges in a special workshop.

Having glass blanks on hand, further work can be done on your own. First you need to outline, referring to the level, places for fasteners, drill holes and insert dowels into them. Then a metal profile is attached to them on the screws, while it is important not to forget to level it before final fixing.

Next, the edge of the glass that will be in contact with the metal must be pasted over with adhesive tape, insert the glass part into the aluminum profile and close its edges with protective caps. Instead of a profile, special holders for glass shelves can also be used. You can buy all the necessary accessories in the store. This completes the assembly of the shelf.

Photo of shelves on the wall. New life for old things

If you have the opportunity and desire to experiment, it is not necessary to be limited to standard materials and designs. The role of non-standard wall shelves can be pipe cuttings, old suitcases, bedside tables, etc. Think that this will not look good? Perhaps the photos below will convince you. Watch and be inspired!

Shelves made from vintage suitcases are a great addition to the interior of an avid traveler. On them you can arrange all the souvenirs brought from your trips and other trinkets dear to your heart.

If after the repair you have an unnecessary door left - do not rush to throw it away. One has only to make a little effort and imagination, and it will again become appropriate in your home, but already in the role of a pretty wall shelf.

And here is an example of how old boxes can decorate your hallway. Such shelves, painted in bright colors, will not only enliven the interior, but also solve the problem of storing shoes in a large family.

Drawers from a chest of drawers that have already served their purpose can also find a second life, becoming both photo frames and coasters for various little things.

Have an unnecessary ladder? So you have an almost finished bookshelf! You just need to hang it in the corner and decorate it to your taste or leave it in its original form.