Build an Easy Rustic Bathroom Shelf

A simple shelf is a great way to change up a room, add some character, give a little storage space. Check out how Karen built this easy rustic wall shelf for her bathroom — and she used fencing wood for insta-character!

If your style isn’t as rustic, you could build this with new wood and then paint or stain it in any color — the simple lines and straightforward building make it easy and versatile! Get the tutorial from Karen below (or you could try one of these shelving options, too — you can never have enough shelving!).

Easy Rustic Bathroom Shelf How-To
by Karen of The Weekend Country Girl

Hello, again. I am Karen from The Weekend Country Girl. We have a weekend home, but we also have a suburban home north of Houston, Texas. This is a photo of our home when we were looking at the home to purchase. The great piece of furniture did not stay with the house. I was left with a very large empty space on the back wall of the bathroom once we moved in.

Sorry for the photo quality. I quickly snapped the photo above when we were walking through the house. We were looking at a ton of houses in a short time and I didn’t want to forget which house had what. I recommend taking pictures if you are looking at multiple homes to purchase.

The wall above the tub really needed something to add some storage to the space. I planned on some sort of shelving and knew I wanted it to be something rustic and tall.
As luck would have it, my junker “collector” mom picked up a small section of fencing for me out of someone’s trash. The width and height of the section of fencing was perfect for the wall above the tub so, lucky me, I did not even have to cut that section.

I knew that the shelves couldn’t be too wide or the would get in the way getting in the tub and I wanted them to blend in seamlessly with the section of fencing. Lucky for me, our neighbors recently had their fence replaced. We brought home a truckload of the beautifully weathered wood. FYI, I use recycled cedar fencing for a lot of projects, but never pick up treated pine fencing. It is full of nasty chemicals that you do not want inside a house. We wash and scrub all collected cedar when we get it then dry it well to get rid of critters and mildew.

I decided I could take this project on all on my own. I am trying to do more of the construction work on my own so that my Hubby has time to do what he loves, fishing and golfing.

He did have to help me connect the air nailer (I tried, but that bugger wouldn’t go in to the hose connection for me.) Once he was out to help with the nailer, he volunteered to think out loud with me about the project. Together we put in the screws for the 2X4’s, and he ripped the front boards on the table saw.

Thanks, Hubby.

I did do all the cutting and nailing and hanging.

The steps are simple.

Cut three 2X4’s about a half inch narrower than the width of the section of fencing to allow for the reclaimed wood that will cover the 2X4.

Figure out where you want the shelves to go, then screw the 2X4 in from the back side of the fencing section so that the wide part of the 2X4 sticks out from the fencing. I really just eyeballed the top and bottom shelves. I wish I could say I measured them out and came up with a precise measurement for the shelf location. I knew I wanted the middle one in the center of the fencing section. The top shelf is a little lower than the bottom is higher so that I could show off the dog eared section of fencing (more on that below. Insert frowny face here.)

In the picture above you see the 2X4 glued and screwed in from the back with the widest part of the board being the part screwed into the fencing on the left, and the reclaimed wood ready to be nailed on. It took 4 1/2 inch nails to screw the 2X4 to the fencing. I drilled pilot holes before Hubby screwed them in to prevent the wood from splitting.

To make the shelves, we cut 5 sections of fencing planks to length per shelf.

3- the length of the 2X4 plus the additional length to go to the edge of the siding

2- small sections to cover the ends

Here it was when finished.

See the tops of the fence pickets? I liked them, but our rescue dog, Lumi, did not. She chewed one of the rounded pickets off while we weren’t watching. The top of shelf had to be chopped off even. It actually fit the space better that way, but don’t tell Lumi. She was in big trouble.

Here it is, hanging in our bathroom.

   

 

The photos above are before the board and batten and the chandelier was installed.

 

I love the shelf even more in the finished room.

The only cost for this shelf unit was the cost of one 2X4, screws and nails.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I would love to hear from you. I get especially excited when someone shares their version of something we do.

Blessings,

Karen

 

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Thanks so much for being our guest again, Karen! We are big fans!
(See Karen’s other features here)

Visit Karen at The Weekend Country Girl to see more of her beautiful home and great tutorials, like this great outdoor buffet made from pallets!