Home Decor and DIY: Repurposed Cupboard Door Shelf

Repurposed Cupboard Door Shelf

Hello! It is Mindi from My Love 2 Create again! I am happy to be here today to share my latest project, a Repurposed Cupboard Door Shelf

Yay! Fun stuff, especially because I had everything on hand to build this, and I am very pleased with the end result.

DIY chalkboard labels on wire baskets for repurposed furniture

Besides…chalkboard labels people! Is it ridiculous to love something so much?

It started with these cupboard doors (free from a friend) and six wire baskets I got at the Restore for $1 each. I didn’t really need these baskets when I picked them up, but I couldn’t resist with that price, can you blame me? Now I am happy I did, I finally found the perfect use for them.

dry fitting cupboard doors to build a shelf for wire baskets

I started by using the wire baskets and some scrap pieces of wood to determine how wide to make my shelves. Then once I figured the right length I did some serious digging/lifting/shifting of my hoard wood and found some 1/2 plywood to use for my shelves. Phew!

I used my Kreg Rip Cut to cut it to size, then drilled 1/2 pocket holes with my Kreg Jig K5.

attaching cupboard doors to plywood to build a shelf

I love using my Kreg Right Angle Clamps! They helped hold things together so I could attach the very bottom shelf to the cupboard door with my 1” pocket hole screws and glue. In the second photo you can see I moved to my kitchen to attach the other cupboard door. My shed is so small and I don’t really have a good work table…so my kitchen counter gets the big building jobs. I REALLY need to build a workbench!

Next up I attached my divider piece with glue and pocket hole screws (top left). I made sure my baskets fit, then added the second shelf (top right). I only drilled pocket holes into the bottom of my divider pieces. I nailed through the shelf into the divider to secure the top (bottom right).

Here is a shot of me adding the top support pieces. I cut my dividers boards a little too short, which left a half inch gap from the top divider to the top of the cupboard doors. To fix it, I just glued and nailed on another 1/2 strip of plywood over the top support pieces (not pictured).

I had some awesome retro legs and mounting plates just waiting for a project so I grabbed them and attached them to the bottom of my shelf. I wanted a slight tilt to my legs and since these plates were not the “tilting” kind I rigged them with some paint stick scraps, lifting up the inside edges. Just like I did on my corner cabinet planter.

I took my cupboard door shelf outside so I could figure out what to use for a top. I finally found some boards that worked, I ended up with two 2×6’s, one 2×4 (that I ripped down to 3”), and one 2×2. All totally random boards, with different colors, but I was good with it, it will give the top some character. ��

Here is a shot of the legs and my top boards, I pre-conditioned them to prep them for staining. Then I stained them with the same mix that I used on my Shoe Cubby Dresser. Oh, and you can see I popped off the feet on the legs so I didn’t have to tape them while I stained.

After filling all the holes with spackle and sanding them smooth, after it dried of course, I was ready for paint! I cut some pieces of chipboard for the back, and opted to paint them first before attaching them.

When I made the kids storage bench for my sister in the fall I bought too much spray paint. In fact, I had two full cans left over, and I kept forgetting to return them. Since I still had them, I decided to put them to good use on this project and finished off both cans. Perfect!

After the paint dried, I added my chipboard pieces to the back, pre drilling and screwing them on. I also attached the top boards with glue and 2” nails (not pictured, nailing into the cupboard doors and support pieces). To finish, I screwed the legs into the mounting plates. Done! Oh, and I did apply 3 coats of poly to the legs and wood top, sanding with 400 grit between coats 1 and 2.