DIY Floating Shelves (Why the heck didn't I just go to IKEA)

I can't believe it is already November. Where did the time go? How is the year almost over? Am I the only one who thinks this year just flew by. I have so much going on, an extra month would be nice. Honestly, if I could get an extra hour some days I would be happy. So, before I get into the shelves let's talk about my issue with Blogger. In case you have not noticed, about a month ago I published a post about My Uninspiring Office. Then one day I logged in to check on some things, and the post was gone. In it's place was the same blog post but 20 drafts before that. I had to do a double take. WHAT?! Where the heck did my post go! I take this blog thing seriously, and spend quite a bit of time trying to get them just right for you all. To have it just disappear... absolutely OUTRAGEOUS! I did some research on the message boards and apparently it happens once in awhile. Not exactly sure how or why, seems like a glitch of some sort. I don't care though really. I just want my post back. Don't worry, I am slightly calmer now. A few weeks ago though when I first saw it, I almost fell out. So, for right now I will just have to let it go and leave it as a lesson learned. Always make sure to keep a backup copy of my blog post. Sorry for anyone that missed it. I was thinking that I would rewrite it  paraphrase it in a new post. However, since it seems like a lot of people already saw it, it's probably not necessary. Still annoyed though. Not cool Blogger. Not Cool!

Now that that is out of the way, let's talk shelves! You ever have those moments when you want some nice floating shelves. The obvious answer is to go to IKEA. Only to find that once you get there nothing works. They're either not the right size, they poke out too far, not the right color, or simply they're just not what you want. Well that's where I'm at right now. In my world that's okay though, because I can just make my own. You know, as much as I complain sometimes that I would like to just walk in a store and buy what I want, the ability to design and create things as a back up definitely has its perks. These particular shelves were for the back wall of my office. 

As you can see my first attempt at shelving was a dud. I essentially took some shelves I got from Target and put them together. Nice idea in theory, but not so impressive in real life. For one, I had way too many pictures. They didn't even all make it to the wall, and the ones that did were squished together. Secondly, the look of the wall entirely was off scale. The wall too big, and the shelves too small. So, on to plan B. Only problem is I had no idea what plan B was. I had been pondering this for awhile and thought I had it with the last idea. I knew I still wanted some sort of shelving but what? Then one day in the dressing room of H&M, Frickin' EUREKA...I got it!

This was my first time making floating shelves. I actually had to talk myself into it. Why I couldn't just screw a few L brackets into the wall and place an 8ft long board on top, boggles me. Never the easy route. My plan was, 2 8ft shelves and 4 3ft shelves. Allow me to draw a diagram. I'm leaving space in the middle for some sort of painting or picture.

Off to Home Depot I go! I made a list of supplies the night before. The plan was to stick to the list, not wander, and be in and out pretty quickly. Notice I said that "was" the plan. I started out well, then half way through I started changing my mind about the design. Originally, I was pretty set on the design of the shelves. However, when I got to the lumber aisle and began counting up how many flat pieces of wood I needed, the thought crosses my head if it's all worth it. How bad do I want these shelves? I could just go to IKEA and be done by the morning. Then as I'm trying to get a straight 1x2, (Yes, picking lumber is a process) I think to myself what if I just double up a couple of 1x4s. That would have been cheaper and easier and very close to the desired look. The only problem is they wouldn't float. I would have to get some small brackets to hold them up. I thought about it. Did I really need them to float? Would it be really so bad if they didn't? I could just paint the visible bracket the same color as the wall, so it had the appearance of floating. Still not sure, I continued picking out my wood. I was determined to leave the store with something. I packed them all in the Corolla and headed home. 

The next morning I woke up still not sure. So, whenever I am not sure about something I confer with good ole Uncle Francis. I told him my dilemma. He suggested that my original idea would look better, and if I could do it to just go for it. So I did. I had 3 days off from work, and was determined to use them wisely. I headed down to the garage, took out my Miter Saw and got working. The basic design of the shelves would be 4" wide and 2" tall. I laid the flat piece down (1), then placed the white pieces around the outside (2&3), and then laid another flat piece (1) on top. This took some time, as getting them to all line up perfectly never goes as smoothly as you would think. The 8ft shelves were a definite task. The longer the piece, the greater the challenge. 

I put all of the shelves together using wood glue, and let them set overnight. The next morning I got up and finished the edges. 

I made a point to get nice wood so that I wouldn't need to partake in a lot of sanding. Unfortunately, I lost my ability to measure accurately because I was still quite off. I used wood filler, wood glue, and scrap wood to fill in and clean up the edges and sides. As you can see from the picture, I had quite a bit of compensating to do in some cases. I made sure every shelf looked as perfect as I could get it. I let all of the pieces dry and set overnight. The next day I gave them one last sanding and clean up.

To make sure that I would like the design, I arranged them on the floor like my diagram. I would hate to realize that I wasn't impressed...after they were already on the wall. 

At this point in the process I realized how thankful I was for a clear space to lay things out. My garage was another story. It looked crazy in there. You know, I'm noticing part of the humor in me building is the conversations I have with people about it. I took a break Saturday night to go out with my friends. I started telling them about my project pandemonium. 

Me: I'm building some floating shelves for the big wall in my office. 

Friends: What's wrong with the ones that were there?

Me: They weren't long enough for the wall. I had some small ones from Target, and put a bunch together to make bigger ones. They're still not long enough though. I have a bunch of pictures still laying on the table. So, I'm making some new ones that will span the whole wall.

Friends: Oh wow...I would have just bought more shelves, and added on. 

Me: I thought about that, but I wasn't feeling it. I had a different idea entirely so I'm doing what I should have done in the first place...just make some. It's a disaster downstairs. I'm glad you all came to get me because there's clearly lumber on my car right now. 

Friends: HA! You know if anyone else just said that, I would think they were crazy. But coming from you it just sounds normal.

Can't help but smile and laugh. What can I say. Just another day in my world. Now from the picture it really doesn't look so bad, but believe me it was a war zone in there. You're seeing the "neat" side.

As you can see in the photo I already started painting. I set up my trusty blocks (Which are actually my old coffee table. I use these things for a ton of carpentry purposes. They make awesome weights) and propped up all of the pieces. I primed them first with Kilz, let them dry, and then preceded with the black paint. I had a can of Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Ultra Cover in black semi-gloss. I was worried because I didn't want them to come out too glossy. So, I decided to get a can of flat paint. I wasn't sure because I usually never paint with flat paint. I really wanted satin, but didn't see it and I knew semi-gloss would be too shiny. I figured if anything I could paint it with the flat paint, and then go over it with a satin or semi gloss varnish if the black was too dull. To my delight though when I got home I came up with a better solution. I found leftover paint from the end table project in the color Black Onyx, which happened to be a satin finish. I combined that with the Rust-Oleum semi-gloss black. The combination...was perfection. 

Now comes the real fun. Let's hang these things. Before I decided to embark on this endeavor I researched how to make them. I read that the way you get them to have a floating appearance, is to hang a bracket to the wall and then attach the shelf to the bracket. Seemed easy enough. If you look up at the above picture, on the ground, next to the car are some raw wood pieces. Those are my brackets. 

You're suppose to use wall anchors to secure heavy things into drywall. However, the whole thought of that process seemed agonizing. Trying to line up the shelf and the screw, through the wood and into the anchor...all while keeping it level. I decided to avoid my future misery and just use the studs in the wall. Now, for those of you who don't know, studs are the vertical wood beams behind the drywall that help to support the wall. Usually if you can screw something into the stud, an anchor isn't necessary. They make stud finders, but I don't own one. The last time I had a project, I read another way to find them...with magnets! Makes a lot of sense doesn't it. Drywall is held to the wall using screws, and screws are metal. If you run the magnet around the wall, they will attract to the screw. I know some of you were wondering how I got my magnets to float on the wall like that. If you can find one, then the others next to them are pretty easy. Studs are usually set approximately 16 inches apart. Just measure 16 inches from the first spot and then go hover the magnet around there, and VOILA! 

I used this method to attach all of the brackets to the wall. I decided to attach all of them first. I wanted to test the scale and placement of the whole project. Honestly, I was still quite unsure about the size. I was secretly afraid the whole thing would be too big.

I was wrong though. I was totally feeling it, and I hadn't even put the shelves up. The size was nice, good scale for the wall, but not too intrusive into the rest of the space. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the process, but allow me to give you a visual. Picture one 5 ft woman, an 8 ft shelf, a chair, a step stool, a drill with 2 attachments, and a level to make sure it all stayed straight. Yes, it took everything in me just to prevent injury. I thought, this is the moment when having another one of me would be quite helpful. Now, to add the actual shelves. This posed a whole other battle. I was going to wait until the next day, but I was so anxious I couldn't hold off. I grabbed the shelf and slid it over the bracket. (Actual visual: 5ft woman, 8ft shelf, sliding, pushing, tugging, banging, cursing, shelf comes down, unscrewing, rescrewing, shelf goes back up, resetting, squeezing, more banging, and a few extra expletives. All while still trying to prevent injury) I'm making it sound simple, but boy this was a task. By the time I was done, I was sweating. When all was set and done, I sat down looked at the wall, and took a breathe. I had floating shelves!

They were beautiful! What an accomplishment, and after what I just went through to get them on the wall, it made the ending so much better.

The shelves were up, now what? The whole point was to have something to place all of my pictures on. I still had so many. I sorted them out, and just went for it. 

 What do you think? Turned out pretty nice. Just enough space. (...and I do mean "just" enough) 5 days well spent. Now, if I could just find the same excitement to go clean the garage. As for the painting/picture in the middle, I have an idea of what is going to go in there but not settled on anything. I'll be sure to update you when that happens. Until then...I suppose it's on to the next project! (Which I actually just finished. So stay tuned =) *emoticons Blogger. Where are the emoticons?*)