Practical yet elegant: build minimalist wall-mounted shelves

Shelves made of black dowels and white glued wood boards hang from the wall in a dining room. They are decorated with plants, vases and dishware. — You only need three glued wood boards and six pine dowels to create storage space in your dining room.

Difficulty

easy
Cost

45 £
Duration

1-3 h

Introduction

Less is more! Building these wall-mounted shelves is a breeze and they don’t cost much at all. You can create storage space for plants, vases or dishes in next to no time. We’ll show you how to easily build the shelves yourself.

Have you heard about our 18-volt system yet? It offers a huge variety of devices for many different applications. The thing that makes the project below so special is that you can use the same rechargeable battery for every part of this project. Simply swap out the battery pack, insert it into a different device that is part of the 18-volt system, and continue to the next step.

It should go without saying that your safety is paramount at every stage of the project. Make sure you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself. You can find everything you need to know about the protective clothing you need for each type of tool in our guide.

You need

Tools

Utilities

paintbrush
safety glasses
protective gloves
g-clamps

Materials

Wood hanger screws, 8 x 80 mm
6 wall plugs, size 10
6 wood screws, 4 x 50 mm
Open-end wrench, size 6
Phillips head screwdriver
2 pine dowels, cylindrical, 90 cm long / 2.5 cm in diameter
3 glued wood board for shelves, spruce, solid wood, 80 cm x 20 cm x 1.8 cm (cut to size at your local DIY store)
Wood varnish 2-in-1 (varnish & primer), satin-finish

L: Length, W: Width, H: Height, D: Diameter

Step 1 7

Measuring the lengths of the wooden dowels

A Zamo measuring tape adapter is used to measure the length on a cylindrical wooden dowel.

You need: Laser measure, pencil, wooden dowel, cylindrical

Attach the Zamo to the end of the dowel and measure lengths of 19 cm each using the tape measure adapter. Mark each length using a pencil. You should have drawn a total of six lines now.

Step 2 7

Sawing the wooden dowel into sections

A cylindrical wooden dowel is cut into 19 cm long pieces using a Bosch jigsaw.

You need: Jigsaws, Sandpaper and sanding block, g-clamps, safety glasses, protective gloves, wooden dowel, cylindrical

After you have measured the lengths on the dowel, you’re ready to start sawing. Clamp it to your work surface using a G-clamp. It will help you saw more precisely. You can now begin: Saw the dowel into the lengths you marked in pencil. Carefully remove the rough parts of the wood. Bend the sandpaper and fold it up over the edges of the sanding block. Sand down the edges smoothly.

Step 3 7

Drilling holes to connect the wooden dowel and shelf board

A small recess is being drilled into a wooden dowel using a countersink cutter for wood.

You need: Cordless combi drill, Laser measure, Countersink cutter for wood, wood drill bit, g-clamps, safety glasses, pencil, wooden dowels from step 1

We will prepare the connections between the wooden dowel and the shelf board in this step. To get started, you need to first drill a hole in the wooden dowel. Attach the Zamo to the end of the dowel and measure a length of 6 cm each using the tape measure adapter. Mark the spot and drill a hole. Make sure that you drill the hole at a right angle.

Then drill a small recess in one side of your wooden dowel using the countersink cutter for wood.. It helps prevent the wood splitting when you screw the pieces together. Now repeat both steps with the other five pieces of wooden dowel.

Step 4 7

Preparing the wooden dowels

A 7 mm Brad point drill bit is being used to drill a hole lengthwise in the centre of a wooden dowel.

A wood hanger screw is being screwed into a hole in a wooden dowel using an open-end wrench.

You need: Cordless combi drill, Countersink cutter for wood, wood drill bit, paintbrush, 7 mm Brad point drill bit, open-end wrench, wood hanger screw

We will now make sure that the wooden dowel can be attached to the wall. Drill a hole lengthwise in the centre of the wooden dowel. Tip: Place the wooden dowel vertically on your work surface and hold it firmly at the lower end (image 1). It will help you drill more precisely. Make sure that you drill at least 35 mm deep into the wooden dowel. Do you want to be sure about the depth? Then attach a piece of paper around the drill bit using adhesive tape at the right spot.

Then use an open-end wrench to screw the wall hanger screw into the hole (image 2).

Now we can paint the wooden dowels. Choose a colour for the wood varnish and use a brush to paint the dowels. Then, let everything dry completely.

Step 5 7

Marking the drill holes on the wall

An Atino line level is attached to a white wall. The LED lights up green. A person pulls out the integrated tape measure of the Atino horizontally, measures distances and draws X’s on the wall.

An Atino line level is attached to a white wall. The LED lights up green. A person pulls out the integrated tape measure of the Atino horizontally and draws X’s on the wall.

You need: Bosch Atino, pencil

You can now start positioning the first of the shelf supports. Attach an Atino line level to your wall, align it until the LED lights up green and mark the first drill hole in the centre of the Atino. Then pull out the tape measure horizontally and after 50 cm, draw an X for the next drill hole on the wall (image 1). These are the markings for the two shelf supports of the upper shelf. In order to precisely align the lower shelves below this one, you need to position the Atino vertically downwards until the LED light turns green again. Pull out the tape measure again and mark X’s on the wall after 30 cm and 60 cm (image 2). Now remove the Atino from the wall and reattach it to the second X for the top shelf. The X must be in the middle of the Atino again. Position it vertically until the LED lights green and after 30 cm and 60 cm, mark the remaining drill holes for your new wall-mounted shelf.

Step 6 7

Screwing the painted wooden dowel onto the wood hanger screw

A black wooden dowel with a wood hanger screw is being screwed into a hole in the wall.

You need: Cordless combi drill, 6 wall plugs, size 10, 10 mm concrete drill bit, Wooden dowel with a wood hanger screw

Now drill six holes in the wall at the marked spots using a 10 mm concrete drill bit. Then sink a wall plug into each hole.

You can screw the wooden dowels into the holes in the wall once the paint has dried. Make sure that the countersunk holes point downward when the dowels are firmly screwed into the wall.

Step 7 7

Placing the boards on the supports and affixing them

Two black wooden dowels are attached to a white wall. A wooden board lies on them. A screw is being tightened into the wooden dowel from below using a Akku-Schlagbohrer .

You need: Cordless combi drill, Screws, 4 x 50 mm, shelf boards

Position the first board evenly on the dowels such that each end extends approximately 15 cm on either side of the wooden dowels. Now insert the screws through the wooden dowels into the board from below on each side using a Akku-Schlagbohrer . Always start with the top shelf. Then repeat the steps for the other two shelf boards, working from top to bottom.

Once you’ve inserted the sixth screw, your new wall-mounted shelves are finished. Now you can decorate them however you like: with plants, vases or dishes!