Practical and organised: the DIY wooden shelving unit for your child’s bedroom

A boltless shelving unit with boxes. There are figures, soft toys and a basketball on the shelves. A tepee is located to the left of the shelf, a marble run and soft toys to the right — Neatness meets niceness – with the DIY wooden shelving unit for your child’s bedroom

Difficulty

medium
Cost

58-117 €
Duration

1-3 h

Is your child’s bedroom a sea of chaos? If you have children then you’ll definitely be familiar with the sight of soft toys, games pieces and books covering every square inch of the floor. However, creating a tidy room couldn’t be easier! We’ll show you how to build a wooden shelving unit for your child’s bedroom complete with practical boxes so even the little things can be securely stowed away.

You need

Tools

Utilities

work gloves
triangle
ear protectors
safety glasses
ruler
g-clamps
pencil
drilling adapter for the cordless screwdriver

Materials

Seven boards (e.g., bamboo boards): 122.5 x 40 x 2 cm (2x), 140 x 40 x 2 cm (2x) and 145 x 40 x 2 cm (3x).
Three to five chipboard panels: 38 x 28 x 0.5 cm
21–35 screws: 3.5 x 25 mm

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

Step 1 5

Mark out the cross lap joints on

A pencil, a pocket rule and an angle measurer can be seen lying on a wooden board. Two cutting edges have been marked on the wooden board in pencil. — Mark out the cross lap joints on your wooden boards using an angle measurer

You need: pencil, triangle, ruler

Pick up boards that have been cut to the right length from a timber yard. Alternatively, you can also cut them to size yourself. To build your wooden shelving unit, you’ll need seven wooden boards with the following dimensions: 122.5 x 40 x 2 cm (2x), 140 x 40 x 2 cm (2x) and 145 x 40 x 2 cm (3x). Mark out the cross laps on your boards. You can use the diagram above as a template. A cross lap joint is a traditional craftsman’s technique of joining pieces of wood together without the need for additional materials such as nails, screws or dowels. The cross lap joints used here join two pieces of wood together at a right angle so that half of each board sticks out.

Step 2 5

Saw the joints for the cross laps

Close-up of a gloved hand cutting out the U-shaped joints for the cross laps — Use a jigsaw to cut out the U-shaped joints for the cross laps

You need: Jigsaws, safety glasses, work gloves

Put on protective goggles, ear protection and suitable gloves before you start sawing. Now, use a jigsaw to cut out the U-shaped joints for the cross laps. Start by sawing vertically along the long lines. For the final, small piece, position the saw close enough so that you have room to saw horizontally.

Step 3 5

Sand the edges

Close-up of a gloved hand sanding the edges of a wooden board with sandpaper. — Sand the edges with sandpaper

Take a piece of sandpaper and sand all the edges off a bit. This will not only help you later to join the wood panels, but also to improve a cut

Step 4 5

Join the boards together

A man is joining the shelving boards together. One board is lying on the floor and is serving as a base to stabilise the boards for the shelves.

Now it’s time to put your wooden shelving unit together. To do so, join the horizontal boards that will serve as the shelves to the vertical boards

Tip: Make sure the boards are facing the right way as taking the boards apart later could prove difficult once they are firmly connected. Start with the bottom board. Use one of the boards that have been cut to length as a base to hold everything together (see the board on the floor on the left in the picture).

Step 5 5

Attach back panels

Close-up of a hand using a cordless screwdriver to drill screws into a chipboard — You can attach back panels to your DIY wooden shelving unit to give it added stability

You need: drilling adapter for the cordless screwdriver, three to five chipboards: 38 x 28 x 0.5 cm, 21–35 screws: 3.5 x 25 mm

Attach the back panels to secure and stabilise your shelving unit. It’s up to you how many you install. We recommend three to five back panels. You will need chipboard panels that are 38 x 28 x 0.5 cm in dimension. Attach the panels to the back side of your wooden shelving unit using a cordless screwdriver with a drilling adapter and a sufficient number of screws (3.5 x 25 mm) to keep them in place. Tip: If you install the panels diagonally next to each another, you will have to remove a corner. That’s why we recommend that you always leave a panel free. Your DIY wooden shelving unit for your kid’s bedroom is now ready! Tidying up is now child’s play with the right storage boxes.