DIY Wall Shelves for Playroom

6:34 PM

I took my mother-in-law's great idea to make our former dining room into a playroom for the girls. I knew I wanted a lot of storage potential without taking up floor space.

before

after

I came across this post for DIY shelves by Almost Makes Perfect.

I especially loved her sketch which gave measurements. Although she made two units, I only needed one, and I flipped the design because of where the outlet is in my room in relation to where the studs are.

DIY SHELF SUPPLIES:

three 70" twin wall tracks
15 brackets
six pieces of common 1 x 12 board
(measurements: three 69", one 41", two 32")
minwax wood stain
furniture wax
screws (these come in kits next to the wall tracks in Home Depot)
anchors (for any track that does not fall on a stud)

My oldest daughter helped me by using the stud finder to mark the studs and then determine where the tracks would go. The two outer tracks are on studs; the center track I used sheetrock anchors.

Tip for when you are trying to actually put the tracks on the wall:

Put one of the boards on the brackets, put the level on top of it, and then make sure the shelf is level while you screw the track into the wall. I did it by myself, but another person is helpful for that part.

The measurements between tracks are 65" and 28".

One of the greatest services at Home Depot is cutting your boards for you (bring your measurements). I bought a few 1x12 pine boards and they cut them to my measurements.

I then sanded them, vigorously, because I like things to have a smooth feel. I made sure to round off the corners and edges. Then, I stained them with Minwax's Special Walnut; about 5 times. Why so many? Because I like to apply just a little and then add another coat as opposed to overdoing it and ruining the board.

When the stain color looked good, I used Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Wax. It is the BOMB diggity! Again, I like a smooth surface... AND this wax doesn't change the color of the stain (or paint for other projects).