Welcome 2021 with year-end savings - see the deals here

Remodelaholic

DIY tutorials, Woodworking plans and more.

FREE BONUS: Kitchen Organization Boot Camp
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About US
    • Contributors
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    • Disclosure and Advertising
    • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Project Ideas
    • Our Houses
      • Birch House (current projects)
      • Canyon House
      • Park House
      • Downing House
      • Logan House
    • DIY Project Plans
    • All projects
    • Barn Door Baby Gate
    • Dutch Door
    • Framing A Wall Mounted TV
    • Indoor Playhouse
    • Beach Themed Living Room Design
    • Chicken Coop Building!
    • Computer Desk
    • Computer Desk Plans
    • Custom Newel Posts and Stair Remodel
    • Family Room Sneak Peek
    • Headboard Tutorial
    • Living Room Progress
    • Mood Boards
    • Scrabbled Family Names
    • Pets
  • Design By Room
    • Bathrooms
    • Landscape
    • Kids Bedrooms
    • Kitchen
    • Living Rooms
    • Laundry Rooms
    • Master Bedrooms
    • Mood Boards
    • Office
  • Holiday
    • Christmas
    • Halloween
    • Patriotic
    • Easter
    • Fall
    • Saint Patrick’s Day
    • Thanksgiving
    • Spring
    • Valentines Day
    • Winter
  • Crafts
    • Printable
    • Art
    • Paper Crafts
    • Kids
    • Fabric Crafts
    • Decorate
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Beef
    • Beverages
    • Breakfast
    • Chicken
    • Desserts
    • Dinner
    • Fruit
    • Healthy
    • Holiday
    • Lunch
    • Main Dishes
    • Salads
    • Sandwiches
    • Sauces
    • Seafood
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup
    • Vegetables
  • Videos

Easy Rustic Wall Shelves

Written by Cassity

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Okay, I know I said with my office reveal post that I was going to get this tutorial up yesterday, but then, I just couldn’t make myself sit down and do it.  Sometimes being of a creative mind set is hard for a desk job!!  And honestly, if I don’t want to do it, I can hardly force myself…which is probably why all long essays in school were typed out the night before when I absolutely had to do it… ah, such is life.

 Anyway, if you wanna try this shelving projects it is FABULOUS for beginners, so easy I can’t even tell you!

Easy Rustic Wall Shelves

Easy Rustic Wall Shelves Tutorial

 

 Supplies:

  • Small Paint Sample (I used Martha Stewart Zinc mixed into a satin Behr, which matches the brackets perfectly)
  • 3M Painters Tape
  • 8″ x 10″ Grey Shelf Brackets (1 for about every three feet of each shelf) Home Depot has white, grey or black
  • Anchor bolts (we used the screw in kind, they hold 75 lbs a piece)
  • 2 x 12 by (cut to length desired)
  • Dark Walnut stain by Minwax

1. Clean up the Wall

I started by cleaning up the wall we were installing them on.  I used a magic eraser to clean off any marks (because we don’t have any of the current paint left), and it really is magic!

easy rustic wall shelves home office organization and design ideas-2

2. Paint the bracket stripes.

When the wall is all prepped, paint the bracket stripes from floor to ceiling.  I matched my brackets as best as I could to the paint color.  So find one that matches what bracket you are using, and will contrast with the wall color.  Since I have 3 brackets, I have a center line and then 2 that are 6 inches from either end of the shelves.   My stripes are 2″ inches wide.  I just put the bracket up and figured out a good width.

Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial

When you tape them, it is best if you tape the stripes out, using a level for the first line then measuring 2 inches off that new line.   Paint over the inside edges of the tape with the existing wall color.  After that has dried, paint 2 coats of the grey paint inside the taped portion.  This will keep the grey paint from bleeding under the tape, and you lines will be perfectly crisp… mine aren’t quite perfect since I skipped this step, but I didn’t die.

Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial

Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial

Also, while I had the paint out I painted the tops of the screws for the brackets, so they would match seamlessly with the stripe paint.

Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial

3. Locate the brackets and install anchors.

Decide where you want your shelves.  We marked the bottom of the shelf across the wall (see the little blue tape spots below) with a string attached level.  Now take your bracket, hold it up to the bottom shelf line, centered on the 2″ stripe and mark the screw holes carefully.  Install all the anchor bolts you think are necessary, we just went ahead and did all three for each bracket (or if you are lucky and hit a stud, that should do the job for that bracket!!)  When the anchors are installed, with a paint brush we gave them a quick coat of the grey paint, so the white wouldn’t peak out from behind the bracket.

Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial

4. Screw the brackets to the wall.

We used the painted screws to attach the brackets to the wall in their proper locations.

Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial

5. Cut 2 x 12’s to length, stain and finish

Cut your 2″ x 12″‘s to length.  We cut ours 2 inches less than the desk width so they wouldn’t appear wider than the desk.  Stain your boards, going with the grain of the wood.  We used Minwax, Dark Walnut.  Then if you would like a finish coat, finish up with some wax or poly.

6. Install shelves

When the shelves have dried completely, center them on the brackets and screw in a couple more painted head screws, to secure them in place.  To avoid cracking we pre-drilled the screw holes in the wood then secured the screws.

Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial

Guess what you are done!!  Now style to your hearts content!

I told you it was easy.   

Easy Rustic Wall shelves tutorial

(for the computer cords we just drilled a hole in the shelf they sit in directly under the computer!)

Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial

Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial
Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial

Easy Rustic wall shelves Tutorial

Now, lucky you if you want a desk like the one we have here are the free plans, you can build one of those too!  Or you can try these rustic storage bins!

If you are wondering about the lights, they are just cheap clip on lights from Home Depot that I spray painted with Rustoleum Lagoon paint.

If you are wondering about the rug, the link tells you all about it.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Remodelaholic is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Please see our full disclosure here.

Published: October 9, 2013Filed Under: *Our Projects, Canyon House, Office Tagged: Organizing, Shelves

About Cassity

Cassity started Remodelaholic with her husband, Justin, to share their love for knocking out walls together. She is an interior designer, wife, and mother of two. She and Justin have remodeled three homes from top to bottom and are working on their fourth. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.


free email bonus

Kitchen Organization Boot Camp

Is your kitchen a zen paradise? It can be. I'll show you how.

Previous Post
Get This Look: Back Entry Washroom and Drop Zone
Next Post
Get This Look: Stylish Library of Open Shelving

Comments

  1. Christine says

    October 9, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    Hi,

    Perfect timing for me! I would like to make a shelf like this in our laundry room. I want to set a few baskets on it. Can you please tell me how deep the shelves are exactly?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Justin says

      October 11, 2013 at 4:49 pm

      Christine, these shelves are 11 1/2″ deep. Good luck on your shelves!

      Reply
  2. Tom says

    October 9, 2013 at 9:15 pm

    Wow! Great information on how to make some great looking shelves. Thanks!

    Reply
  3. Crystal says

    October 10, 2013 at 9:10 am

    I never thought of matching the color of the brackets to a stripe on the wall. The brackets blend in that you don’t even notice they are there. Genius!! Thanks for the awesome idea!!

    Reply
    • Justin says

      October 11, 2013 at 4:37 pm

      You are welcome Crystal!

      Reply
  4. m @ random musings says

    October 14, 2013 at 6:32 am

    I love this installation! not only because it is cu-ute, but the monitor shelf is *ahem* ergonomically correct. I don’t know how many times I’ve adjusted my chair for optimum typing only to have my neck crinck up. btw – where did you get those blue lights (am I reading too fast) – the pop of color is perfect!

    Reply
  5. Lakitia A. says

    October 21, 2013 at 9:04 am

    You inspired me to make some shelves like this for my kitchen nook. I worked on them this weekend and plan on installing them today. I love how it’s looking so far. Thanks for posting the idea.

    Reply
    • Cassity says

      October 21, 2013 at 10:17 pm

      I REALLY wanna see pictures!!! Send them our way when you have a chance, pretty please!!!!

      Reply
  6. Liz M. says

    November 11, 2013 at 3:25 am

    I was wondering about the lights from home depot– I’ve looked on their site and can’t find any clip-on lights that look even remotely like that. Do you have a link, or what they’re called?

    Thanks! Your shelves are beautiful!

    Reply
    • Justin says

      November 18, 2013 at 2:33 pm

      Liz, you need to look for a clamp light. They are mostly used in shops. We painted ours the color we wanted. You would find them by the light bulbs or in electrical, not in the lighting department. Hope that helps.

      Reply
  7. Olivia says

    January 2, 2014 at 9:40 pm

    I love your shelving project. Good job. I was wondering where you got those clip on lights and how did u hide the cords?

    Reply
    • Justin says

      January 16, 2014 at 5:18 pm

      We bought the clip on lights from the Home Depot and hid the cords on the top shelf and down the left side. Thanks for loving them.

      Reply
  8. Samantha says

    April 15, 2014 at 8:11 am

    LOVE the lights as well!! I’ve always liked the look of gooseneck lights, which is exactly what I thought yours were until I scrolled down and saw the other picture! Clip-on, so cute. Have you ever seen lights by Barn Light Electric (www.barnlightelectric.com)? That’s what your lights reminded me of, and you’ll probably like a lot of their lights. Anyways, great remodel and I love the rustic wall shelves! 🙂

    Reply
    • Justin says

      April 15, 2014 at 2:06 pm

      Thanks Samantha!

      Reply
  9. Summer says

    June 18, 2018 at 8:06 am

    Loved, loved this idea. We’re going to try it too! And send images 🙂 But I had a couple questions about the wood. What type of wood did you use and the metal strip to hold the brackets, I wasn’t able to find them. What are they called and were they located near the brackets themselves?

    Reply
    • Cass says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:06 am

      We’d love to see pics! As listed in the blog post, the wood is 2×12 lumber, cut to length. There isn’t a metal strip holding the brackets — the shelf brackets (which are linked in the post) are screwed directly to the wall. You could, however, use upright shelving tracks and those coordinating rackets, and paint them and the wall like ours, for a similar look.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

We love hearing from fellow Remodelaholics, so let us know what you like about this and leave any questions below in the comments. If you have followed a tutorial or been inspired by something you have seen here, we would love to see pictures! Submit pictures here or by messaging us over on Facebook.
Recipe Rating




Hey there, I am Cassity! Nice to virtually meet you!

This blog is about DIY at its finest. We are obsessed with it and so are you, so while we're working and have nothing to show you of our own projects we show off yours. So submit your projects! More About Us…

Categories

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Meet The Team

Privacy Policy

Remodelaholic is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Please see our full disclosure here.

© 2005-2016 Remodelaholic LLC, All Rights Reserved

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2021 · Remodelaholic

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter