DIY FLOATING SHELVES

Send

Once my wife needed shelves in the combined bathroom. I didn’t really like the plastic and metal products that were offered in the stores, so I decided to rummage around in my garage supplies. I liked a few pieces of wood, which were quite useful for simple work. The material was well dried and strong enough for the manufacture of a supporting structure. A bit of ingenuity and imagination, a good tool and hands familiar to carpentry work - all that was required to fulfill the request.

Shelf making

According to my idea, it was needed something like a narrowly hollow box, which was necessary to securely attach to a concrete wall. To do this, I took two identical boards for the sides of the box, which were supposed to play the role of the upper and lower surface of the shelf. I inserted two bars on the sides, and from the end I closed the structure with a suitable rail.

Then needed a reliable mount to the wall. To do this, a long block came up, which had to be attached to the wall. I screwed four bars to this part, which played the role of small consoles. So that the sticks did not split, I drilled guide holes in them for self-tapping screws.

Wall Mount Installation

For the next stage, a perforator with a drill for concrete and a screwdriver were required. I made markings on the wall to drill holes for the dowels. First I drilled the guides so that the tool did not move to the side. Having fixed one of the sides, I used the level to make sure that the hole for the second dowel will be drilled exactly in the right place. Important! The dowel must be paired with a screw, and the diameter of the drill is such that the plastic enters the hole tightly with its edges after a light hammer blow. Do not forget about the depth of the hole, which should be a couple of millimeters deeper than the length of the dowel.
Shelf installation

It remains to put on this long thin box on the mount structure. The shelf should be fitted tight enough, but without excessive force. When the construction fits on the frame with difficulty, carefully turn the console and horizontal bar with an emery cloth or file. If possible, it is allowed to do this with the inner surface of the box. If any of the consoles turns out to be a little long, you will have to remove the excess, and when the wall in the bathroom is quite even, the edge of the shelf will fit very tightly with it. To hide the heads of the finishing nails, which were used to fasten the main boards and other parts, I used a special glue for wood, mixing it with fine wood dust. So I made two shelves and placed them one on top of the other. Previously, my wife and I discussed the distance between the shelves, so that it turns out to be optimal. It remains to screw the bottom shelf to the bottom mount, and the top to the top so that the self-tapping hats are not visible. As a result, the sizes of the shelves turned out to be exactly the same, and the arrangement was symmetrical.

Finishing touches

Before installing the shelves, I treated them with sandpaper and then polished them with a special composition based on beeswax. This gave the products the most natural look. There were small remains of wood left, therefore, using L-shaped brackets, I attached one piece above the toilet paper holder to prevent it from unwinding unintentionally.
A minimum of time and materials spent - and a quite acceptable result was obtained. Of course, not a masterpiece, but I know for sure that my wife was satisfied.
Original article in English

Send