DIY Floating Shelves with Iron Brackets – ORC Week 4

It’s already Week 4 and I haven’t made much progress 😐 So, welcome to Week four of the One Room Challenge – a week with not much progress. This blog post is a tutorial for the DIY Floating shleves I installed last week.

If you haven’t caught up with the previous ORC posts, go check out last week’s post and see what went down!

This week was all about cutting, staining, and sealing the DIY floating shelves to go on the board and batten wall. I wanted three long floating shelves to go above the board and batten so I could store art supplies, books, display some decor and maybe some display worthy toys 😉 I’m thinking apothecary jars with crafting supplies, glass containers with tubes of paint – it sounds so yummy in my head!

I had a very clear visual of what I wanted the shelves to look like and it involved iron brackets! Cascade Iron co generously provided their 2′ Heavy Duty J brackets for this project and they are absolutely stunning!

To make my shelves, I purchased 3 boards of 2x10x8′ yellow pine and cut it down to 7′ to get the length I wanted according to my wall.

Material & tools:

2x10x8′ 3 boards

Wood Conditioner

Weathered Oak and Golden Oak Stain (you can use any other stains you like)

Polycrylic

2″ Heavy Duty Brackets

Orbital Sander

DIY Floating shelves HOW TO:

Step 1: Cut wood boards down to size. I used my Miter Saw to make the cut, however, Home Depot or Lowes will also make a simple cut for you. My shelves are 7′ long

Step 2: Sand the boards with a coarse sandpaper first, 120 grit for example, and then with a fininshing paper like 220 or 320 grit to smooth the wood

Step 3: Prep the wood for staining by applying a layer of wood conditioner – I used a regular paint brush but foam brushes work just as well! Wipe off excess with a rag

Step 3: Mix your stain of choice and apply with a rag – I applied on heavy layer of Golden Oak, wiped it off immediately, and then applied a heavy layer of Weathered Oak on top. Wipe it down and wait to dry 24 hours

Step 4: Once your stain is dry, sand it gently with your sander or by hand to remove any scuffs or dust particles. I used a 600 grit sandpaper for this

Step 5: Seal your wood with two coats of Polycrylic, wait an hour or two between coats. and now you’re ready to put them up!

Step 6: Install floating shelves on wall with your brackets of choice. I used 2 heavy duty brackets (linked above) and drilled them into studs.

At this point all my shelves are ready to be installed but I was only able to put one up – it’s a two person job and I’m hoping hubby and I can take care of it this week! I also got started on staining the wood for my DIY indoor swing. Hopefully next week I’ll have that up and running!

Don’t forget to check out what other participants are up to for the One Room Challenge!