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Home » Organization » How to build picture ledge shelves

How to build picture ledge shelves

February 25, 2014 By Jamie Dorobek 12 Comments

If you’re new here, I’m pregnant with my first kiddo! And we’re in the process of decorating a fun little room for baby Dorobek. Here’s the DIY nursery plan, painting the igloo, bambino gets a crib, rug debacle, and Graham the glider. Oh and we’re having a boy, here are the gender reveal party deets.

How to build ledge shelves

Now that you’re all caught up, here’s the low down on our DIY version of the Pottery Barn Holman ledge shelves that one hold our kiddos book collection. I got a ton of fun baby books at the B is for Baby, book, brunch shower back in December! Mom and I turned the IKEA EXPEDIT shelves into one long storage bench. And Andy crafted up 7 picture ledge shelves, based on my awesome tape lines you see below to hang above the storage benches.

Black and white nursery ideas

We thought about just buying the picture ledge shelves from Pottery Barn, but the largest size they carry is 4 feet long. We needed 2 shelves that were 62 inches long. Not to mention, the 4 foot long shelf from Pottery Barn is $59. We made all 7 shelves for $65 bucks! I see lots more picture ledge shelves in our future.

We thought about doing gutter bookshelves, but ended up deciding on a sturdier option for the nursery. I feel like this room might get some good use since it is going to be the playroom and bedroom for the bambino. We took a little trip to Home Depot to decide on the best option for wood. We ended up choosing these 1 x 2 8ft pieces of pine. Obviously you need 2 pieces of wood per shelf. So we ended up buying 8 pieces of 8 ft pine to make our 7 shelves. Here were our final cuts:

  • 4 pieces 48 inches long (2 8 foot boards)
  • 4 pieces 62 inches long (4 8 foot boards)
  • 6 pieces 28 inches long (2 8 foot boards)

We made the left side shelves a tad shorter than originally planned when we found we could buy the boards in 8 foot sections. The goal was to waste as little wood as possible. When buying your wood, pay attention to the trueness of the board. AKA: make sure your board is straight and not warped. A simple test for this is to lay your board on a flat piece of ground and if you can flip your board on all 4 sides and it does not teeter totter or have any gaps between the wood and floor then it’s a keeper. If there are gaps, put her up and test out another piece.

How to build ledge shelves

Other than pine boards, we did not have to buy anything else. We had all of the other supplies on hand.

Here’s what else you need to make the ledge shelves

  • Kreg Jig (This is an essential tool for the job!)
  • Screws
  • Clamps
  • Paint
  • Saw
  • Sander (We use the Dremel Multi Max tool for small jobs like this.)
  • Paint brush (This is my very favorite paint brush!)

Andy used a saw to cut the pieces of wood down to size and he sanded the edge of the wood with our handy dandy Dremel multi max tool. Here’s an action shot of Andy sanding the cut.

How to build ledge shelves

After you make make all of the cuts, it’s time to make the shelf. Andy used the Kreg Jig to conceal the screws that attach the the 2 pieces of wood that make one ledge shelf. The Kreg Jig is super simple to use. Follow the table in the Kreg Jig instructions to determine the adjustments you should make on the Kreg Jig. Then just clamp it into place and drill.

DIY Pottery Barn Holman shelves

As you can see the Kreg Jig allows you to drill a very steep angle into the wood. This will allow you to join your two peices of wood and conceal the screw for a very clean finish.

DIY Pottery Barn Holman shelves

Here’s an action shot of a screw being set into a Kreg Jig hole…

How to build ledge shelves

We joined the pieces of wood with 2-3 screws, based on the length of the shelf. As for hanging the shelves, Andy found the studs in the wall with a handy dandy stud finder:

DIY picture ledge shelves

After he found the studs in the wall, we marked where the studs would fall on the actual shelf to drill a hole into the shelf to attach it to the wall. After you get those holes drilled, the shelves are ready for hanging. I held the shelf on the wall and leveled it with a level, and Andy drilled them into place.

DIY picture ledge shelves

As for painting the shelves, I tried it 2 ways. I painted 2 shelves after they were already hung on the wall. It took awhile. I gave the other 5 one coat of paint before they made it to the wall, and then a quick second coat on the wall. The second method seemed a lot easier and less messy.

DIY picture ledge shelves

I love how the shelves turned out! The hope is that this kiddo will be able to grab and put away his books by himself! Gotta get this kid cleaning up after himself ASAP, ha! Here are a few more pictures of the fun DIY shelves and IKEA bench. Oh and check out those cushions… mama helped me make those. Tutorial coming soon!DIY picture ledge shelves

And here’s one with all 7 shelves:

How to build ledge shelves

What do you think? Do you need some ledge shelves too! I need more! They’re so handy and they really aren’t that hard to DIY!

Filed Under: DIY Home Projects, DIY Nursery Ideas, Organization

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Comments

  1. Jane Silvestro says

    May 22, 2018 at 8:20 am

    Looks like exactly what I’m looking for. I’m not SUPER experienced, though . . . so I’d love to see a section showing how the two pieces of lumber meet to form the shelf. Is it a T connection? Or an L? you know what I mean? I couldn’t see, in your directions, how the two pieces connect. Did I miss something? THANKS!

    Reply
  2. Adrian G says

    July 27, 2016 at 12:34 am

    Thanks for linking up over at Family Fun Friday. This will be one of the featured posts I’ve chosen for this week.

    Reply
  3. Emma says

    July 26, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    A big CONGRATS to you! Your kiddo-to-be is going to love these (I know I do, lol!)

    Reply
  4. Walter Farber says

    May 3, 2016 at 11:37 am

    I do not see the need for “select” pine board. A careful inspection of common pine boards offered should provide needed material, at a cost savings. After final sanding, paint primer & two coats of semi-gloss paint, no one could tell the difference. The result would be perfectly acceptable, even to the baby’s high standards.

    Reply
  5. Xiaochao says

    June 14, 2014 at 1:08 am

    Hi, awesome work! How did you convert the IKEA bookshelf into a single row?

    Reply
  6. Healani says

    March 18, 2014 at 11:18 pm

    Looks GREAT!! Darn wish I saw this before I ordered from PB just yesterday! Grrrrr!

    Reply
  7. chelsea says

    February 25, 2014 at 7:55 am

    They look fantastic!

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      February 25, 2014 at 9:10 am

      Thank you, Chelsea! I want more shelves 🙂 They’re so cute and easy!

      Reply
  8. Ashley says

    February 25, 2014 at 7:52 am

    Looks great Jamie! Your little one is so lucky to have such a room!

    Reply
  9. Crystal says

    February 25, 2014 at 7:27 am

    Looks awesome! 🙂

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Jamie!
I Create Really Awesome Free Things for your home, wardrobe, kitchen, and kids in Austin, TX with the sometimes help of Andy!
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