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    Home » DIY » Build It » Storage » Reclaimed Wood Shelves

    Reclaimed Wood Shelves

    Published by Gail | Published April 1, 2016 | Updated June 28, 2021
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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    Happy April Fool's Day! Crazy that it is April already, time flies. Today I am happy to share my reclaimed wood shelves with you...

    DIY Reclaimed Wood Shelves

    PIN IT!

    From the photo it is probably obvious that these cuties are hanging out in the bathroom, and let me tell ya. We are singing praises...no more searching for toilet paper! 🙂
     bathroom wall before reclaimed wood shelves
    This is what the wall used to look like. There was a towel bar over the toilet and it fell down...like all towel bars do, and so it has been this blank boring nothing wall for a LONG, long time. Until now!

    Reclaimed Wood Shelves

    I love having something cute to look at and a place to store the toilet paper! Ahhh happiness.

    dry fitting wood for Reclaimed Wood Shelves

    Let me show you how this came together. I started with some reclaimed wood, you know the free stuff that you get off of the craig's list free section, or the side of the road. In this shot I was looking at different options and figuring out what to do.

    clamping and cutting wood

    I took the weathered 1x4 board and cut two small pieces with a 45 degree bevel at one end and a straight edge at the other. I cut it to 6 ¾''. Then I cut two long boards at 12''. Because it was so weathered, one of the boards broke in half and I ended up using my gorilla wood glue to fit it, not it is nice and strong. 😉

    fitting bracket for shelves

    Next up I cut some shelf support brackets out of an old baluster, which is basically a 2x2. These were cut at 6 ¾'' from long point to long point, cutting at a 45 degree angle ends not parallel.

    measurements for Reclaimed Wood Shelves brackets

    Here is a shot to show the measurements. Of course you adjust it to fit your needs.

    wood measurements for building shelves

    With all my pieces cut I put it together with a dry fit to see how it would look. Pretty good! My shelf boards were cut to 22'' and are 6'' deep. You can also see that they were not very straight...so my shelf is not perfect, which is expected when working with reclaimed wood. Embrace the imperfections people!

    building shelves with pocket holes

    I decided the easiest way to attach the 1x4 boards would be with pocket holes. So I drilled some with my Kreg Jig into the ends and attached the long boards to the bottom of the top shelf (top left). Then I added the bottom shelf to the other ends (not pictured) , and lastly attached the short ends to the bottom shelf (top right). With a good sanding all the wood looks more uniform.

    gluing and nailing wood brackets to shelves

    It was really easy to attach the shelf brackets. I gave each 45 degree cut end a generous helping of wood glue and then used 2'' nails to nail them on from the back and though the shelf. And that is a wrap!! So fun and easy and just perfect! I love giving new life to old wood.

    natural stain on Reclaimed Wood

    I really struggled on if I wanted to finish them with a natural stain or just use poly. I finally went with the natural stain, and I love it! I used the same wood on the shelves in my teen boys room makeover, and only went with the poly. The natural stain really darkens the wood up quite a bit, but it looks good both ways.

    bottom support bracket for wood shelves

    I think the brackets are so cute!

    bathroom Reclaimed Wood Shelves

    And of course the reclaimed wood is just so full of character, how can you not love it! If you look to the far left you can see I secured two screws into the 1x4 to attach it to the wall. I did this on both sides. Be sure to use wall anchors if you don't have studs in the right place.

    bottom shot of shelves

    A shot from the bottom so you can see the cute brackets...and a nice view of the TP tower. 🙂

    close up of Reclaimed Wood Shelvesse up of

    This bathroom also sports my Rustic DIY Rustic Shelf and my Curtain Tie Backs Repurposed into Towel hooks.  So I guess it has the reclaimed wood theme going on.

    bathroom shelves reclaimed wood

    Now if I can just figure out which way to style them...

    Reclaimed Wood Shelves bathroom storage

    ...then I can call it a day!
    Do you have a preference? Oh, and honestly, if I had room in my kitchen for these shelves...they would look amazing with dishes on them don't you think!? Oh the possibilities! 🙂


    For more fun projects come and visit me at MyLove2Create!

    Hugs!
    Mindi
    see more of Mindi's posts on MRL below:
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    About Mindi

    Mindi is a wife, mother, runner, dancer, and a lover of all things fun and DIY.

    A few years ago she discovered blogs and fell in love with the idea that she could do things she had always dreamed of doing. Like build furniture from pallets, and make cool projects for her home.... Mindi was inspired by other bloggers that empowered her to create.

    Mindi decided to give back and possibly reach someone out there that has a desire to create like herself. She believes we all have that desire in some form or another, and we all DO create in our own way, every day. Whether it be crafty or not, even creating happiness in others is a gift that many share.

    Mindi loves to learn and use that knowledge to make beautiful and useful things for her home.

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    1. gail@myrepurposedlife.com

      April 01, 2016 at 8:23 am

      Mindi,

      Your shelf from reclaimed wood looks so awesome in your bathroom, and you're right, it would look great in a kitchen as well. Beautiful job and great tutorial!

      gail

      Reply

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    Hi, there! I’m Gail Wilson, the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. I’m obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believe that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again—myself included! I hope you’ll enjoy the journey and pick up a few tools along the way… literally!

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