Want to add shelves to your closet ? These DIY water closet shelves are easy for a novice to make ! All you need is a 1×2 and precut ledge boards !
We all have that one water closet that has become a black hole for junk ! In our family, that was the one in the office, which was previously our son ‘s bedroom. It was an wild mess of clothes, toys, shoes and early random stuff. It was a disaster, and you could scantily shut the door !
After clearing everything out, it was much easier to see what I had to work with. It turns out that the right side is deeper than the leave, which is perfect for a few simple closet shelves !
This outer space will be a distribute easier to tackle than my son ‘s bedroom closet with a slanted ceiling and loft access door. I created a custom closet build with french cleat shelves that can be easily removed if we need to get into the attic crawl space.
Reading: Cheap and Easy DIY Closet Shelves
Check out these other DIY water closet personal digital assistant ideas for more inspiration, and learn how to cover a box with fabric to create customs storage ! immediately, let ‘s get to work !
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Materials Needed
How to Build Closet Shelves
Measure your space
This belittled cupboard had two rods extending front to back, quite than side to side. We do n’t need that much hanging quad, so I removed one of the rods. I ‘m perplex this thing could hold any weight at all ! That ‘s some quality craft right there …
now I could measure the inner available outer space and decide how many shelves I needed. Consider what you plan to store inside before you start building. I wanted a spot for our portable tune conditioner, and it fit absolutely in the recess side of the water closet .
Using strips of painter ‘s tape, I marked roughly where I wanted the shelves above the air conditioner to be. I equitable eyeballed the spacing and decided to make four shelves. Do n’t worry, I made certain the spacing was even when I finally installed them !
I measured the width of the rampart from front to back in several places ( since walls are rarely absolutely straight ). There was trim around the inside of the closet doorway, so I besides measured from the side wall to the pare .
Locate the studs
Use a scantling finder to locate the stud in the walls on all three sides. I was thrilled to discover that there were studs precisely where I needed them ! If you do n’t have a stud on one wall, you ‘ll need to use wallboard anchors to hold the shelf brackets in place securely .
Mark each stud with painter ‘s tape, and take note of the locations so you can predrill holes in the brackets subsequently on. Remember that the stud finder tells you where the edges of the dot are, thus test from both sides and stead the tape in the in-between .
Cut the shelves to size
One of the things I unearthed from that mess was this cheap, break bookcase. it just happened to be the accurate depth I needed, so I took it apart and salvaged the top, bottom and two shelves. The chip end will be cut off to fit the width I need, so it worked out perfectly !
Of course, you could make hearty wood shelves alternatively ! You can besides find simple melamine shelves like these at the big box shop, although there ‘s a bigger choice of colors and sizes online if you want something early than white. They typically come in 24 ”, 36 ”, 48 ” and 72 ” widths. If your closet does n’t fit these accurate dimensions, buy the following one improving and cut it to the length you need .
You can use a round see or traverse visualize to cut the shelves down to size. You could besides use a miter joint saw depending on how wide of a board it can cut. I used a track interpret with a rail square to ensure that the hack was straight and splinter-free .
Build the shelf brackets
These simpleton ledge brackets are made out of 1×2 boards that I dug out of scrap wood baseball bat haul. You could well cut these boards with a miter joint box by hand if you do n’t want to deal with power tools.
startle by cutting two end pieces to the same width as the ledge. Place the end pieces on top of the ledge, then measure the accurate duration of the space between them. then cut the back part to that property. double control to see if everything lines up with the ledge edges .
Apply wood glue to the ends of the longer patch, and place it between the end pieces. Tack the bracket pieces together with brad nails or wood screws. Make certain you countersink the screws so the heads do n’t get in the means during facility .
Keep in mind that the brackets will be visible, so you may want to consider painting or staining them to match either the shelves or the wall. I used poplar, which coordinated reasonably well with the shelf color .
Attach the shelf brackets to the closet wall
Hold the first bracket on the wall of the closet, and predrill a trap wherever the bracket lines up with the stud or the wall anchors. This will prevent the wood from splitting when you drive in the sleep together .
place a level on top of the bracket, and screw the back of the bracket into rate. Leave the prison guard a little bite loose and adjust the angle until it ‘s level, then tighten it all the manner .
Repeat the summons for each goal of the ledge bracket .
ideally, you ‘d want at least two screws through the back so the burden is evenly distributed. But with a humble ledge like this, I was n’t excessively worry about it .
Slide the shelves onto the brackets
With the bracket secured to the wall, simply slide the shelf into place on top !
I installed the remaining brackets the same means, with 8 ½ ” of quad between each one .
If you ‘re worry about the shelves moving incidentally, you can tack them down at the corners with a nail or cheat. Mine are locked in place by the doorway trim, so they ‘re not going anywhere !
Load up your new DIY closet shelves!
I was thrilled to discover that both the air travel conditioner and the exhaust hosiery fit under the bottom shelf nicely. I was planning to hang the release hosiery from the ceiling of the closet, but this works a lot better !
about all the trash is gone, and the remaining items fit neatly on the cupboard side shelves.
I found one of these cargo bins on the top ledge when I was clearing everything out. The lower front edge makes it easier to grab things without taking down the entire bin, and helps keep stuff from falling off the ledge. I picked up three more to span across the stallion lead ledge .
Suit jackets and dresses ( which are rarely wear around hera ! ) fit on the unmarried gat that extends front to back on the other side of the water closet. There ‘s even empty quad in the middle of the floor, but I ‘m hoping to keep it clear for ampere retentive as possible !
What a dispute ! All the clutter and junk is gone, and alone the things we truly want and need are left. This slowly DIY plan is quick to knock out in a weekend and makes much better use of the space !
