EASY DIY HANGING SHELVES
Part of our passion to get back to our roots + rewild ourselves is to create things by hand as much as possible. As a woodworker, my husband feels most alive when he is working with his hands + seeing the immediate fruit of his labor. Back when I was pregnant with our son, my husband built these easy DIY shelves for his boho/beachy nursery (which by the way, my son BARELY uses #cosleepinglife).
I thought I would share the wealth and give y’all this super simple step-by-step process! You can supplement the stain and cord color with your own personal preferences, of course
MATERIALS + TOOLS
Materials
6′ of 1/8″ Black Paracord per shelf ($.14/ft)
Early American Minimax Wood Stain ($5.00)
Cheap brush or rag ($1)
Drywall Anchors (Typically < $5 for a pack)
1″x6″x8′ Piece of Pine ($12.38, but enough for 6 Shelves)
Keychain ring (Not Pictured, 1 Per Shelf)
Tools
Drill
Saw
Tape Measure
Drill Bits
Lighter
Pencil
STEPS:
MEASURE TWICE
Each shelf is 14″ long (5 1/2″ Wide) , but this can be adjusted per your wall size.
CUT ONCE
Be sure to wear eye and ear protection when working with power tools. Miter saw (pictured above) can easily be replaced by a Circular Saw, Jig Saw or Hand Saw.
Mark Drill Holes
Mark each boards in each of the 4 corners, 1″ off the back/front edge and 1″ off the side. I like to make life easier, so I made myself a template. (The picture shows 1/2″ marks instead of 1″, but it helps illustrate the process.)
Choose the Right Drill Bit
I ended up going with a 1/4″ bit for this specific cord, but a slightly larger bit can be used if you have trouble threading your paracord in later steps.
DRILL HOLES
Drill holes in each corner. (You can start with a smaller bit to reduce tear out)
Stain
Using a cheap brush, lather the stain on to the wood. This stain is hard to get off of your hands, so be careful or wear gloves! After the stain sits on the wood for a couple of minutes, wipe it off with a disposable towel or napkin to reduce blotting and the chance of an uneven stain.
Wrap Brush
Wrap brush in a wet towel as “Top Sides” dry, to re-use on the Bottom sides later. This prevents the brush from drying out.
Cord
Cut two pieces of cord, 36″ long. These will be your two “sides”
Pick which side of the shelf will be your “Top” or pretty side
Tie knot on the bottom side of both “Back Holes”
Run Each line through the Keychain
Pull line through the front holes (to be knotted on bottom side)
Make Triangle holding key chain portion at opposite end (pictured above) and knotting the “Front Hole Knot” so the triangle allows the keychain to just reach the other side of the board.
Whatever you do with length, JUST BE CONSISTENT! The above steps are just a good rule of thumb that works out for whatever length of board you decide on and is a lot easier than doing complex math to figure it out!
And there you go! Let us know if you build your own!:
-Kori