Look at these, look at these! Oh my gosh, we're so in love! I think we actually just stood there, in silence and stared at the trio for about ten minutes. We recently mentioned our love of DIY'ing our nursery bookshelves HERE but we weren't sure which design route we wanted to take. We spent hours looking over pics online and just couldn't decide which shelf design would be the most functional and inexpensive to create. Once Walt realized we actually had all the supplies to create this style of floating shelf, we were sold.
Also, I just have to brag a bit. I'm so proud of Walt and all his hard work on the nursery, he's been such a champ. Like I mentioned this weekend to our Facebook fans HERE, he's been in there and doing different projects (non-stop) and didn't even say a peep about missing all the football games this weekend. I mean, he didn't miss all the games...he'd totally come downstairs from time to time and check the scores, grab a snack and take a break. But I just have to put it out there, I'm very thankful for a husband that is so willing to help and do and DIY and create. It makes this Momma's heart very, very happy.
Ok, onto the tutorial for these floating bookshelves made from leftover trim and particle board. So the grand total for this project = $0! Yeah, I like that price tag, a lot! Read on for the tutorial and check out some more pics of the shelves too.
First up, deciding how wide we want the shelves on the table saw. We kept going back and forth between three or four inches. Finally we settled on four inches so Walt's setting it at four and we'll get cutting.
First cut of particle board - DONE! Obviously, this here preggers had to hold the other side as it went through the table saw's blade so there are no action shots of the cutting process. Ya know how it is at CC, safety first!
Three shelves are cut!
And while we were in our DIY interim and Walt was getting out the circular saw for the trim cutting, our neighbor popped by and asked (get this) if we wanted a jogging stroller and bike trailer. Ummm, yeah! So I walked down the block with her and she had everything ready for us. They're kids are older and she said it was just sitting in the garage and they were going to put it all out on the curb as a freebie. She had seen me (and the bump) walking and knew she wanted to offer the goods to us. HOW SWEET? Seriously, we're still smitten and Walt said he has no qualms pushing the bubs in a bright purple stroller. Love this...such a blessing! Ok, back to work.
Using the circular saw to cut the trim for the shelf edges. We have trim coming out the wazoo. Why? Walt found a big bundle of it up in our garage attic from the previous owners/builder. SCORE! We've put some of it to good use already (home office art wall, HERE) and knew this would be the perfect surrounding for our floating bookshelf project. Plus, we love the price tag - FREE!
Trim has been cut, all six edges and fronts of our shelves.
Now it's time to use the ol' nail gun and put those shelves together!
Walt (with my help, of course) was able to nail all three boards on the three sides of our floating shelves.
Here's the first completed shelf.
Don't fret, nothing a little caulk can't fix! But it was amazing how once we got to our third shelf completed, it looked so much more professional and needed almost no caulk compared to this first shelf, above.
Umm, kinda shocking and kind of amazing, all at once. We have a countdown going at CC on our kitchen chalkboard. It surely puts things in perspective and reminds us that it's only a matter of time before he'll be here. (More info on this chalkboard project - HERE!)
Taking some time to sand down the shelves and punching in the nails to create a flat finished surface.
Walt also painted the inside of the shelves a clean coat of white. If you take a look above you'll see the inside of the trim was still the wood showing.
Time to add those shelves to the wall. Using L brackets, Walt found the studs in the wall and secured the brackets in place.
Close up of L bracket.
And a close up of the caulked and distressed shelf corner. We wanted them to be a bit 'shabby chic' and not so perfect looking. A lil' boy is sure to destroy any white element in a room so we opted for a weathered look instead of crisp white.
After hanging the first shelf (attaching the bottom of the shelf to the L bracket) we then had to decide how far up the wall we wanted the second and third shelves to go. We opted for 14" between each shelf. Why? It was only two inches taller than our tallest (currently owned) baby book, the yellow Mother Goose goodness in the pic. Yeah, we keep it high tech around these parts, ha!
Shelves on the wall! Love, love! Walt was all skittish about seeing the L brackets but I could care less. The books will totally cover them up and I was more concerned about durability and sturdiness. You know, once lil' bubs starts pulling up we might need to revisit this system and make it more secure. We obviously opted for such low shelving so this could be HIS AREA! I really hate when I see these massively huge bookshelves in a nursery with the books way up high. Really? How much not fun is that!
Close up of the hanging shelves, obviously pre-vacuuming since you can clearly see all the remnants on the second shelf from Walt's handy hanging work.
Here they are, in all their glory! Oh what's that? Are you saying you spy two dog booties?
That's right...we couldn't resist these two at IKEA and knew we had to add them as a hanging element on the back of his closet doors. We plan to grab two more for hanging stuff at his level on the door too!
Walt gave me the honor of adding the first book to the shelf, awwww!
And then, like an Irish hurricane, he swooped in and finished it off. Very particular and placing each book with skill...I like that my man even has an eye for design and organization when showcasing our baby book collection.
And I love, love the side view too!
