Shelf with DIY Brackets
Why We did it
Phoebe has agreed to use shelves with home made wooden brackets in one corner of the kitchen. I needed a few shelves in the basement, so this was a good opportunity to practice making the brackets on cheaper board before I used the expensive wood.
I was planning 2 short shelves over my desk area. One 30 inches and the other 36 inches. Same design for each. These do not need to be fancy and I will not be using any nice joinery or dowelling to cover my work.
All The Parts
Cut List
Long Shelf
- 36″ x 9 1/2″ for shelf
- 2 x 7 1/2″ x 9 1/2″ for sides
Short Shelf
- 30″ x 9 1/2″ for shelf
- 2 x 7 1/2″ x 9 1/2″ for sides
Brackets
- (2) 2 3/8″ x 2 3/8″ squares of wood for sides of support
- 7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ triangles, I cut a 7 1/2″ square and then cut it at 45 degrees to get two bracket support pieces
- 9″ x 2 3/8″ rectangle for top
- 8 1/2″ x 2 3/8″ rectangle for back
All pieces were cut from 1/2″ purebond plywood, but any 1/2″ wood can be cut to the same size. I cut scrap wood into 2 3/8″ strips and then cut the bracket pieces from those.
Putting It Together
As always the pieces were sanded from 40 to 120 grit after I cut them but before I began putting them together. I used 1 1/4″ construction screws and wood glue to fasten the pieces and I pre-drilled all the screws. These are meant to be more functional than fancy. The screws were not covered, but they were placed so that they would be against the wall or covered by the shelf. The only visible screw were those I used to hold the brackets to the wall
Building the Brackets
The two 2 1/2″ squares of plywood were glued to the bracket support lined up with the 90 degree corner and then clamped to dry for 24 hours. While these dried I glued and screwed the 8 1/2″ x 2 3/8″ to the 9″ x 2 3/8″ piece to create an angle with two 9″ sides. When these when these were dry the support bracket was glued and screwed to the middle of the outer bracket.
Building the Shelf with Sides
I wanted sides on each shelf to keep books from sliding off. The front top corners of these sides were cut to round any way you want. I used a large coffee can to mark the rounded corner 3 1/2 inches from the top and front, then I cut the first side with my jigsaw and used this to mark the remaining sides.
The sides were glued and screwed to the shelf. The brackets were then glued to the shelf and screwed from the top down to hold it on. The shelves were secured to the wall with drywall anchors and not into studs therefore I placed them on the ends.
The Final Touches
For the final sand I use 60 to 120 grit and focus on the areas that were scuffed when I put the shelfs together. The brackets were painted with a dark brown and the shelves with some gold toned paint that I had, and then hung and filled with books.