DIY Large Shelving Unit

We transformed a blank wall and a kitchen with little storage to this. The entire project cost $80.00. We bought 1x12 pine boards from Menards and went to work.

Time: 5 Hours Cost: $80 Difficulty: Easy

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  Before

This was what it look liked before. Just a blank wall. We decided to build the shelving unit around the window. We pulled off the baseboards, scrubbed the walls, and removed the plates from the electrical outlets.

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My hubby and his friend went to work measuring the wall. We wanted it to meet up against the trim and fit snug against the window frame. It was 8 feet to meet up against the trim and measured 27 inches across.

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We started putting the shelves together. Long boards for each side of the shelf. The cuts were simple to do. The pine boards were cut down to 8 feet for each side. Than we cut a board for the top part of the shelf. My husband cut a bunch of boards for the inside shelves. They were all 25 inches across. It was fun because you can create the shelves to look anyway you want. I did all 3 different to add character.

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  Almost done!

Getting close to being finished! My husband is working on putting the baseboards back.

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  After

This was the end result. I white washed it after we had put it together. If we ever do it again I would recommend painting the shelving units after they are put together, but before they are anchored to the wall. We have a lot more storage space now. My husband used 3'' screws to anchor the shelves to the wall. 4 on each side. This shelves are solid and strong! The middle one above the window was screwed into the the sides of both shelves. We did have to make a hole in each shelf so I could hang the curtain back up. And our baseboard split for the left side. So don't look we still need to fix that piece! Eventually, we want to build a bench for the bottom that goes across the window.

Materials used for this project:

• 1x12 Pine boards   (Menards)
• Miter Saw   (On hand)
• Drill   (On hand)
• Screws   (1"1/4 Menards)
• White Paint (or whatever you want)   (I had this on hand. You could also stain the boards which would look nice.)
• Screws (4 for each shelf)   (3'' We used these to anchor the sides of the shelf to the wall.)