DIY Open Shelves: A guide to make and decorate them

I’ll tell you right away that I absolutely love an open shelf. When used in the right place, they can be an easy way to showcase your favorite home décor, and provide some storage space. You can create gorgeous shelves on a budget with pine boards from the Home Depot, and some unique shelf brackets. I’ll share the DIY open shelves in our home, how I made them, mounted them, and why I placed them where I did. Although, you’ll soon learn that I’m a serious plant lady! 

The first step: Picking Metal Brackets

All of my shelf brackets are from amazon. I personally love the look of matte black shelf brackets, as you’ll see. But keep in mind the possibilities are truly endless! There are so many beautifully finished brackets out there. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing shelf brackets. 

Consider the different finishes

I decided to go with a matte black finish for the brackets, because we have mostly matte black hardware throughout our home (ie; light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, cabinet hardware, etc). You don’t have to match all the metal finishes in your home, but some consistency is a good idea.

How many brackets to purchase

This all depends on the shelf length. If you can, the best option would be to mount the brackets into a stud. This will give you the most stability. If that’s not an option I would attach at least one bracket into a stud, and then use drywall anchors to attach the rest. For solid wood shelves, I wouldn’t space the brackets more than 48” apart. Larger than that and your shelf may sag in the middle and become unstable. If your shelf overhangs the brackets – like my DIY open shelves – make sure the overhang is no larger than 12”. This way, if you put something heavier (like a potted plant) on the very end of your shelf there will be enough structure to support it. 

Shelf depth

Make sure your shelf bracket will accommodate the depth of shelf you want to install. Brackets can be made for shelves anywhere between 8” to 12” deep. 12” is the perfect depth for a book shelf, if that’s what you’re planning to use it for. Less than 12” is great as a display or light storage shelf.

My favorite shelf brackets for DIY open shelves

• Industrial Pipe Brackets 
• Farmhouse Floating Shelf Brackets

The second step: Choosing the type of wood for DIY open shelves

I used was pine because it was cost effective. The only thing with pine is that it has a lot of knots in it. This is a great thing if you want a rustic, industrial look to a wood shelf (which I do). Just know that you could see knots and imperfections along the front of the shelf, which is a perfect modern farmhouse look.

Oak and maple are also great choices, because they are harder woods, making them durable and last a long time. They come with a larger price tag, but are the most common lumber used for cabinetry. Both woods have less knots than pine which creates a cleaner looking floating shelf. Oak has a more pronounced wood grain which pops after a coat of stain. Maple has the opposite effect, the wood grain less noticeable. I think any choice of wood for floating shelves is beautiful. Just depends on your budget and what you’re looking for.

The third step: Finishing the shelves with wood stain

It’s a good idea to finish the shelves before you attach them. Lastly, here’s how I finished our shelves with wood stain in two easy steps:

1. Sand the wood.

The wood directly from the hardware store may look like it’s ready for stain, but it still has what’s called a mill glaze from the factory on it. Luckily, it’s easy peasy to sand off! I did this by hand with 120 grit sandpaper. Make sure to sand in the direction of the wood grain. This step did not take me a lot of time. 

2. Stain and protect in 1 coat.

This product is great and have used it many times for other projects. I used Saman One Step Wood Stain & Varnish in the color dark chestnut. I applied the stain with a foam brush (I find it works the best for this product) working quickly brushing in the direction of the wood grain. Then, I laid out the wood on a scrap piece of cardboard and stained the top of the shelves and edges of the shelves first. Once it was dry I flipped them over and stained the bottom side.

The best part: Decorating and styling DIY open shelves

Living room DIY open shelves 

Our living room fireplace doesn’t have a mantle so I decided to recreate the idea of a mantle with an open shelf above the T.V.. I redecorate these shelves each season and it makes the living room feel more finished and cozy. It’s a great place to keep some of my plants, and makes the T.V. Feel more built in. I like to play with varying heights of items on this shelf, it creates more interest. I like to use books stacked on their side to elevate certain items, creating those different heights. 

DIY open kitchen shelves

We’re saving up for a kitchen remodel, but for the time being this kitchen cart and open kitchen shelving gives us so much storage and functionality in a small space. Some practical items I like to display on this shelves are my cookbook collection, onions, garlic, and dog treats! Using pretty containers really helps in creating functional storage in the kitchen while also keeping it aesthetically pleasing. I added a large plant, cutting board and a mortise and pestle as a decorative touch. You could also add all white dishes to a kitchen shelf, I think that could be quite pretty. 

Open shelf above sofa

Sometimes a shelf can be a nice alternative to simply hanging artwork above a sofa. Also, I made sure it was a good height above the sofa, so no one could hit their head! It’s a nice spot in our basement to showcase seasonal décor. 

I hope this blog post inspired you to tackle this easy DIY project! 

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