I have been on a DIY/Organizing/Project Finishing frenzy lately. I’m trying to squeeze the most out of it before my momentum runs out.
My latest project was building shelves for the linen closet upstairs. This was another one of those projects that fell by the wayside in our hurry to finish our house and move in almost three years ago.
It quickly became a random place to stick whatever didn’t have a home and needed a place to go quickly.
Anything would be an improvement from that, right?
Here’s what I used plus a 16″ piece of shelving board cut the width of the wall (not pictured).
I went ahead and had the shelving board cut at Lowes when I bought it. I was able to get 2 shelves out of one piece of shelving board. I cut a 2×4 into 6, 14 inch pieces and painted them white ahead of time so that I wouldn’t have to after they were attached to the wall. Because I am lazy like that…
First, I figured out the height I wanted each shelf to be and then screwed the 2×4 into the wall stud using a stud finder and drill. This is much easier if you have two drills – one with a drill bit to drill the hole and one with a screw driver bit to screw in the screw. I’m not sure if “screw driver bit” is a correct or technical term but its the bit that looks like a screw driver on one end. #istruggle #iknow #imnotacarpenterpeople
I varied the space between the shelves because this closet is going to serve several different functions when its finished and I didn’t want to the shelves to be too close together.
I placed a piece of shelving board on the 2×4 wall brace and used a level to figure out where to place the brace on the other side. This is easier if you have someone to help hold the other brace once its level but I did it by myself so you can too!
And finally, I screwed an “L” bracket under the shelf and into the wall stud to support the center of the shelf. The sticker on the L bracket says it supports up to 85 pounds. So I assume between the bracket and the 2 2x4s the shelves will be able to hold whatever I can cram on them.
Here it is all finished! I’m in the market for baskets and such to get the organizing party started!
I only had to buy a couple of pieces of shelving board and 3 L brackets since I already had everything else leftover from my mudroom project. If I remember correctly, the whole thing cost less than $35. And getting this closet cleaned up is priceless!
p.s. I’m linking up to bystephanielynn, Tatertots and Jello, Serenity Now, I Heart Organizing, Home Stories A to Z, I Heart Naptime, It’s Overflowing, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, and AttaGirlSays.
Well done!! Way to be resourceful. I'm sure you're going to LOVE having all that useful space for storage!
Thanks so much! I have no excuse not to get it cleaned up and organized now!
You did a fabulous job!!
awesome! i totally want to build out some closets!
Thank you!
You should do it! Thanks for stopping by!