DIY Floating Shelves

Hello!  I just posted about updating my son's room and wanted to explain how I made the floating shelves. 

I knew that I wanted some long shelves for this wall.  He needed room for all of his legos and stuff.  Also, this wall needed something large to fill up the space.

I started looking for floating shelves in various stores.  I liked IKEA's Lack shelving but a) they weren't the length I wanted, b) they weren't the width I wanted, and c) they were a little more than I wanted to spend.

I ended up spending about $20 on wood and have more wood left over. 

I started by taping off where I wanted the shelves to hang, and how wide I wanted them.

I purchased 2  1"x6"x8' preprimed mdf boards (one for each shelf) and 2  1"x2"x8' preprimed mdf boards.  I cut the 1x6 boards down to the length that I wanted the shelf (68 inches) and the 1x2 boards a little shorter (67 inches). 

Then I used the sturdiest screws I could find in the house (sorry if thats a poor description) and screwed the 1x6 and 1x2 together to create an L.  I used 5 screws down the length of the board, I wanted it to be sturdy.

To hang the shelves, we first located the studs.  I marked a small 's' on the tape to indicate where a stud was.  There were 4 studs across the space each shelf would hang. 

We then held the shelf up to the wall and created a helper hand using the ladder.  Really, Alex was holding the shelf as I drilled a hole through both the shelf and the stud. 

To get this first screw in, we took the shelf down and drilled the screw in so it was poking through the shelfabout 1/4 of an inch.  That way Alex could hold the shelf and we could guide the screw into that first pilot hole.   Then, finish screwing that first screw.

The rest of the screws were easier now that the first screw was supporting the shelf.  Just check for level and screw through to the next stud. 

 My screws are visible, but won't be noticable after I paint the whole shelf with a coat of white paint.  If I do this again, I have to make sure to get screws that I can countersink (or maybe I have to drill so I can countersink?). 

Here I am filling in nail holes and touching up paint.

Not too hard and I'm so happy with the size of the shelves.

Thanks for stopping by!

---Adrienne

Linking:

http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2012/08/show-me-what-ya-got-89.html

Tweenage Boy Room in Grey, White and Red

I started this blog about a year-and-a-half ago and the very first project that I posted were these lego shelves for my son's room.   Problem is that my son has too much stuff, including too many legos.  This room still had builder-beige walls and my son has had the same denim comforters for almost a decade.  Time for some paint and a few updates.

My son had was completely resistant to any change in his room for the longest time.  When I finally conviced him to let me do a few things he had stipulations:  he had to keep his furniture and it had to stay where it was.  No painting the actual furniture either.  So here is where we started.  p.s.  I had already taped up the room for painting before I took the "before" pics.  Ha ha.

Before:  The lego display shelves that I put up for my first blog project.  They are great, but the lego collection far outgrew the space.  Also, this wall needed something larger to fill up the space, the arrangement I had was too sparse.

Before:  There is not alot I can do with the furntiure layout in this room.  There are 3 windows and 3 doorways.  The bunkbeds had to cover a window somewhere.  I put the desk in front of the other window.  My son was adamant about moving any of the furniture but even if he was willing to move it I'm not sure what would work.  Smallish room and largish furniture.  Lots of kid stuff and clutter.  I liked the comforters but they were almost 10 years old and I was ready for a change (I realize that a lot most of this home improvement is for me.  :) ).

Before:  Desk area.

Before:  My son's very own diy wall art.  Yes, the duck tape did pull off the part of the wall when I removed it.  I used almost a whole tube of dry wall filler on this wall.   

And now the AFTER!!!  I used the same grey paint from the powder room makover.  I started painting one evening while my son was out with the intention of doing 1 or 2 walls to see if he liked the color.  By the time he got home I had done the whole room with the first coat.  Fortunately he liked the color.  :)  Second coat went on a few nights later when I had 1 1/2 hours before I had to be at school orientation for my 3rd grader. 

Duvet covers are from Target.  They retailed for $39.99 each and I needed 2.  I waited and waited until they went on sale--sale price was $17 (more of a Target type price, don't you think?) and I tried to order 2 of them.  Problem was they were out of stock online.  I went back to the store several times and asked at customer service and each time I was told that Target online is separate from the Target store and the sales didn't coincide.  Ugggg!  I totally lucked out one day when I was in Target for a quick stop (is there really any such thing?) and there they were--2 (and only 2 were on the shelf) grey and white duvets for $17 each!   

AFTER.  I still have a mirror waiting to be hung for this wall.   I moved his 'H' coathook to the other side of the door so he can grab a jacket on his way out.

AFTER.  New DIY floating shelves!!!  I will have a separate post about how I built these.  Very easy.  They fill up this wall so much better and have a lot of room for more legos and tween boy stuff.

AFTER.  

AFTER.  Desk area is the same.  I added a magnetic board, from IKEA.

AFTER.  



Thanks for stopping by!!

----  Adrienne 

I'm adding the paint color used in this room to this post after I got a very nice email from a reader.  Unfortunately I don't know the original source of the swatch I asked Home Depot to color match but here is the formula from the paint can.





linking:
http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2012/08/show-me-what-ya-got-89.html

Tween Boy Baseball Room Part IV: Furniture Gets Steel Look

Hello again!!  I still have more updates to share on my stepson's baseball room, although this is very close to the end. If you missed the prior episodes, check here and here and here. In Part I we painted, added a curtain and pillows, moved the Derek Jeter fathead (successfully, whew!) and added a refurbished IKEA Malm dresser that I spray painted navy. In Part II I showed how to make a baseball curtain rod finial and tieback.  In Part III we added a new comfy comforter, some wall art, and a "magnetic" board.

This last part is one of my favorite things in the whole room, and the most work, actually more than I bargained for.  Here is the bunk bed contraption that we started out with.  Its really a cool piece of furniture.  It has a desk, dresser drawers, and shelves, great design.  The faux birch and navy finish remined me of a nautical style.  For this room I was going for a modern industrial locker room type look.

So, I painted.  Actually, I sanded, primed, then painted.  I'm loving this finish! 


Silver metallic paint!  We sanded first and then a coat of Zinser oil-base primer.  I went through 2 quarts of primer.  The Silver paint was a quart of Rusteloem and I only used around 1/2 the quart.  

Side note:  We need another mattress.  I'll have a final post showing the whole room when we get the other mattress, that is why the bottom bunk looks a little bare right now.  :)

The finish is intentionally imperfect.  I wanted the metal look and wanted the brushstrokes.  I can't say that I did a stellar job, but I'm happy with it.  Here are some better shots of the finish.

I didn't paint the portions of the furniture that were already blue.  That tied in with the room's color scheme and we liked the two-toned look for the most part.  Problem is that the blue is all scratched.  I almost positive that I won't be able to match this exactly to touch it up but I will try.

I think this room is almost done, save for a mattress and hanging a mirror and a little more artwork. 

-----Adrienne

DIY ShowOff Link Party
Savvy Southern Style wow-us-wednesdays

Tween Boy Baseball Room Part III: New Comforter and A Big Screw Up!!

Hi there!!  I have more updates to share on my stepson's baseball room.  If you missed the prior episodes, check here and here.  In Part I we painted, added a curtain and pillows, moved the Derek Jeter fathead (successfully, whew!) and added a refurbished IKEA Malm dresser that I spray painted navy.  In Part II I showed how to make a baseball curtain rod finial and tieback.

Which leads us to Part III.  First the fun and easy update:  new comforter from Target.  Its a faux down comforter in grey and really soft.  I want one for my room.

I should mention here that the vibe I'm going for in this room is industrial locker room style.  So I thought it would be both functional and fit in with the design to add a big sheet of metal to the wall to use as a magnetic board for all of the magnets, posters, notes, baseball cards, and ticket stubs that collect in stepson's room.  Here it is all hung on the wall and I love the way it looks.  I'm getting to the bad part, give me a minute.

I was in Home Depot (HD) and found this 3' x 3' sheet of metal for around $20.  Perfect size for the wall, I just wasn't sure how to hang it.  The HD guy suggested this liquid nails-like stuff that you can use on metal but I really didn't want all of that adhesive permanently stuck to the wall if we ever changed our minds.  Plus, I wasn't sure how the metal sheet stay on the wall while the adhesive set.

So, instead I decided to try screwing the metal sheet to the wall with some bolts I had.  I was hoping the bolts would add to the industrial look of the room.  I started by locating a stud.  I wanted at least one of the bolts in a stud to make sure the metal would stay up there.

Next, I drilled 8 holes around the metal sheet, one in each corner and one in the center of each side.

Then I predrilled a small hole into the drywall and used my socket wrench (?--not entirely sure if that is the right name for the tool, and I don't have a pic :(  ) to attach each screw.  Here is a close up of one of the screws.  I love how it gives an industrial look to the magnetic board.

And here it is all finished.  I ran to get some magnets that I had purchased to stage an 'action' shot.  I was super excited and super proud of myself.

But wait, the magnets do not stick.  My metal is not magnetic!!!!  How big of a dodo brain am I?  I bought aluminum.  I should have bought steel.  I just love spending lots of time buying just the right piece, devising a clever way of hanging it, hammering a bunch of nails into the wall to find a stud and wait until I am all done to discover I totall screwed up!  Really.

But I've had a few weeks to calm down and now own a roll of galvanized metal roof flashing.  Question is will I try to adhere it to my already existing metal sheet or rip it out and try again?  Not sure yet.


In the meantime, the baseball room got some wall art.  :)  That is pretty hard to screw up.

----Adrienne