How to Make a Modern Ladder Shelf
Ladder shelves became popular in recent years and I just love the simplicity of it.
It took me about 3 hours to build it, but it’s mainly because I didn’t use plywood for shelves and had to figure out how to make a 16″ bottom shelf from wood. After some manipulation with wood glue, I turn to Kreg jig for help and wish I did it from the beginning. You can see full tutorial how to make it here.
Make shelves
Determine the height of your ladder shelf and sizes of the shelves that will go on top of it. I just found a nice shelf online that I liked, measured my space and I took their dimensions.
At first, I thought I could get away with just glue, but when it didn’t work out I used a Kreg jig to secure the two boards together. It wasn’t a perfect job so I had to fix a little crack in between, which I successfully did by using a wood filler.Make a base
Cut sides for the baseDetermine how tall you want the shelf to be. Mine is 6 feet.Take 2 boards 1x2x72″ and cut them on one side at a 10-degree angle. This will go on the bottom and ensure the balance of the DIY leaning shelf, so it can actually lean onto the wall.Cut (2) 1×2″ boards at 24″ to go on top and the bottom of the base.Attach them to the sideboards using glue and 2″ screws.Assembling the shelf
Make spacers.Even if you have a helping hand, spacers are so important for a faster assembly. I bet you wouldn’t want to spend time measuring the distance between every shelf.
Make pilot holes with a drill (to prevent wood splitting) and use 2″ screws to attach shelves to the sides of the base.
Visit my blog and Youtube channel for more aesthetic DIYs
Resources for this project:
See all materials
Comments
Join the conversation
-
Good job. Looks fab.
-
This is an awesome project. Such a great way to display photos, plants, etc. LOVE IT.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Absolutely awesome work! I just sent this to my husband. We’ll definitely be doing this project. Thank you for the step by step simple instructions! 😊
It looks from the picture that there is a support board for the 2-3 bottom shelves? Is that part of it?