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Easy DIY Floating Shelves

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How to make easy DIY floating shelves from old barn wood and an aluminum strip for extra storage in a small bathroom.

One thing that every bathroom needs is extra storage. Especially a very small bathroom with a small linen closet and pedestal sink.

If you can find some open wall space then shelving might be a good option for you.

We had a bit of space above our toilet so we installed a couple of DIY floating shelves for some much needed storage. They are similar to our DIY kitchen shelves but with a twist.

wood shelves on bathroom wall with toiletries

Is it cheaper to build your own shelves?

Budget is always a consideration when I do a project and this one was no different.

After looking at several options, we ditched the idea of buying pre-made shelves and went with something we could DIY.

It turned out to be way cheaper to build our own shelves using scrap wood and an $11 piece of aluminum.

small bathroom sink, mirror and empty shelves hanging on wall

How to make floating shelves from scratch

I had a couple of scrap pieces of old barn wood leftover from our Illinois kitchen remodel, so we decided to use that.

The biggest issue we had was how to attach the wood to the wall so that they would be sturdy enough to hold decor and bathroom necessities.

My first thought was to use shelf brackets.

The only problem was that the studs were in odd places behind the sheetrock, and we needed to hit them in order to keep the shelves from falling down.

We had no idea what to use so the project stalled until I found aluminum flat bars in Home Depot. 

They were sturdy and the perfect size, plus it gave us just enough room to add holes so we could attach the shelf to the wall and hit 2 studs.

One strip was all we needed to hang both shelves.

aluminum rods on display at The Home Depot

Supplies

Making DIY floating shelves

The first, and most important step is to measure for the shelves.

It probably took us longer to measure everything but it was important to identify the location of the studs so we could drill the holes in the aluminum strip.

Once all the measurements were taken and we knew where the studs were, it was time to get the shelves ready to hang.

To attach the aluminum strip to our precut wood, we drilled 3 holes in the strip and 3 holes in the wood, evenly spaced.

Then we drilled the 2 holes in the strip that lined up with the studs.

The idea was to have the screws hit the studs.

lining up wood shelf on wall

With all the holes drilled into the strip, we attached it to the wood.

We did this by lining up the 3 holes across the wood with the 3 holes in the strip.

Hanging DIY shelves

After the strip was attached to the wood, the shelf was ready to be attached to the wall.

aluminum strip on back of wood shelf

All that measuring (and…let’s be honest…a little bit of arguing) paid off.

We were able to get them up, level and secure on the first shot.

It sounds complicated but it wasn’t, and it actually worked very well.

wood shelves in bathroom

I wouldn’t put anything super heavy on the shelf, but they are very sturdy. There is just enough space to add a little bit of decor among a few necessities.

I also love that the old wood adds some warmth to the room.

DIY floating  shelves with decor in bathroom

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