Easy DIY Floating Shelves

We were knee–deep into having the kitchen remodeled when this Easy DIY Floating Shelves project started. The kitchen turned out so cute by the way. Check out the first Kitchen blog posts here.

Being over-taken by the remodel mess already, what’s another mess matter? Right? Time to paint the bathroom and make new shelves too. (Great idea, I know! LOL)

We had the standard shelf unit over the toilet that just wasn’t doing it for this DIYer. The 80s rock tile has grown on me. The before picture just doesn’t do this room justice.

Supplies for Floating Shelves

• Varnish & rags (I used Minwax – English Chestnut 233)
• Unfinished board 3 at 2″ x 8′ x 12″ (cut into 3 pieces)
• L brackets (our Menard’s had black ones)
• Sandpaper
• Sander (or sand by hand)
• Screws for shelf and L Brackets
• Screws for attaching to the wall

We had our hardware store cut the board in 3 even pieces for us.

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How to make this Easy DIY Floating Shelves

I decided to get my daughter involved to make these easy shelves. She’s not my creative kiddo, usually her brother is more excited to work on these type of things. However, they are going into the bathroom she uses, so mom voted she help. HaHa. Plus, you don’t have to be a creative to make these easy shelves.

Since the hardware store cut the shelves already, we only have 3 little steps left. I was surprised how easy these were to make.

Step 1 – sanding time!

Sand the boards. I use 220 grit and sanded the imperfections off. Then I wanted to add some character by rounding off the counters and smoothing up the edges.

Once we had the shape we smoothed it out with 110 grit. It was a ruff piece of wood but that was the character I was going for these DIY floating shelves.

Step 2 – varnish or paint

Varnish. This color was great. Goes well with the little shelf from Hobby Lobby we had hanging up already.

We applied it with a sponge and wiped off the excesses. I did 2 coats. My goal was to match the shelf unit we already had hanging up. Check out the other color they offer here: Minwax. They have a great product and it’s so easy to work with.

Step 3 – hanging the shelves

Brackets for hanging. This was easy since the L brackets were already black we simply screwed them to wall (using studs or anchors for these heavier shelves). I had orginally thought I’d buy silver ones and spray paint them.

What will we DIY next as we are on this remodel train…. ?

These were so easy! What have you made that turned out so easy but was adorable too. I have to admit that the fresh coat of white paint helped a ton as well.