Whitney Wednesday: Easy and Cheap DIY Wall Shelves

This is one of the first home project DIY's I've posted about! I'm excited to share it with you guys mainly because it's cheap, and easy. I love open shelving because it makes a space feel bigger, less cluttered, and brighter, so I decided to do it in my kitchen in place of cabinets. 

Here's what you'll need:

1. 2 in. x 12 in. x 8 ft. pressure treated wood planks. I used 2 inch thick because I was using mine to hold dishes and knew I needed something heavy duty to withstand the weight without bowing. It's important to use pressure treated wood for this very reason.

2. Two 1/2 in. x 12 in. Steel Pipes. You'll want to get the the pipes in the same length of your wood plank. Once these are screwed into the flanges and the caps are placed on the ends, it'll extend past the wood plank by the perfect amount. I also spray painted my hardware all the same color.

3.  Two 1/2 in. Pipe Flange. You want to make sure these are the same diameter as your pipe so they are the perfect fit.

4. Two 1/2 in. Iron Caps. Just like with the flanges, you want to make sure these are the same diameter as the flange and pipe. 

Steps:

1. You want to first locate the studs in your wall. The flanges have to be drilled into the studs or your shelves will come tumbling down.

2. Once you've located the studs, you'll want to make sure the flanges are at the same height. This will determine if your shelf will be cockeyed or not so it's very important!

3. Drill the flanges into the wall with heavy duty screws.

4. Once those are in place, put the caps on the pipes and tighten into place before screwing into the flanges.

5. Lay wood plank evenly on top of your newly installed pipes. You could secure them in place if you wanted, but I didn't feel like it was necessary with how heavy the wood was. 

It should look like the photo below when you're done.

I'm in love with my shelves! And they only cost me $42 per shelf. Such a steal for the large size of them!

Hope you enjoyed this! Let me know if you like these types of posts!

-Whitney