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DIY Floating Kitchen Shelves: Want the look of large floating kitchen shelves but can't afford them? DIY them with plumping supplies and 1" x 12" boards.

Today I'm sharing my Affordable DIY Large Floating Kitchen Shelves for my Kitchen Makeover.  This shelf project turned out amazing and looks so great in our kitchen.  We love open shelving and I'm so glad we removed our upper kitchen cabinets and added in these wall shelves.

It's week 6 of this 7 week makeover for this fall's One Room Challenge. Be sure to check out all the other bloggers progress at Calling It Home. I've been making over my kitchen and it's almost done. Next week will be the big reveal, and I cannot wait to show you how great it looks!

If you missed any of my updates you can catch up here:

The Kitchen Before and Inspiration -Week One

Installing Backsplash Tile in a Kitchen

Black Dipped Paint Brass Candlesticks

Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Makeover Reveal

DIY Floating Kitchen Shelves

This week I'm excited to tell you how to DIY large floating shelves and do it on a budget. During my design process I decided that I wanted to take down my existing upper cabinets on either side of my range hood and replace them with open shelving. I felt like it would be a great update to the kitchen and as someone who likes to change their decor often I thought it would be a great spot for display.  Since we were creating the shelves as a replacement for our upper cabinets we knew we would need them for extra storage and we'd need as much space as possible to accommodate everything that was in the cabinets before.  I was also planning to change our existing backsplash to subway tile, and thought that extending it up the entire wall behind the new floating shelves would look great.

Adding Reinforcement to the Wall

My brother-in-law Shaun of Benjamin Tileworks is a contractor and he did all the building for this project for me.  The first thing we started with was removing the old tile backsplash in the kitchen and in the process we damaged the drywall.  We ended up having to replace it, so while the walls were torn apart, we added in some reinforcements for the shelves. I knew I'd be using the shelves for all my heavy plates and dishes and didn't want to be worried about it ever falling down under so much weight.  If you're building open shelves in your kitchen, we highly recommend taking the time to anchor them into the studs like we did.

Shaun notched out the wall studs and added in some more 2 x 4 wood support boards in our predetermined locations of the shelves, so that he'd be able to attach our metal support piece directly into it for added support. After the blocking was added to reinforce the wall anchor spots, we added our new drywall over top.  This was such a good idea to do while we had the wall open anyway.  Now we won't have to worry about the weight of all the dishes.

Materials:

• ½" galvanized flanges (2 for each shelf)
• ½" x 6" long threaded pipes (2 for each shelf)
• 1 ¼" diamond drill bit 
• 1 x 12 pine boards cut to 28" lengths -or whatever length you need (2 for each shelf)
• wood glue and clamps
• router
• drill
• ⅛" x 1" metal screws (2 for each shelf)
• sandpaper
• wood conditioner
• wood stain
• polycrylic sealer

Creating the Shelf Supports

To create the floating shelf supports we used plumbing supplies. We thought about a lot of different options for the floating shelf supports. We had trouble finding anything large enough. The floating shelf supports we could find were only for a 6" deep shelf. I knew I needed 12" deep wood shelves in order for them to be deep enough to hold dinner plates.

We did find some larger ones that were handmade in a little shop online, but they would have been very expensive for our 8 shelves as each needed two supports, for a total of 16 supports. We thought about having some custom welded for us, but again it would have been very pricy for 16 supports. In the end Shaun came up with the idea of using inexpensive plumbing supplies, and it worked out great.

We used ½" galvanized flanges and screwed ½" x 6" long threaded pipes onto them as the shelf supports.  Shaun then used a 2 ⅛" hole cutter in a drill to cut the drywall out and attach the support to the wall where it had been reinforced. Shaun used a level to make sure that all the pipes were level and straight at this stage.

When we did the tiling, we were able to tile over the entire thing, and not have to worry about the bracket base sitting up above the tile.  We tiled right up to the pipe shelf support, and then Shaun used a 1 ¼" diamond drill bit for the tile to cut out a hole for the pipe to go through for a really clean finished look.

Building the Shelves

To make the actual shelves we picked up some 1 x 12 pine boards and cut them to 28" lengths. Shaun used a router to cut channels for the posts on each side. Then two of the boards were glued together with wood glue and clamped together to create 2" shelves, with routed holes in the back to accept our pipe shelf brackets.

We wanted the finished shelves to be a 2 inches thick.  Shaun could have used 2" inch piece to create solid wood chunky shelves, but we didn't think that was the best choice for a couple of reasons. It would have been difficult to drill perfectly straight holes into the back for the pipes to fit into. If the holes weren't perfectly straight the shelves won't have been level.

It was also much cheaper to buy the 1 x 12 inch boards, and it really looks great, so it was a real win-win.

We choose pine as our type of wood for the shelves because it's inexpensive, looks great stained, and is available at any major hardware store.

Staining The Floating Shelves

The next step was sanding the shelves.  We then conditioned the wood with Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner, since we were working with pine and it accepts the stain more consistently when the wood is pre-conditioned. Then it was time to stain the wood. The stain color I used was a combination of two different stain colors.  I used Minwax Classic Grey and followed that with a light layer of Minwax Dark Walnut to add a bit more brown. After the stain was dry on the pieces of wood, I sealed it with a top coat of Minwax Polycrylic giving each shelf three coats. I love using the Polycyclic Protective Finish because it has a matte finish and doesn't look yellow at all when it dries.  The soap and water clean up is a real plus too.

Installing the Shelves

Shaun installed the shelves on the back wall. He started by making minor adjustments with a dry fit and getting the shelves perfectly level with some small wood shims around the pipe brackets where needed to make them absolutely perfectly level.

The next step was to secure the shelf to the pipes, he drilled a hole through the top of the new shelf and into the top of the pipe.

He screwed ⅛" x 1" metal screws into each of the metal brackets to hold the shelf firmly in place. Since the bottom long shelves are at eye level, he secured them from the bottom of the shelves so they won't be visible. The rest are done from the top so they're not seen either.

Recipe

Affordable DIY Large Kitchen Floating Shelves

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Cook Time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 4 hours hours

Author: Dannyelle Nicolle-Ramjist

Equipment

• Saw
• router
• Drill

Materials

• ½ " galvanized flanges 2 for each shelf
• ½ " x 6" long threaded pipes 2 for each shelf
• 1 ¼ " diamond drill bit
• 1 x 12 pine boards cut to 28" lengths -or whatever length you need 2 for each shelf
• wood glue and clamps
• ⅛ " x 1" metal screws 2 for each shelf
• sandpaper
• wood conditioner
• wood stain
• polycrylic sealer

Instructions

• To create the shelf support attach two ½" galvanized flanges to a wall stud, making sure they're level with each other, and then screw a ½" x 6" long threaded pipe on to each one.
• To make the shelf, use two 1 x 12 inch pine boards. Use a router to route out a ¼" deep x 6" long channel in the same position on each side of the board, on both ends of the shelf. Then sandwich them together with wood glues and clamps to dry, and creating a hole in the finished shelf for the shelf bracket.
• Give the glued shelves a sand with fine grit sandpaper. Be sure to wipe them down to remove any sanding dust. Next apply wood conditioner to the wood shelves. Next stain the wood in a stain color of your choice. We combined two stains to achieve the color we wanted. Lastly seal the shelves with a polyacrylic sealer. We did three coats of the sealer for added durability.
• To install the shelves, slide them on to the shelf brackets. Make any minor adjustments necessary with small wood shims to make sure they're perfectly level, Then secure the shelf by drilling a hole through the wood shelf and into the metal pipe support, and then adding a metal screw right through the wood and into to the metal pipe to secure it.

 Shelf Love

I love the Minwax stain colours.  The greyish shelves look great with the dark grey grout from the backsplash.

Shaun did an amazing job of making my vision come to life on a budget with this great project. Using the plumbing supplies and the 1" x 12" pine boards really helped our budget. If you're trying to create a similar look but need to do it on a budget, I hope this DIY project idea helps you as well.  The floating shelves would be great in your kitchen, dining room, laundry room, or living room.  

The finished shelves in our kitchen are now the perfect place for displaying all our kitchen items, and we are so glad we could do it on budget.  I'm so glad we were able to remove the old cupboards and replace them with these gorgeous DIY floating shelves on a budget.  These, along with the new subway tile backsplash are probably very favourite change to the kitchen for our kitchen makeover.  They have a huge impact on the space, and were definitely worth doing to create the look we're after.

The new shelves look amazing, and I am having so much fun styling them with all our kitchen dishes, home decor, and finishing touches.

Dust Problems

I few people mentioned a worry about the dishes on the open shelving getting dusty, because they're not stored in a cupboard.  I think that because these are our everyday dishes that most of them will get used so often that dust won't be a problem.  Perhaps if things were sitting on the shelves and unused most of the time, this might be a concern.  And you might want to consider it before installing open shelves in your own kitchen.

Kitchen Reveal Coming Up

Next week is the big reveal of the finished the kitchen.  I can not wait to share it with you. It has definitely been worth all the hard work, and having our house in a bit of chaos for the last six weeks. Follow me on Instagram and check out my stories for some sneak peaks of the finished kitchen.

With new Modern Farmhouse Affordable Large DIY Floating Shelves, life really is a party!

I'm working with some amazing brands on my One Room Challenge Kitchen Makeover, and I'm so grateful.  I've received products or discounts, but as always, all opinions are my own. I'm so happy to be partnering with Home Depot, Wayfair Canada, GE Canada, Benjamin Tileworks, Lagostina, Smith Sprayers, Lee Valley Tools, Delta Faucet, Krylon, Minwax, and Hamilton Beach.

Installing Backsplash Tile In A Kitchen: from removing tile, and replacing dry wall to installing the new tile and grouting.

I have never liked my kitchen backsplash tile, so when we decided to give our kitchen a facelift I knew that ripping out the old tile and installing backsplash tile in a kitchen was high on the priority list.

Before Picture:

Here's a before picture of what we started out with.

The Plan:

And here is the direction we were headed.

Installing Backsplash Tile In A Kitchen

1.Remove Old Tile

The first job was to remove the old tile.  When we removed it we really damaged the drywall.  We had hoped we'd be able to save the drywall in some areas, but we had to replace it.  We were also removing the cupboards from the wall with the stove and replacing them with floating shelves so the wall was prepped for the shelf brackets at the same time -you can read all about our DIY Floating Shelves here.

Use a strong exacto knife or cutting tool to cut out the drywall and leave nice clean edges.

2.Re-Drywall

To prep the wall for tile, replace the drywall with new pieces screwed into place with drywall screws.

After the dry wall was up, I sealed the seams with some tape and tile adhesive, and then added a tile primer.  Because we're prepping the wall for tile and not to paint we used the tile adhesive and didn't worry about sanding like you would normally.

3. Installing The Backsplash Tile

This past weekend we installed all the tile.  A special thanks to Home Depot Canada this week for supplying all the materials for the tile and grout.

My sweet brother-in-law Shaun from Benjamin Woodworks, came for the weekend along with my sister and their two dachshunds.  I have to say that the tile was harder than I expected.  That seems to be the trend here.  I'm all for trying new things, but if Shaun hadn't been here, I know it won't have come out looking this good, and I don't think it would be done yet.  I did learn a ton -but we joked that if he hired me as his new apprentice, he won't want to pay me by the hour, haha.

We started over by the sink, and we're lucky enough to be working with granite counters so they were perfectly level.

Begin by spreading your tile adhesive on the wall with a notched trowel.  

Place your tiles on the wall and use the spaces to creating even spaces between them.

Use a tile cutter to to cut straight lines to make the tiles fit your pattern.  We went with a basic brick pattern.

Use and angle grinder to cut tiles to fit around outlets, or for for corners.

To cut around our shelf supports we drilled holes in the tiles.

After 24 hours you can remove the spacers and your ready to begin the grout.

4. The Grout

This week it was my job to do the grout.  I've never done grout before.  Shaun talked me through it and I read the directions.  I started with the little area behind the sink and it went well.  

Just mix the grout according to package directions and apply with the grout float at a 45 degree angle.  Once it's just set but not completely hard yet, use a sponge to remove the access.  

After

And here is what the tile looked like when it was all completely finished!  I love it.

The Rest Of The Kitchen Makeover

This was week four of the One Room Challenge, and I'm happy to report that it feels like we've made lots of progress.  I'm taking part in a Challenge hosted by Calling it Home where bloggers take six weeks to makeover one room of their homes and share their weekly progress.  Be sure to check out everyone else's progress too at Calling It Home.
If you missed any of my updates you can catch up here:

The Kitchen Before and Inspiration

Tile and Grout

Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

Affordable DIY Large Floating Shelves for the Kitchen

Black Dipped Paint Brass Candlesticks

The Kitchen Makeover Reveal

This week it felt like we made some great progress and the end really is in sight, but there's still a fair bit on the to do list.

I'm working with some amazing brands on this project, and I'm so grateful.  I've received products or discounts, but as always, all opinions are my own. I'm so happy to be partnering with Home Depot, Wayfair Canada, GE Canada, Benjamin Woodworks, Lagostina, Smith Sprayers, Lee Valley Tools, Delta Faucet, Krylon, Minwax, and Hamilton Beach.

With a kitchen makeover that's making progress, life really is a party!

Kitchen Makeover -a six week One Room Challenge transformation taking a dark, dated kitchen to a bright, white, Rustic Scandinavian Kitchen.

It's that time of year again!  The One Room Challenge begins again today.  This is a challenge for bloggers to take one room of their homes and make them over in six weeks, joining over 200 other bloggers in sharing their weekly progress at the host blog, Calling It Home, and on their own blogs. This time it's a kitchen makeover.

If you missed any of my updates you can catch up here:

Week One -The Kitchen Before and Inspiration

and Week Four -Tile and Grout

also Week Five -Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

and Week Six -Affordable DIY Large Floating Shelves for the Kitchen

Black Dipped Paint Brass Candlesticks

The Challenge

This is my third time joining in and I'm so excited to get starting on making over my kitchen.

Last spring I took part and made over my living room.  We went from a cozy but a little dated beige living room to a bright and airy Rustic Scandinavian inspired space.  See the Living Room Reveal here.

And, last fall, for my first One Room Challenge, I did over the dining room.  We went from a  dark dated space, to white and open Rustic Scandinavian inspired space there too.  See the reveal Dining Room Reveal here.

The kitchen will be the last major living space on the main floor to be made over.  Finishing this room will complete the transition to a bright, white, Rustic Scandinavian inspired main floor space.

I love Rustic Scandinavian design.  It's often neutral with lots of white and some black, along with wood.  It embraces the idea of hygge, and making spaces cozy and warm with lots of natural materials like wood, wool, ceramic, and bringing the outdoors in through things like pinecones, and branches.   I'd say this look in many ways shares some similarities with modern farmhouse design, but is a bit more pared back, and minimalist.

Scandinavian design is often very modern and cleaned lined -but I'd say my take is a bit more country influenced. The rustic piece is where my love of rustic antiques and junk shop finds comes in.  I've found the design to be a really good backdrop for the blog as well.  I find more and more I use my home as my studio and I need a neutral backdrop for entertaining, decor, and cooking.  I can't wait to be able to use my kitchen as a background to my food photography -haha blogger dreams.

The Kitchen Before

Here's what the kitchen looks like now.  It was this way when we moved in about 10 years ago.  Not exactly what I would have picked even back then, but not so bad either.  What I would have picked, and what we had in our previous home, was a white kitchen.  White kitchens are so popular, but they're still my favourite.  And and I have to say that for the whole 10 years I've been dreaming about having a white kitchen again.

The existing kitchen is maple, with a black granite counter, and stone backsplash.  The fridge and stove were brought from our previous house and we've had them since we got married 16 years ago.  They are due to be replaced.  The floor is a slate look tile.  The light fixture is a builder basic and so is the kitchen faucet.

The Kitchen Makeover Plan

I have to keep the flooring, and the cupboards.  So this is definitely a makeover rather than a reno.  I looked into having the cabinets re-faced last year, where you have the doors replaced with white -or whatever you like, and the sides are recovered to match.  I was shocked at the price; $8000 for my small kitchen.  So this time around I looked into painting them.  I was hesitant to paint them at first because I was worried about them chipping and looking worse than the plain maple.  My husband had a friend who had theirs painted by a professional though and recommended it to us.  It turns out professional painting comes with a guarantee against chipping and is a fraction of the cost of replacing them.  Sold!  So I get to have my long awaited white kitchen!  Insert happy dance here.

Since the counters are granite they have to stay too, so we'll have a black and white kitchen -perfectly Scandinavian.

Here's some beautiful inspiration from Veranda Interiors.  I love the white cupboards, black counters and open shelves.

This mood board gives you idea of where I'm headed with the whole makeover.

Kitchen Makeover Inspiration

To see more of my inspiration follow me on Pinterest, and check out my Kitchen Board.

I'm excited to add some brass and gold accents to warm up the space too.  We'll be adding brass lighting, cabinet hardware, and an amazing new kitchen faucet.  I'll be mixing the brass with the stainless steel appliances.  The existing backsplash tile will be replaced with white subway tile.  Subway tile is a real classic and the dark grout will help tie it into the black counters.

The other big project is that I'm removing the glass cabinets on either side of the range and replacing them with open shelves and tile up to the ceiling.  I've never done tiling but it's a project I'm tackling myself -infact I'll be starting to remove the old tile this week.

I'm very excited to be partnering with some AMAZING brands for this project -be sure to follow along over on Instagram to see the amazing products as they arrive at my door on Instagram Stories.

Does that seem like a big list of things to get done in six weeks?  Writing it all down is making me feel that way too!  But bit by bit, week by week it will get done.  I'm excited to share my weekly updates with you here.  Can you believe that in six short weeks we'll be done!

I'm linking up this post at Calling It Home where you can see all the other guest participants bloggers and their plans for their room makeovers too.

Sponsors

I am working with some amazing brands on my One Room Challenge Kitchen Makeover, and I'm so grateful.  I've received products or discounts, but as always, all opinions are my own. I'm so happy to be partnering with Home Depot, Wayfair Canada, GE Canada, Benjamin Woodworks, Lagostina, Smith Sprayers, Lee Valley Tools, Delta Faucet, Krylon, Minwax, and Hamilton Beach.  

With a new kitchen makeover getting started, life really is a party!

One Room Challenge Living Room Makeover -six weeks to completely makeover our living room with new furniture, paint, ship lap, and fireplace makeover.

I had so much fun participating in the One Room Challenge (ORC) last fall, that i knew i wanted to participate again in the spring version.  This time around I'm making over the living room and the eating area of our kitchen.  I want to continue the Rustic Scandinavian design I used in the Dining Room make over.  You can read all about the Dining Room Makeover from last time here.

The Living Room Before

Here's what the room looks like now.  It was decorated by us when we moved into this house about 11 years ago now.  It's pretty neutral and has served us well, but it's time for an update.

The room really has great bones -9ft ceilings, hardwood floors, and great light.

The Plan

It's time for some new furniture.  We've had this couch and chair set since we got married, and we're coming up on our 16 year anniversary next week. They've lasted pretty well.

Over on the other side of the room, is the fireplace.

I always intended to give it a little makeover, but never got around to it, so now is the time.

And attached to the living room is the kitchen eating area.  With replacing the green furniture in the living room, it's time to say goodbye to the matching green walls in the kitchen too.  This area will get an update with a new light, and new accessories too.  

I'm thinking about refinishing the kitchen table too.  It's a family antique I found in my Grandma's barn long, long ago.  I love it.  But it does sometimes look a little orange-ish, especially in photos on the blog.  I do a lot of photo's here because the light is great, so I'm thinking about refinishing it.  I had quite the time refinishing my veneer dining room table for the last one room challenge.  It was a steep learning curve, but I think I've got the hang of it now.  Hopefully I'll have enough time during the six weeks to tackle this table.

Inspiration

Here's some of the inspiration for the rooms.

Mood Board

And here's the mood board for the living room.  This should give you a sense of where I'm headed.

To-Do List

• new couch and chair
• furniture edit
• new living room rug
• paint the walls
• shiplap accent wall
• fireplace makeover
• tv unit makeover

I've got big plans to replace the couch, chair and ottoman, and maybe the rug too. The living room and kitchen will be painted JoJo White Wash by Para, to match the dining room, and tie the whole main floor together.   I'm thinking about planking one wall in the living room to add a little texture for this very white colour scheme -but I haven't totally decided yet.  Lots of natural elements will be added like sheep's skin rugs, wood, antlers, and plants.  I'm also planing to add in lots of cozy texture with chunky knits, wood planks, a shag rug, and some macrame.  

I'll be stream lining things a little by getting rid of the shelf unit.  The fireplace is getting a little makeover -by removing the wood decal from the front and painting out the brass.  I'm thinking about painting it white, but we'll see how it looks when the walls are painted.  I might be painting the tv unit too.  Looking so forward to this space to become lighter and brighter.

I love the Rustic Scandinavian look for it's neutral bright white and mix of modern with rustic pieces.  I think the design will be very easy to live with.  Having said that, I'm a little tiny bit nervous about white everything with two kids and a dog, but I'm thinking that just like the dining room, slip covers are the key to living with an all white scheme -I guess we'll find out. 😉

And so the adventure begins.  In six weeks I'll be revealing the final living room and eating area, along with all the other One Room Challenge guest participants.  And each week along the way, I'll be checking in with an update on my progress, and joining in with all the participants -so be sure to check out all their rooms here.

With a Rustic Scandinavian Living Room and Eating Area make over, life really is a party!

One Room Challenge Progress

• Expert Tips On DIY Shiplap -Week Three
• Fireplace Makeover -Week Four
• DIY Macrame and Fringe Pillows -Week Five
• Rustic Scandinavian Living Room and Eating Area Reveal -Week Six