DIY Recycled Timber Shelves

Jess | Pretty Living
by Jess | Pretty Living
12 Materials
$60
2 Hours
Medium

I had this blank wall in my kitchen that was desperate for some loving. I thought about putting in overhead cupboards but then thought I would make the space a feature instead with some beautiful recycled timber shelves.

BEFORE - so much clutter!

I bought two 2.3m planks of recycled timber from a local scrap yard for just $10AU each - total bargain. I measured the wall space and it was 2.1m, so I marked that on my timber and cut them down to size - slightly less than the wall space to allow room for a bracket.

Marking my timber, ready to cut.
Cutting the timber to size.

Once I finished cutting the timber down, I gave them a sand to smooth the surfaces and edges.

Sanding the timber.

Next, I stained the timber with some black acrylic paint & water. I put a small squirt of paint in a bowl, filled it with water, mixed it and then used a brush to paint it on. I experimented a little at the beginning, slowly adding a little more paint to the mixture until I was happy with the colour on the timber. The more paint you add, the darker the stain will be. I found a happy medium, not to dark, not too light. 👍🏻

Staining the timber

Once I was finished staining it, I let it dry completely and then sealed it with a beeswax wood polish.I then put the timber planks aside to dry again, while I got started on the brackets.To keep with the recycled theme, I decided to use some angle steel I picked up at a scrapyard to make my own brackets.

Angle steel

The angle steel I chose was heavy duty, perfect for holding the weight of the shelves.I started by marking my brackets out on the steel. I used a paint pen to mark out where I needed to cut.

Marking out my brackets

Once I had marked out all my brackets, I used a grinder to cut them out.

My brackets cut out.

I then drilled some holes into the brackets for the screws.I could have just bought brackets pre-made but when I saw the angle steel at the scrapyard for only a could dollars I figured it would be a lot cheaper to make them then buying them.As I wanted the bracket to wrap around the timber and sit flush, I had to carve away the edges of the timber where the bracket would sit, as the inside corner of the bracket had a curve in it.

Before: Does not sit flush on timber

I measured and marked on my timber where each bracket would sit and then used a saw drill bit to round off the edge on the timber, so that the bracket could sit flush.

Rounding off the edge
After: Now the bracket sits flush 👍🏻

Next, I measured and marked on the wall where my brackets would go, and then attached them all to the wall with long screws.

Brackets on the wall.

Next, with the help of my husband, I lifted the shelves up onto the brackets and then screwed them on from underneath.

Shelves in place, ready to be attached.

Lastly I screwed in 6 large hooks underneath the bottom shelf to hang some coffee mugs from.

Hooks for my mugs.

And it was done. 👍🏻 I’m very happy with how they turned out, and stoked to have some clear bench space again! 😊For more of my DIY projects, please check out my Instagram page @_prettyliving

Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  1 question
  • Skj48821294 Skj48821294 on Apr 03, 2020

    I don't understand the meaning of m so can you tell me what the measurements is length width and thickness of the timber plank in inches and feet wise please thank-you I love your project it's so sophisticated elegant I loved that you left it open it makes it look like a bigger space !!!!

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 34 comments
Next