diy hanging shelves

diy hanging shelves

to accompany my freshly hung gallery wall, i also made a set of three shelves to go along with it! i was so happy with how quickly these went together, how easy they were to hang and how well they've been working. from start to finish, this project only cost about $18, for all 3 shelves!

here’s what you’ll need:

- 8' long board (see note below)

- leather or suede lace (buy strong lace, avoiding any that is brittle or stretchy)

- wood stain (i used ebony by minwax)

- paint brush

- hand saw or table saw

- drill

- wall hooks and drywall anchor if not hanging in a stud

*i used one southern pine pattern stock board from our local hardware store for the shelves. it was perfect for this project and only cost $10! one edge is finished nicely and there's large groove that runs right down the center which creates a perfect 'ledge' for propping up pictures and the like. i also had my husband cut it into thirds with a table saw, but you could also cut them with a hand saw pretty quickly. the finished boards measure 7" by 32" each.

step 1: mark the 8' board into thirds and cut using a hand saw or table saw (be careful!)

step 2: stain the boards using your preferred stain color and let dry. the best way to do this is brush the stain on, then wipe it off with an old rag (one you won't mind throwing away). you may also want use plastic gloves to keep your hands from getting stained!

step 3: using a pencil, mark a dot in each corner about 1" in on both sides. use a drill bit to drill a small hole in each corner.

step 4: cut 2 equal pieces of leather or suede for each shelf. thread each end through the holes on each side and make a knot in the end (you may need to make a double knot to ensure it won't slip through!).

step 5: use a level to to mark where to place the wall hooks. they should be placed 2" less apart than the length of your board (for example, mine were 30" apart because my board was 32" long).

step 6: hang away! tie a knot in the end of the loop to create a second, smaller loop. hang the shelf and adjust any of the other knots to make sure the shelf is level.

p.s. both of these photos are part of the greenhouse series by megan boltz, see more of them over on the home ground!

Original article and pictures take goinghometoroost.com site