Everyone needs a good shelf to add a bit of flair and organization to their living room, kitchen, and bedroom, but most of the high-quality and decent looking shelving units are going to cost you an arm and a leg at the store. I mean, shelving is one of those things where you don’t want to go cheap unless you want to end up with a collapsing shelf at 2 o’clock in the morning. But you’re not out of luck if you don’t want to spend the big bucks or settle for cheap particle board; you can always make a shelf of your own.
Below we have listed 12 of our favorite DIY shelf projects ranked by difficulty. Who knows, you might find the shelf you’ve always dreamed of…
DIY Shelf Projects
1. Plywood Bedside Shelf
This plywood bedside shelf is an ingenious and easy-to-make weekend project that will save up space in a crowded bedroom that doesn’t have room for a bedside table. All you’ll need is some plywood and a bottle of gorilla glue to make this shelf. The only thing holding you back is your imagination and motivation to make a nice addition to your room.
Difficulty: 1 out of 10
2. Wood And Leather Suspended Shelf
This wood and leather suspended shelf is almost like a combination of the classic hanging shelf with the modern floating shelf that you see popping up all over the place. All you will need is a few feet of leather, a few boards, and a few tools and pieces of hardware and you’ll be on your way to having a pretty cool shelf. It’s not going to take too much time to put this together, but be careful when cutting the leather with the x-acto knife.
Difficulty: 2 out of 10
3. Frame Shelves
We’ll start things off easy with these handy, and easy to make, picture frame shelves that only require some old picture frames, some wood, and a bucket of paint. You’ll want to start off by attaching small boards to the back of an old picture frame. Give the boxes a coat of paint and you’ll have a nifty set of shelves in no time.
Difficulty: 3 out of 10
4. Pegboard Wall Organizer
Depending on the desired size of this pegboard wall organizer, you may or may not have to cut down the board to the proper dimensions. Next, you’ll need to drill holes that will later hold the wooden dowels in place so you can prop up everything from hanging plants to small shelves. If you cutting and drilling is not your thing, you could always have your local home improvement store prep the board for you ahead of time.
Difficulty: 3 out of 10
5. “Book” Shelf
Here’s a whole new take on the “book” shelf. This shelf, however, isn’t for holding books but instead make out of old books. If you’re looking for a fun decorative hanging shelf that’s not going to take up a lot of space in your living room or even bedroom, then this is the shelf for you.
By simply threading yarn or thick twine through drilled holes in a couple of books, you will have a pretty sweet “book” shelf.
Difficulty Level: 3 out of 10
6. Ladder Shelf
If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, you can try out this ladder shelf that looks to be well worth the effort. Once this project is completed, you will have a great shelf that can be used both inside and outside of your house to hold everything from books to plants.
This project is going to take a little more time because you’re going to have to attach several sections together in order to make a squared and sturdy shelving unit.
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
7. Wine Box Shelves
Do you or someone you know have a stack of wine boxes taking up space in your basement or garage? Well, if you do, here’s a good way to free up some space while also having a one-of-a-kind wine box shelf that will surely impress anyone who comes to visit.
You can start small by gluing a few empty wine boxes together and then just start making additions. You can make it a square shelf, a rectangle, or even an asymmetrical shelf of your own creation.
Difficulty Level: 5 out of 10
8. Reclaimed Wood Floating Shelves
Reclaimed wood has to be one of the most trendy DIY projects right now, and there’s a good reason for that: reclaimed wood is easier to find than ever. Just look around on any garage sale group on Facebook or your local flea market and you’ll find tons of the stuff. So why not use that wood to your advantage and make a set of floating shelves.
You’ll probably want to have a stud finder to properly secure the boards to your wall so that they can bear the weight of whatever you place on top of them. Once that’s squared away, you’ll secure the boards to the wall. Now you have your own floating shelves without having to go to IKEA.
Difficulty Level: 6 out of 10
9. Closet Organizer Shelves
This set of closet organizers shelves is going to take a little more time and a whole lot more effort than the other projects on our list. However, if you have the time, energy, and expertise, then this is the project for you.
To get the proper flushed look of the shelves, you will need to secure shelves onto smaller boards that have been fixed to the wall.
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
10. Kids Bookshelves
This practical, yet beautiful set of bookshelves will work great in any nursery or kids bedroom and cane store anything from books to stuffed animals. You can run these along the entire length of your wall, so these shelves will free you of having to have tall and dangerous bookshelves in your kid’s room.
The project, much like the closet shelves, is going to take some time and effort to make it look nice, but if you follow the steps and stick to the plan, you should be able to get these knocked out without too much frustration.
Difficulty Level: 7 out of 10
11. Honeycomb Shelf
This honeycomb shelf project is like the bigger and more complicated brother of the wine box shelf we mentioned earlier. It looks really cool and adds an “it” factor to your living space, but it looks like it will be a little more difficult than most of the other shelves on the list.
You’re going to need a whole set of power tools for this one, so find someone with a circular saw and power sander or be prepared to rent one from your local hardware store. This project involves making honeycombs and attaching them to one another to create an out of this world shelf.
Difficulty Level: 9 out of 10
12. Floating Window Shelves
And finally we have this set of floating window shelves. If you have trouble finding optimal lighting conditions for your indoor plants (we all do), then you can try out this sleek and sophisticated set of floating window shelves.
You’re going to be cutting and securing glass in this project, so be very careful not to cut yourself. You will start with securing brackets to the walls and then sliding the glass shelves into place. Once you figure it all out, you’ll never have to worry about finding light for your plants ever again.
Difficulty Level: 10 out of 10
All of these shelving ideas will work great in small spaces like dorms, studio apartments, and even cramped bedrooms. They’ll save you money and space, so why not try them out.
