How to Actually Build Simple and Affordable Floating Shelves

Time: 1 hour

Cost: $15

Skill: Moderate

Please Note: This Post May Contain Affiliate Links

Today I am going to walk you through my step-by-step tutorial for building any size DIY wooden floating shelf!

There is nothing like a large blank wall to throw off the completed look of a room.  I have been staring at this specific wall for months wondering how to best fill the space.  I finally decided that shelving was the way to go.  There are plenty of ways to build floating shelves and they all share a common concept.  Build a wall brace, and build a box to place around it.  Simple!

I used the same concept to build these Rustic Floating Shelves for my guest bathroom.  All you have to do is adjust your measurements to fit the specific space.

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A Step-By-Step Guide to Building Wooden Floating Shelves

Here is the blank wall that I started with…

For about $30 in lumber you can make several shelves depending on their length.  I had plenty of screws and wood stain left over from other projects, but if you need those it will add about $10 to the overall cost.  Still significantly cheaper than buying them.

In preparing for this project, I decided to invest in a Kreg Jig.  I spent about an hour being down right giddy about finally making this purchase, only to be devastated when I realized that you need a clamp to use it. 

Instead of going back out to Home Depot I decided that I would just save the Kreg Jig for the next project and I would use my typical method of screwing the pieces together from the outside.  It definitely seems like a Kreg Jig would have resulted in a cleaner finished project, but I guess I will just have to wait to find out!

To start, you are going to need the following tools…

Drill

3 1/2″ Screws

Nail Gun

Level

Saw

Lumber (See cut list at the end)

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Step One:  Build the Wall Braces for your Wooden Floating Shelves

In order to build the wall brace you will need the 2×4’s from the cut list.  This is a fairly simple step and just requires you attaching each of the shorter pieces to the longer piece.  This is where a kreg jig would have come in handy.  Without a clamp and without the jig I had to drill screws into each of the shorter pieces from the back.  This is moderately difficult, since the short pieces will turn with the screw unless you find a way to put pressure on it.  I drilled slowly and used the ground to apply the pressure I needed to keep it from spinning as I drilled.  Just make sure to counter sink the screws so the long piece will lay flat against the wall.

Here is what they should look like when they are assembled.  (two wall braces pictured below)

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Step Two:  Attach the Wall Braces 

Once you have your wall brace built, you can attach it to the wall.  With our shelf being 3 feet, I was able to easily locate several studs.  In order to keep your shelves anchored to the wall, I highly recommend finding studs.  If you can’t, another option is using drywall anchors.  Using the level I drew a line where I wanted the shelf to be.  Then, using 3 1/2″ screws, I drilled the brace into the studs.

Here is a look at the wall braces once they are installed.

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Getting just the braces on the wall made me jump up and down with joy.  Literally.  There was jumping.  And clapping.  And lots of smiles.

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Step Three:  Build The Boxes for your Wooden Floating Shelves

Collecting all the pieces from the cut list, assemble them to make sure they fit together.  I had a couple of 1×5 side pieces that needed to be trimmed down slightly to make everything even.

Once you are confident that everything fits together nicely, you can use your nail gun to start securing each piece  (not pictured, sorry!).  I started with attaching the front 1×5 piece to the top of the shelf.  (this is easier to do with the pieces upside down).  I nailed two nails on the left and right, and two in the center.  I don’t have a good work space so I used a wall to apply pressure.  This is the extent of my graphic design capabilities…

Tip:  Make sure you press down on the top shelf piece to ensure it is flat.  I realized after flipping the whole thing over that I had a small gap.  Not a huge deal, I put that one on top so no one can see.  Second shelf, I got it right!

Using the same method, attach both the side pieces.  I added a nail at the top and bottom of each end of the front board so that it was connected to the side boards.

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Step Four:  Stain The Boxes for your Wooden Floating Shelves

This is simple and takes less than 10 minutes!  I used Varathane in Dark Walnut, because it dries in an hour, and has great coverage.  Since I never use a lot of stain, I always have some hanging around the house.  Reusing an old color is a great way to save a few bucks on this project!

Just find yourself a white rag (old socks and t-shirts work great) and apply the stain!  Sit back, and give it an hour to dry.

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Step Five:  Attach The Boxes to the Wall Braces

I found the best way to secure the box is to just put a screw through the top of the shelf into the wall brace.

And with that, you are done!

I have wanted to finish decorating our sitting room (second living room) for a year, and these Wooden Floating Shelves are just what it has been missing!  Now I just have to spend hours roaming the aisles of Home Goods so that I can fill these up 🙂

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Optional Step:

My shelf boxes do not have a bottom to them.  You can’t really notice with the lower shelf unless you are sitting on the ground.  As for the top shelf, I am fairly tall, so I can’t tell with that one either!  However, I happen to know several short people who will definitely be able to see that there is no bottom to the boxes.

Unfortunately I do not have a table saw and will need one to be able to cut a piece of wood that will cover it.  Roughly 10 1/4″, which means I can’t use a 1×10 or a 1×12 off the store shelf.  I will need to cut a 1×12 down to size.  I am in the process of problem solving this…

If not having a bottom is something that will bother you, I would recommend using a 1×6 instead of 1×5, for the front and side pieces.  It will make your shelves slightly bigger, but you will be able to use a 1×10 cut down to mirror the top 36 1/4″ piece.  I was unable to do this since the 2×4’s with a 1×10 on the top and bottom would be too thick to be covered by the 1×5 as the front piece.

You can see here how my Rustic White Floating Shelves in my guest bathroom are a full box, so be sure to click over and visualize what I am talking about!

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My Cut List (Per Shelf):

Braces:

2×4  cut to 36″

2×4 cut to 4″

Shelf Box:

Top Shelf Piece:  1×10 cut to 36 1/4″ (A 6 foot board cut in half)

Side Pieces:  1×5 cut to 9 1/4″ pieces (2, 1 for each side)

Front Piece: 1×5 cut to 37 7/8″

Optional Bottom Shelf Piece: 1×10 cut to 36 1/4 (If you are going to do this, replace the 1×5’s with 1×6’s) *Otherwise the box will not fit around the 2×4 wall braces.

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Are you looking for more home or craft inspiration? Check out how I built this adorable Wooden Book Bin for my nephew, or how I transformed this old window into a Wedding Seating Chart!