How To Build A Pantry Shelf for Under $50

I decided to turn a bedroom into a pantry because we needed more space to store food for the kiddos. I had a vision of creating a pantry/homework/mud room on a budget. I researched different pantry shelvings I could buy and then came up with a design on my own that I could build and could afford. After I built the shelf, Handmade Haven Blog helped me created digital plans for this build to share.

Measure how tall you want your shelf to be, how deep you need it, and how long you need it to be.  With four shelves, you also want to consider the spacing and what you want on each shelf.  My spacing was 8 feet long, 5.5 feet tall and 15 inches deep.

The 2 x 4's come in 8 foot long pieces and so that made things easy. Use your miter saw to cut your wood down to size. Assemble the three pantry shelf legs and then begin staining the 2x4s.

Here is my cut list:

* 12 boards @ 8 feet long

* 6 boards @ 5.5 feet long

* 15 boards @ 1 foot long

I decided to sand, paint and stain first. You can use a hand sander and smooth out the edges. I painted my 12 boards that were 8 feet long. After the stands were made, I stained those boards. Your top coat can be added now or at the end.

Using your hand drill, create the pocket holes using a Kreg Jig on a 1 1/2" setting.

Here is where you will add these holes:

- No holes in the 8 foot long boards

- No holes in the 5.5 foot long boards

- 2 holes, side by side and about 1 inch apart, on the ends of EACH 1 foot board.  Make sure they are on the same side.

I started with my first shelf and drilled it to the top of my 5.5 board using  2 1/2" pocket hole screws.  I measured 8 inches and mounted one again. Measured 10 inches, mounted, 10 inches, mounted, 14 inches, mounted. Repeat 3 times. 

You are almost done! Now you will mount your stands to the wall and add your shelving. 

1. Find the studs in your walls using your stud finder. You will be drilling your stands to the wall for stability. If you cannot find the studs you will need to add anchors.
2. Pre-drill the 2 1/2 inch wall screw into the top and bottom of the stand.
3. Place your stand up against the wall and use your level to make sure it is straight.
4. Drill into the studs.

Add three 8 foot boards to each shelf and space them equally. Drill the 2 1/2" wood screws up through the BOTTOM of the shelf into the 8 foot board. This is so you can not see the screws.

Now the pantry shelf is done and you get the fun part of filling it up! I have an entire blog post on the products I used