DIY bookshelf on the wall. How to make wall shelves with your own hands: original solutions

A place for books, souvenirs, and trinkets dear to the heart - this is the main purpose of shelves on the wall. Some have a collection of candles on them, some have volumes of their favorite poet, and some keep photo albums on the shelves. The important thing is that the shelves themselves should be no less aesthetically pleasing than the objects stored on them.

Making a shelf out of wood is the first thing that comes to mind when making shelves yourself. Indeed, this option is the most common.

Wooden shelves are good because of the availability and cheapness of the material, ease of processing, and the ability to experiment with design. And you can start learning how to make such creative designs with a simple and universal shelf, which will not be superfluous in the kitchen, in the living room or in the nursery, and other options for its placement can be considered.

Shelf materials:

  • Wooden scraps of different lengths;
  • Rope cut;
  • 5 furniture panels;
  • Wall fasteners;
  • 2 rope rings;
  • Jigsaw;
  • Drill;
  • Roulette;
  • Pencil.

You need to make holes on the shelves (boards). They should be drilled at a distance of 6 cm from the edge, and 12 cm between each other.

Wooden scraps need to be sawn, their length can be different, but the height needs to be the same. Inside the sawn scraps, you need to drill holes for the ropes (through holes).

The lower knots of the ropes are tied first. The bottom shield (bottom shelf) is strung on them; between the shields along the edges there will be stacks of scraps as a gap between the shelves. It is better to divide all the scraps into parts, and lay out the same number of equal sections between each floor of the shelf.

The procedure is repeated, above the highest shelf on the wall the ropes are tied in knots. This must be done firmly so that the wall structure cannot be deformed either with your own hands or by any other force.

You will get a nice shelf on ropes inside stacks of scraps; you can place it in any room.

DIY wooden shelf, the simplest way (video)

Chipboard shelves on the wall

Chipboard is a particle board, a truly universal material for construction work. The dimensions of the slab and its flat surface make it possible to make various designs with your own hands, including wall shelves.

Perhaps only cutting chipboard causes difficulties, since the material is impregnated with resins. Most suitable tool for working with chipboard – an electric jigsaw.

The following tips for working with this material will not be superfluous::

  • For wall shelves, laminated chipboards are often purchased;
  • Often, self-made shelves are covered with laminated film or paper, imitating various patterns (including natural ones);
  • To easily tighten screws and self-tapping screws in a chipboard structure, you need to acquire an electric drill;
  • In the kitchen, shelves from this material are often made, as they are convenient for storing containers with spices, cereals and pasta, jars with herbs collected with your own hands;
  • In the hallway, such shelves serve as a place to store important household items;
  • Such a shelf on the wall in the nursery may serve the purpose of book storage.

In small closets, which are included in the layout of many apartments, you can make original shelves for household needs - with your own hands, quickly and inexpensively.

Round shelves on the wall

Round cardboard shelves for the kitchen or bathroom are the rage in interior fashion. They are usually made from cardboard and plastic pipes, which are cut into circles 10-15 cm wide with a saw. The edges of the circles are sanded sandpaper, and then future shelves are painted over in several layers.

The results are quite original round shelves, a very interesting design option for the kitchen. You can store in them:

  • Kitchen towels;
  • Various brushes and sponges;
  • Decorative trinkets;
  • Herbal bags for making your own tea;
  • Other beautiful kitchen gadgets.

In the bathroom, round, unusual and very convenient shelves on the wall will also be appropriate: jars of cosmetics, towels, washcloths can also be stored in these cute shelves.

How to make a round shelf (video)

Square shelves on the wall

Wall compositions made from square shelves on the wall in the living room look great. Shelves of different sizes are painted in the same color, or perhaps in contrasting ones, and are combined into one wall pattern - small ones with large ones in one line, vertically or horizontally, diagonally.

Square shelves are usually small and difficult to accommodate many items. Most often these are various souvenirs, miniature vases, books.

Often these shelves are decorated with antiques and vintage items.

And to make such an interior decoration with your own hands, you can use standard materials. In most cases, wood is painted with matte bright paint and varnished. Or a self-adhesive film decorates the surface of such shelves.

Small shelves on the wall

The kitchen wall often requires small shelves. They do not take up space, do not burden the interior, but emphasize the overall mood of the kitchen. A wall shelf can be used to decorate a room.

If the shelf is made for the kitchen, you can place on it:

  • Bright spice jars;
  • Cookbooks and notebooks;
  • Canvas bags with spices;
  • Beautiful dishes.

You can make such shelves from wood, plastic, glass, and even a stack of painted and glued books.

Designer shelves on the wall

Such designs are rarely used in the kitchen, yet these exquisite things often decorate the living room, office, and nursery.

Nowadays, wall shelves in the form of:

  • Labyrinth;
  • Asymmetries;
  • Upside-down book shelves;
  • Modules;
  • Forged structures in Provencal style.

Some shelves seem to continue the furniture, some are like protrusions on wallpaper, so they are disguised as a wall. There are fancy shelves that are made to order; they often echo the pattern of curtains or the pattern of parquet.

DIY bookshelf (video)

Conclusion

Shelves for the kitchen, living room, or nursery - you can make all of them yourself, armed with ideas from the Internet and your own imagination. Of course, such designs will outperform their store-bought counterparts due to their hand-made origin. And in monetary terms they can be cheaper.

Examples of shelves for the home with your own hands (photo)



An excellent decoration for any interior will be light, neat, interesting wall shelves, which are an excellent alternative bulky cabinet furniture. Assembled from specially purchased ready-made blocks, or made from scrap materials available in every home, these products will bring comfort and originality to any room.

Beautiful shelves will find their application in any room of the apartment, be it the kitchen, living room, bedroom, hallway or bathroom. With their help, the room will look more lived-in, interesting, and extra bed for storing any useful items.

First, decide for what purpose it will be used. wall structure, this will help you not to make a mistake with the required dimensions and strength of the device.

A shelf for heavy objects, for example, books, an aquarium, collectible dishes, potted plants, should be as reliable as possible, made of solid materials.

You can find a large assortment of wall shelves at attractive prices in the First Furniture store.


Shelf in the bathroom for storing various cosmetics and bath accessories may not be so strong, but be sure to keep in mind that the materials for its manufacture must be moisture resistant.

If the wall shelf will be used only as an original art object for interior decoration, to perform the function of decorating a room, and objects and things are not expected to be displayed on it, then for its construction it is permissible to use any, even the most fragile, materials.

Therefore, before starting the process of designing a shelf, be sure to consider the following details:

  • full load on the structure;
  • fastening method;
  • compliance of the materials used with the purpose of the room in which installation is planned;
  • product style and design;
  • functional.

Types of shelves

When wondering how to make a wall shelf with your own hands, first decide which type of future design will be more suitable for the chosen room and will fully correspond to the assigned functions and your preferences.

Based design features, shelves are:

  • closing and fully open;
  • linear and L-shaped;
  • with or without side fencing elements;
  • through, or with a rear limiter;
  • single-tier or having several levels;
  • round and rectangular;
  • unusual shape, steeply inclined, diamond-shaped;
  • limited on all sides or consisting of one base, etc.


If you pay attention to the materials used for manufacturing, then wall shelves can be:

  • glass;
  • with mirror surface elements;
  • wooden;
  • made of MDF, chipboard, plywood;
  • polymer and plastic;
  • combined - using several types of raw materials.

Think about which materials will be most preferable for constructing a shelf yourself, more wear-resistant and reliable, and choose an option that suits you with all its characteristics.

After studying numerous photos of shelves made by yourself, you can choose the option that best suits your taste and take it as a sample, try to make the most similar design, adapted specifically to your apartment.

Let's start designing

After you have decided on the model of the wall shelf, found and prepared all the necessary materials, it’s time to move on to the creative process, that is, creating the product.

It is best to adhere to the following algorithm of actions:

Draw a rough sketch on paper, indicating the planned dimensions of the shelf, or even better, a full-fledged sketch of how the future shelf will look on the wall, indicating its dimensions.

Decide on the type of fastening, whether it will be construction dowels, anchors, brackets that can withstand heavy loads, or whether the shelf will be attached to a flexible base, for example, flagella, braided ropes, belts - these fasteners are only suitable for lightweight ones used primarily as a decorative element , shelves

Carry out cutting of materials according to the right sizes, or, in the case of using store-bought blanks, prepare them for assembly. Proceed with the immediate assembly of all parts and components, attach brackets, hinges or other prepared fasteners to the shelf.

After completely assembling the structure, if necessary, begin decorating it using various elements: appliqués, buttons, beads, paints and varnishes, etc.

Make horizontal markings on the wall surface to ensure even mounting to the wall. Attach the finished structure to the place allocated to it, check the strength of the structure.

The process of making a shelf with your own hands has come to an end, now all you have to do is display your favorite collection on it, lay out a set of books or any other items for which the shelf was intended.

I would like to highlight several unusual, original and uncomplicated ideas for wall and floor shelves. It's not necessary to do it at all standard design, you can decorate the interior of the room:

Shelf with straps - to assemble it you will need two flat boards and two strong leather straps.

An invisible bookshelf - you will need several steel brackets on which the books are placed. Looking at this design, it seems that the books are simply floating in the air.

A shelf made of branches and curved driftwood - wooden parts are assembled into a multi-tiered structure, and the immediate base for arranging objects is made of glass or plastic.

A wall shelf made of water pipes will be an excellent decoration for interiors of special styles.

Floor shelf made using glass bottles and base boards.

There are a huge number of variations in the design of wall shelves, because such a piece of furniture can be made from almost any material at hand. Turn on your imagination and begin the creative process of creating an unusual, aesthetic and functional piece of furniture.

DIY photo of shelves

What could be more banal than usual? wall shelf on the wall? But good imagination and skillful hands are able to work wonders with such a simple object, turning it into a beautiful element of the interior design of your home.

One of the techniques for decorating a room is the use of shelves.

All materials have their advantages and disadvantages. The following are suitable for wall shelves.

  • Wood lumber is the most common and cheapest - it is easy to saw into blanks, processed and painted.
  • Metal is not always suitable, it is more difficult to process at home, shelves made of it do not fit well into home interior, are subject to corrosion.
  • Glass looks great in the interior of any room, makes shelves visually lighter and airier, but due to its fragility, it requires special tools and equipment for cutting complex holes and grinding.
  • Plastic is the most lightweight material, which can replace all previous ones.

Shelves are hung on the wall, placed on the floor, some are hung from the ceiling or beams.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION! A person’s imagination in choosing material for shelves on the wall is inexhaustible - old suitcases, TV cases, water pipes and corners. Even... trouser belts can be used as fasteners.

Much more often they are functional.

Buy or make a shelf on the wall with your own hands

What is the advantage of homemade wall shelves over purchased ones? Furniture stores offer options for all occasions - bookshelves, for dishes, for phones, for flowers. But in defense of homemade products, the following arguments can be given:

  • The purchased shelf does not always correspond to your ideas of beauty - either the color is inappropriate, or the shape is awkward;
  • the dimensions of the purchased product do not fit into the dimensions of your room;
  • the height or width of the shelves does not correspond to the size of the things you want to place on them;
  • after the repair there were pieces left good stuff and fasteners - it’s a pity to throw them away, but there’s no desire or space to store them.

But best of all, they are easy to make yourself, with your own hands.

ON A NOTE! Making shelves on the wall with your own hands is often cheaper than purchasing them from a well-known furniture company.

They are made from wood, plywood, laminated chipboards, fiberboard, there are glass shelves.

The shelves are different

Before assembling the shelf, determine what type it will be. Furniture craftsmen have become adept at making wall shelves for all occasions:

  • open – without side walls, front doors and back wall;
  • closed - in essence, such shelves are hanging cabinets in miniature, differing from them in smaller mass, depth and height;
  • corner – located at the junction of two walls, can be for both the internal and external corners;
  • asymmetrical - the layout of the shelves is devoid of an axis of symmetry, provided that functionality is maintained;
  • suspended - harnesses, cables, dense fabric materials, belts are used as hangers for shelves, and the ceiling is used as a support;
  • decorative - designed to beautifully arrange interesting things.

The same materials are used as stands, but they are also made from metal, plastic and other absolutely incredible things - for example, pipes or bottles.

Module – universal solution

The easiest way to assemble wall shelves consists of side, top and bottom walls, fastened together with screws or furniture fittings. Make the required number of such “modules” of different lengths and heights and fix them on the wall in the desired order. This option is well suited for making bookshelves.

In living rooms, it is not so important what material the shelf is made of. It is important that its design is in the same style as the interior.

You will need following materials and tools:

  • board 16-20 mm thick and 150-180 mm wide - it can be pine, MDF, plywood or chipboard.
  • self-tapping screws;
  • screwdriver;
  • building level;
  • furniture hacksaw for wood.

Even functionality is not always important: some play exclusively decorative role. If they have anything on them, it’s only one or two items.

Marking and sawing

The height and width of the shelf are selected arbitrarily. If the ends of the upper and lower walls rest against the edges of the side walls, then, when determining their height, it is necessary to make an allowance for the double thickness of the board.

Their role is to give the interior of the home a special style and flavor.

ATTENTION! To cut the board, use a hand saw circular saw or jigsaw. Their use allows you to make the cut surface smooth.

If we talk about shelves in technical rooms - the kitchen and bathroom, in particular, then in addition to aesthetic considerations, practicality requirements are almost universally added.

When marking parts for corner wall shelves, the upper and lower walls are made of two boards with oblique ends. Their connection must fit exactly into the angle for which they are intended. The surface of the ends is lubricated with wood glue, the boards are connected and tightened with clamps until completely dry. Additionally, you can fasten the corners with self-tapping screws.

Workpiece processing

Before installation, the wooden parts of the shelves must be sanded and applied. protective covering. You can treat the wood with stain and varnish. However, such a shelf does not always fit into the general color scheme interior Then it is better to apply a primer and paint it in the desired color.

To secure the place where the self-tapping screw is screwed into the lower part of the sidewall, you need to pre-drill holes with a thin drill.

Assembling the shelf

To fasten the walls with self-tapping screws, you need to mark the holes. From the end edge of the bottom wall, measure a distance equal to half the thickness of the side wall and draw a line parallel to the cut. Marks are made on it for the drill, stepping back five centimeters to the left and right. The opposite end is also marked. They make holes. Secure the side walls of the shelf with self-tapping screws. Mark and fasten the upper wall of the shelf in the same way.

So that the shelf is level, and subsequently it is not skewed, in the lower part, with reverse side, you can fix the location of the parts with flat window corners.

ON A NOTE! Other methods can be used to fasten the walls of the shelf - wooden dowels with wood glue, special fastening fittings - tie corners, eccentric tie.

Despite the fact that electronic devices are replacing printed publications from a person’s life, many people still carefully store books and magazines dear to their hearts, the storage location of which often leaves much to be desired.

Installing a shelf on the wall

It would seem that nothing is simpler. In fact, this is a crucial stage. You don’t want all your efforts to improve your home to collapse in one moment?

The easiest way is to use a hanging corner for shelves. The upper eye is attached to the wall using a dowel, the lower one is attached to the shelf with a self-tapping screw or bolt with a nut and washer.

IMPORTANT! When the load on the shelf is from 20 to 50 kg, use brackets. Mark the holes on the wall using a building level.

Hands must be clean, because untreated wood is very easily soiled.

The dimensions of the shelf will depend on the size of the books that will be stored on it.

Manufacturing of honeycomb shelves

A shelf of an original shape requires some imagination and a little more hard work, but your efforts will more than pay off - the original product will enliven the interior appearance of the room.

  1. We saw the board into 15 sections 300 mm long with a cutting angle of 30°.
  2. We make the first “honeycomb”. To do this, we glue the hexagonal section and strengthen its corners with self-tapping screws.
  3. We make all other “honeycomb” shelves without one wall.
  4. We stack them on the floor in such a way that the missing edge is replaced by the wall of the adjacent section. We fasten them together with glue and self-tapping screws.
  5. If there are segments of sufficient length left, then you can make shelves inside the “honeycomb” itself.

Each part needs to be processed with a grinder, only then can it be fastened with other parts into a single structure.

IMPORTANT! To avoid the appearance of cracks and distortions when tightening screws, pre-drill holes with a diameter of 1.2 mm.

Of course, you can’t do without a tool. The minimum is a wood saw and a Phillips screwdriver.

There are strength requirements for bookshelves: they can hold significant weight.

Bookshelf with hidden fasteners

If your taste is offended by the type of fastening hardware, then you can make a small open shelf with hidden fasteners.

The first thing you need to think about is the size of the shelf being made and decide on the place where it will be located, only then purchase boards.

It is often seen when people decorate their homes with artificial flowers, but still nothing can replace the freshness of a natural beautiful plant.

For this you need:

  • wooden beam with a thickness of 25-30 mm with a well-polished surface;
  • a board of the same thickness, made of the same material;
  • dowels – cylindrical pins made of wood;
  • wood glue;
  • dowels and screws.

Thanks to modern universal tool a home craftsman can make almost any shelf, even in an apartment, not to mention working in his workshop.

Assembling such a shelf consists of the following steps.

  1. The timber and board are sawn into pieces of equal length.
  2. Using a template, matching holes are made in the side of the block and the future shelf, the diameter and total depth of which must match the length of the dowels.
  3. The beam is attached to the wall using dowels and self-tapping screws.
  4. Dowels lubricated with glue are carefully hammered into the holes of the timber.
  5. The surfaces of the beams and the shelves that will be connected with their help are also lubricated with glue.
  6. The shelf is “slipped” onto the dowels and pressed tightly. To be sure, you can gently tap along the entire length of the side of the shelf with a rubber mallet.

Of course, you immediately want to make something voluminous and beautiful, which is quite natural, but first you can try your hand at making a simple but neat shelf.

This shelf will look like a natural extension of the wall of your room. Just don't load it with too many items.

Moreover, these products may be the first self-made things. It's really simple.

Decor is everything

You have assembled and hung the shelves on the wall. But they look unpresentable - too empty or, on the contrary, littered with books and other small items. To make wall shelves in the interior of your room look aesthetically pleasing and eye-catching, follow these simple rules.

  • The law of three colors - one dominant color for the shelf and two additional ones for the items on it. It is advisable that the color of the shelf contrasts with the objects standing on it - this way they will look more expressive.
  • Control chaos with triads. Arrange items with similar colors on different shelves so that they are on the tops of imaginary triangles.
  • Give more air - some things, especially large ones, require more free space on the shelf.
  • Small things need a favorable background. For example, a figurine standing on a shelf next to a luxurious vase must be moved away from its spectacular neighbor and placed against the background of a small watercolor painting.
  • Try to place objects that are similar in size and color relative to the imaginary vertical or horizontal axes symmetry.
  • The higher the shelf, the lighter the items should be. It is advisable to place all massive objects on the lower shelves, and light ones on the upper shelves.
  • Don't forget about functionality - on a shelf located at your eye level, place the things you use most often.

A simple design is good: you can make any shelves with your own hands.

Don't be afraid to experiment. A wall shelf can be made from any material, but lumber works best. For installation, use hanging corners or brackets. And don’t be lazy to beautifully arrange books and vases on them.

Structurally, most shelves consist of the actual shelves and lintels.

VIDEO: DIY shelf (how to make a shelf out of wood)

Making shelves with your own hands is probably the most favorite hobby home craftsmen. Beginners - because it’s simple and useful on the farm; venerable - because you can, almost without taking away the useful volume of the room, be creative and give your home an individual look. And in our time, both – because the prices for finished products clearly do not correspond to their cost, although in general the budget is not gnawing to death. But why not save a significant amount by spending a day off?

In this article we will look at options for making shelves that are quite functional, but, so to speak, of average complexity and creativity. On the one hand, let's pass the side of a product like the one on the left in Fig. If you keep books like this, then it’s better to forget about reading and writing. True, then there are problems with the bank: they won’t give you money, you need to sign there, read and enter pin codes. On the other hand, let’s not touch shelves like the one in the center: they look simple and elegant, but require high skill and the finest sense of material. And it’s a lot and a long time to describe. However, based on what follows, you should be able to build something like the one on the right. It’s also not bad, and can cost nothing at all. And a ready-made one starts from $300, of which obviously at least 90% is for design and invention.

Tool and technology

Making a shelf is a simple matter; We must assume that you already have basic information about furniture production technology. As for the shelves, we can only give some nuances. Firstly, it is not advisable to use dowel connections: the material is too thin. If it is necessary that the fastenings are not visible at all, then for the dowel connections you need to take blanks made of dense hardwood: oak, beech, birch, maple, elm, walnut.

It is best to connect parts of shelves made of chipboard and ordinary commercial wood with modern furniture self-tapping screws - confirmats, see fig. For the specified dimensions, the material does not crack with a thickness of 12 mm or more. If the thickness of the plate into which the confirmat is screwed is more than 20 mm, then it is better to take larger bolts, with D3 6-7 mm and the other dimensions increased accordingly.

Confirmats are produced for furniture, wood, and plastic, for plumbing. They are not interchangeable: furniture assembled using plumbers begins to disintegrate quite quickly, but furniture assembled from “original” ones lasts for years, and the bolt itself is gradually tightened as the wood dries out, unless, of course, it was not damp to begin with. In appearance, the confirmations are immediately different: in the head of the furniture there is a socket for a hexagon, and they are offered, complete and optional, with plugs inserted into it to match the wood. Plumbing confirmations are produced with a cross slot.

Parts made from ordinary construction plywood often delaminate when joined with confirmats: a furniture bolt is designed for a homogeneous material. Therefore, it is preferable to assemble plywood shelves by inserting horizontal parts into the grooves selected in the sidewalls, for which you will need special tool, see below. Assembly is carried out using glue (carpentry or PVA), and the sides are tightened either with simple wood screws with a diameter, with a thread, no more than 1/4 of the thickness of the end, or with pins/splinters on glue, see below, in the section on cardboard shelves. If self-tapping screws are used, they are wrapped until the head is recessed and the hole is covered with sawdust mixed with liquid nails.

Suddenly the details intersect somewhere, i.e. the end meets the end, all the methods described above are unsuitable. Therefore, when designing a shelf, you need to ensure that the face above the end is free. This rule is not burdensome: a little attention, and you can create a very complex container, like the one on the left in Fig. What if you want to make shelves on the wall like the ones in the center? Then the only aesthetically acceptable solution is a cut-in and glue, as you can clearly see there on the right.

Heavily loaded shelves, e.g. to a workshop, garage or storage room, they need reinforcement with spacers and/or struts, pos. 1 and 2 on the next. rice. The same ones are suitable for living room, if you do them carefully, pos. 3. For novice craftsmen, hanging shelves, position 4, are more suitable: they hold a large load, little labor and skill are required, and it is very possible to express yourself in the product of your own hands.

Note: It is not necessary to buy or sharpen spacers. Will go under the tension rod metal pipe or a rod from 8 mm, and under the spacers themselves - a plastic pipe larger diameter. For example, below in Fig. a large one for the garage, assembled using water and propylene pipes.


Glass shelves are hygienic and therefore widely used in everyday life; primarily in public areas. However, they can be assembled in residential premises as temporary glass display cases, due to the risk of injury, only in certain cases, see below, and only if the glass is acrylic. Homemade glass shelves glued with silicone glue, but not construction glue, but aquarium glue; it holds truly monstrous loads. Aquarium silicone is expensive, but its consumption is negligible: a 4 ml tube is enough for the shelves of a small bathroom, and there will be some left over.

Aquarium silicone can be used to glue metal to glass, for example. loops for suspension, subject to thorough preliminary degreasing of both parts. You can glue the shelf to the tile lining: dried colorless silicone is completely transparent. But aquarium silicone is soluble in vinegar and other organic acids, so for cleaning/washing you need to use detergents with a neutral or alkaline reaction.

Note: dried silicone glue softens at a temperature of 105-140 degrees, so in order to separate the connection, it needs to be heated with a household hairdryer “at full blast.” The remaining glue is cut off with a safety razor blade; the silicone does not eat into glass and metal.

Hanging or hanging?

Hanging wall shelves in clips made of ribbons or in the simplest way on ropes (see below) does not always suit the design. However, it is also wrong to install hinges for fasteners in the wall at the ends of horizontal layers, especially if they are made of layered materials: plywood, chipboard. The longer you take the screws securing the loop, the sooner the layer will delaminate. And in any case, deflection of the leading edge of the shelf is inevitable.

Wall shelves should be designed in such a way that the hanging loops are located at the top edges of the vertical ties holding up everything horizontal underneath them. An example of correct execution is shown in Fig. Professional furniture makers, when creating complex openwork shelves in which there are no end-to-end horizontal connections, often deviate from this rule, but then a full calculation of strength is necessary; preferably with computer modeling.

About gypsum plasterboard shelves

More like a tribute to some kind of fashion. A plasterboard sheet (gypsum plasterboard) in a horizontal position does not support the load at all; it bends under its own weight. Therefore, under plasterboard shelves, firstly, you will need a rather complex and expensive frame made of special metal profiles, on the left in Fig.

Secondly, it requires a lot of time, labor and money final finishing. As a result, the capacity of the finished product turns out to be disproportionately small relative to the volume it occupies, and appearance most often - not so hot. If something like the one on the right in the figure is acceptable to you in your apartment, then the technology for manufacturing plasterboard shelves is, in principle, no different from that for a false ceiling, see at least:

Video: making plasterboard shelves with your own hands

Corner shelves

It happens that the place for a wooden shelf is at a corner. If it is external, there is nothing complicated: the faces at the angle are made triangular. In the inner corner, problems arise, firstly, of accessibility, and secondly, of strength, i.e. uniform distribution of loads. This does not apply to glass and metal: they are strong and homogeneous enough to “disperse” the loads within themselves.

  • The outer edges of the layers cut into the sidewalls into a tenon at the corners.
  • The internal ones are reinforced both from the bottom and from above with corners or wooden overlays.
  • The edges at the corner are attached to the sidewalls in the same way, and their free access edge is made convex outward.

An example of the correct implementation of a corner shelf made of wood materials is shown in Fig. on right. Of course, all the details do not have to be carved; this is a matter of taste and skill.

About trimming

The ends of the shelves, at least the outer ones, almost always need to be covered with something. Most often they are trimmed - covered with a T-shaped flexible PVC profile, inserting its “stick” into a groove cut along the end. End profiles different colors They are sold in construction and furniture stores, but to select a groove exactly, you will need a special tool, see below.

About the tool

Manufacturing of shelves with decorative qualities, in addition to the simplest of available materials, as already mentioned, will require some special tools. It is better to rent it; except, perhaps, for a jigsaw, it is not that expensive, and it will come in handy in many other cases on the farm.

And so, firstly, a jigsaw. Choose a model with a side-swivelling support shoe; this will allow you to cut the ends at any desired angle. Secondly, a hand-held circular saw, small, like a hair clipper. It must be taken with an adjustable side support. Then choosing a groove for the end profile will not be difficult for the last incompetent: set the stop to half the thickness of the face minus half the thickness of the saw blade, whack! - and it’s done. And finally, if the shelves will be inserted into the grooves of the sidewalls, it is necessary hand cutter for wood with a set of cutting tools different widths. It can also be used to select grooves for insertion, but with some skill it’s easy to get by with a jigsaw.

Let's go shelves!

Shoe

Perhaps the most popular of the homemade ones is a shoe rack, and no wonder: sellers of ready-made ones “cheat up” without hesitation for durability and environmental friendliness. The classic design of a plywood shoe rack is shown in Fig. It was developed a long time ago, so the connections in the sidewalls are dowel; Now it’s better to replace the dowels with wood-tapping screws (not confirmations, plywood!) As you can see, to make it you will have to use all the tools and technological techniques described above.

From more modern materials, for example. laminate, using the same method you can assemble a good-looking hanging shelf-cabinet, on the left to the next. rice. Laminate is available in thicknesses from 3 to 50 mm and practically does not sag under load, like plywood. For a country house or dacha, where shoes get very wet and a lot of dirt sticks to them, more wooden will do lattice shelf, in the center. The advantage of both over the “classics” is that the dirt underneath is immediately visible and is easy to remove.

On the right in Fig. – stackable shoe rack for a family in small apartment. You can make something similar yourself from pieces of sheet plastic or acrylic glass and plastic connectors for temporary display cases. And finally, enough original version– a shoe rack made from a piece of plastic pipe (see video below). In general, shoe racks are still being invented to this day; The stumbling block is how to avoid the accumulation of dirt in the niches for couples.

Video: a simple shoe rack made of pipe

Book

The second most popular item is a bookshelf. At least 3 varieties can be distinguished here:

  1. Small common use.
  2. Universal (combined).
  3. Large, for a collection of books.

The first ones are most often hung in living rooms and kitchens. Then they put on them, in the first case, magazines and entertaining reading; in the second - cookbooks, home canning manuals, etc. The second place is in the bedroom, school-age children's room, and workshop. Load – reading for bedtime, textbooks, notebooks, reference books, technical publications. In addition, the shelf must accommodate and support, respectively, trinkets/souvenirs, toys with writing instruments, flower pots, small tools and favorite trash. For both, except for the shelf in the workshop, there is an additional requirement - the appearance must match the design of the room.

Drawings of the first 2 are shown in Fig. On the left – general; on the right is universal. The first one is wooden. Its peculiarity is the beveled front ends, which, with appropriate painting, allows it to fit into almost any interior. Board thickness – from 30 mm; hidden loops for suspension are located at all corners and ends of the faces, i.e. in total you will need 8 pieces.

Universal shelf - of regular design. Made from 16-24 mm laminate, designed for connection with confirmata. The ends are edged. There are 3 suspension points, in the upper outer corners.

A shelf for large-capacity books for a private library is a special matter. Firstly, weight. The collection of 2000 volumes in hardcovers (and this is not a lot) weighs under a ton. Then, size. It is impossible to predict in advance how much in folio, in quarto, in duodecimo, etc. will accumulate over the years. Making all the shelves for the largest volume will waste a lot of extra space, but shoving rare publications at random is no good at all. Finally, order: books should be arranged by subject, author, and the spines should be visible.

Based on this, it makes complete sense to move away from the strict conservatism inherent in bibliophiles, and make a large bookshelf with diagonally located cells, see fig. on right. Durability - it can withstand an elephant, material consumption, space occupied and labor intensity are minimal, and 3-5 thousand volumes are all in plain sight without cataloging or filing cabinets. Which, however, are still needed.

For flowers

No. 3 on the list of necessity and usefulness is flower shelves. Russia is gradually regaining its reputation as the most reading country in the world, but did you know that Russians have always been and are one of the most active indoor plant growers? Even ahead of the Dutch. There, at least, you won’t see such a window with flowers in an ordinary city apartment, as in the picture.

Indoor lemons (Pavlovsk), cucumbers (Rytov), ​​winter indoor grapes- this is not all that our amateurs brought out from the outback. And, of course, there’s no way without shelves here: there’s not enough window sill, and there’s not enough light in the back of the room.

However, begonias and other natives of dark tropical forests do not require much light, and they decorate the room well. Such plants have a common property: a spreading rosette of leaves, so they are placed in layers so that they occupy smaller area. Shelves for specimens are attached to a fairly strong and stable “trunk” and set slightly apart so that the plants do not hang over one another and it is more convenient to care for. How a floor shelf of this type is arranged is shown in Fig. on right.

Note: begonias, tillandsias, etc. They grow better on such shelves than anywhere else. Nothing mysterious - most of them are epiphytes, i.e. settle on the branches and trunks of large trees without harming the latter. And here is something similar to the usual biotopes.

You can’t place many pots on a vertical flower shelf, on one side. On the other hand, most indoor plants need more light. If you cover the entire window with horizontal shelves, then little light will enter the room. Flower growers have known the solution for a long time - window inclined shelves, see fig. left. In addition to wood, they are also made on a frame made of rigid stainless steel wire - “serebryanka” or aluminum corner. Nowadays, shelves can be made of glass and glued to the frame with silicone. Then the shelves themselves will hardly shade the room.

What if there are a lot of flowers? And is there a room that is bright and warm enough, but not spacious enough? For example, part of an insulated balcony converted into a mini-greenhouse? Here you can’t cover the window with flowers because the plants can catch a cold. Taking up a permanent wall is also not an option; orchids, for example, do not tolerate hanging over each other. Well, in this case, you should build a more impressive “tree” bookcase, see next. Fig. right. It has a twist: by placing a low-power heater inside (incandescent or infrared lamp 25-75 W), we ensure heating of the roots and, therefore, the health of the plants. They will develop and bloom beautifully: in the tropical forest it can be quite cold at night, but the roots are warmed by the decomposition of the substrate, as in a greenhouse. In general, everything feels like home.

Anyone who is interested in flowers usually has a dacha. Therefore, speaking about flower shelves, we cannot ignore the shelves for seedlings. On the one hand, they are temporary, needed only in the spring. On the other hand, seedlings are not exotic, they cannot be overheated, but they need a lot of light. It will be hot for sprouts in a kitchen in the city.

If we are talking about 20-30 200 ml peat pots for your own needs, then a good solution is a vertical frame on the wall with lighting and glass shelves inserted into the grooves. 2 housekeepers at 18-24 W with a spectrum of 4100 K are enough for 20 pots. Place such a hanging rack (see next figure) in a place with the most favorable temperature.

When we are talking about hundreds of sprouts, you will have to use an already insulated balcony or veranda. In this case, the main task is to distribute light equally to the plants; tender and beautiful-looking plant young actually compete fiercely in close quarters, and up to half of those deprived of light may perish. This problem can be solved without any particular difficulties using a shelf holder made on the principle of a hinged parallelogram, see fig. below the list. Part designations:

  1. base;
  2. additional bar;
  3. shelf stand;
  4. longitudinal frame bar;
  5. shelf;
  6. frame cross bar;
  7. expansion-compression traction.

About aquarium shelves

Aquariums and plant growing are similar hobbies. If only because without living plants, an aquarium is not an aquarium. However, any lover of ponds with glass banks knows that the larger the aquarium, the easier it is to establish life in it. And most often it is not possible to get by with one “pelvis”: not all species can be kept together, you need a spawning ground, quarantine, etc. And then it turns out that all this equipment either simply does not fit in the apartment, or the concentrated load on the floor exceeds the stipulated 250 kg /sq. m. Which can manifest itself as cracks and crumbling of the ceiling of the neighbors below. Which, perhaps, fish is only tolerated in a frying pan.

The proven design of aquarium shelves for the room is shown in Fig. It is quite complex: welded from professional pipe 40x40x2 mm. But fully loaded (400 liters of water in the aquariums, plus the rest, just under a ton), it does not create problems even in the old Khrushchev.

Icon

Religious fanaticism is not characteristic of Russia. Orthodoxy never conceived or approved anything like the Inquisition, the Conquest or Jihad. Nevertheless, any theologian will say that Russians are basically a believing people. Only those in whom they believe know how true someone is. However, a shelf for icons, or icon case, is an indispensable accessory of many, if not most, Russian homes.

In most cases, icon cases are made in corners, at the top left and right in Fig. So, on the one hand, the gospel principle of equality of all believers, except for one God, is observed. On the other hand, it’s convenient to place candles. However Orthodox rank does not prohibit straight icon cases, bottom right. In this case, an icon of Christ is placed in the center, the Virgin Mary is placed on the left, and the saint revered in the house is on the right.

When decorating an icon case, you need to be very careful and know what is appropriate and what is not. Openwork carving suitable, but God forbid broken lines, as in arabesques, and/or complexly intertwined lines, as in Celtic patterns. In general, nothing resembling paganism. Living creatures will certainly include the dove and the symbol common to all Christians - the fish. But there are no unicorns or other creatures devoid of goodness. However, the decoration of the icon case and barma for icons is a separate big topic.

P Note: It is customary among the Old Believers to place each icon in a separate icon case (see figure on the right) and hang the saints on the wall. It is not prohibited by canonical Orthodoxy to hold icons this way. However, when studying the drawings or considering a purchase, make sure that the cross is correct - among the Old Believers it is eight-pointed, and they call the approved Nikonian cross a kryzh.

Bathroom

There are, in general, two types of shelves in the bathroom: for toiletries with detergents and linen with towels. The former must be absolutely hygienic, and the latter must be breathable. In the microclimate of public places, these requirements are difficult to combine, and compactness is added to both.

A shelf for soap, shampoo, gel, sponge, etc., as already mentioned, is best glued together from glass with aquarium silicone approximately as shown on the left in Fig. Aluminum or stainless steel hanging loops are glued with the same glue. If the glue squeezes out when gluing, don’t fuss until everything is completely dry; drying speed – 2 mm/day. That is, for example, if the shelves are made of 6 mm glass, then the product must dry for at least 3 days. Once dry, unnecessary sausages are simply cut off without any residue using a safety razor blade or a mounting knife.

The gluing procedure itself is also simple: one side panel is laid on a flat surface covered with plastic film, apply a thin, no thicker 2-3 mm, sausage of glue, place the second side and prop it up with glass jars so that there is a right angle. There is no need to dry, press, or load - the silicone itself will fit into the slightest crack. By the way, on your hands and clothes too, so be careful. If your hands suddenly get dirty, they are immediately washed with warm water and vinegar, and then with soap. Fresh silicone can be removed from clothes with table vinegar, but if it sticks, that’s it. Yes, the shelves can be glued into the square from the sidewalls after half the time of hardening of the initially applied glue, and the hinges can be glued after the product has completely dried.

The easiest way to make a shelf for linen and towels is similar to the branded one on the right in Fig. But it’s simpler: they take pieces onto horizontal supports propylene pipe, and on the towel frames - rolled wire covered with a heat-shrinkable tube (HERE). Blind sockets are drilled under the supports in the wall, threaded collet anchors are inserted into them, threaded rods are screwed into them, and pipes are put on them with a slight tension. Their gaping front ends drown out, at least polyurethane foam or foam plugs.

For the sake of hygiene, it is better not to pass the ropes through the holes, but to draw them around the supports with nautical knots - bayonets, see fig. on right. Around the far one - double, and around the near one, so that you can pull it up - simple.

Note: Many people think that sea knots are difficult to tie and impossible to untie (give away). This is not true, most marine knots are simple and reliable. Think about it, after all, they were developed by people who needed to knit and give a knot, on which the life of the entire team might depend, hanging without support at a height, at night, in a storm, under blinding snow or pouring rain, and often using only one hand . But sea knots are, again, a separate conversation.

The shelf in the toilet differs from the bathroom with a tray for toilet paper. Let’s say right away that there is no point in doing it yourself; it’s easier to buy it. But for those who like to make things themselves, we certainly present the profile of the tray, from which the roll does not roll out when unwinding both from above and from below, see fig. It can be bent from heated PVC sheet or plexiglass.

Under a roll with a diameter of 150 mm, say, American cool paper with portraits of presidents, heroes, Hollywood beauties, copies of dollar bills, etc. (from $6 to $30 per roll, by the way) cage pitch – 10 mm. For ordinary, without distortion, Nashensky with a diameter of 90-110 mm - 7-8 mm.

Kitchen

Shelves for the kitchen can be traced in 3 types: general purpose, for plates, mainly expensive decorative ones, and bread. On the first they put different things that are beating, waking up, spilling, and perhaps even hot. To prevent it from falling on your head, the shelves are tilted inward, towards the wall, by 2-3 degrees. There is no need to make a rim; in a hurry, you can, as they say, catch the bottom of the dish on it, with the same scandalous effect. Under the common kitchen shelf, a hanger for towels and rags is most often installed, see fig.

Plate racks come from a time when porcelain and earthenware were symbols of prestige and were displayed. Now they hold more decorative plates exclusive type, say, gifts with portraits and inscriptions, souvenirs, etc. The shelf for plates is made narrower, the inclination of the shelves inward is greater, 5-10 degrees, and they are also equipped with crossbars that protect the dishes from falling out. Drawing - in Fig.

Bread shelves, in which white, brown bread and baked goods can be kept together, are made open, exclusively from deciduous wood on dowels and wood glue or PVA. They hang it from higher, so that you can reach it with your hand, then the bread will be stored longer. The drawing is on the next page. rice. In this case, the round piece of wood was not used to hang it, but rather a handle for removing the shelf if you need to cut a lot at once.

Note: In fact, with kitchen shelves, the main thing is not the design, but their placement. The basics of kitchen ergonomics are illustrated in the following. rice:

Hallway

A shelf in the hallway, if it is not for shoes, is similar to a general-purpose kitchen shelf, with two differences. Firstly, the shelves are made of wooden slats or plastic pipes at intervals so that the hats placed on them are ventilated. Secondly, hooks for bags, umbrellas, etc. are attached to the sides. As for clothes, they hang them on hangers. And in the hallway it will be useful if you have a bicycle, a shelf like the one in Fig. And the steel, sorry, 21st century, carbon fiber horse does not take up the floor, and there is somewhere to put the helmet, gloves, and knee pads.

How could it be simpler?

Most of the shelves described above do not require any special qualities. Therefore, before moving on to specific ones, let’s see if it’s possible to do it somehow simpler, cheaper and, if possible, without special tools. That is, is it possible and how to make good, strong and durable shelves from scrap materials that waste a storage room or basement?

Note: creative shelves made from something unnecessary, see picture, let’s leave it alone. Those who can do this should not read articles about shelves, but write them. For your information, fruits and vegetables are stored in wicker ones for a long time.

What material is the most readily available, the most seemingly unnecessary, but useful? Packaging cardboard: boxes of this need to be stored until the warranty expires, and then what to do with them? So let's try to make shelves out of cardboard.

Cardboard crafts are not a curiosity, incl. and furniture. Amateurs usually or dial load-bearing frame, pos. 1 in Fig., paste it over and assemble the product from the resulting blocks, or simply glue more sheets together to make it more or less durable, pos. 2, or a complex spatial structure with sufficient rigidity is assembled using patterns, pos. 3. After puttying and painting, you get something that looks quite decent, pos. 4.

We'll go the other way. We will, firstly, treat the cardboard to give it its original added strength; this is done easily and inexpensively. Secondly, we will take into account the presence of corrugation in the packaging cardboard, i.e. stiffening ribs. And then we use the principle of the so-called. geodetic set of spatial structures. It may sound scary, but it’s easy to do, and the possibilities of georecruitment are shown in Fig. on right. It was with such damage that World War II planes with a geo-mounted fuselage returned safely to base. As in the pilot’s song of those years: “On my word of honor and on one wing.”

So, processing. Place a sheet of cardboard on the floor plastic film and brush with a water-polymer emulsion or PVA diluted 3-5 times with clean water. After a day, when it dries, turn it over and process the other side. After drying, you can cut it out with a mounting knife and glue the panels to the sidewalls.

The trick of geosetting is that the corrugations of the sheets that make up the part are oriented in a certain order:

  • Bottom, 1st – along the longitudinal axis of the part.
  • 2nd – at 45 degrees to it in any direction.
  • 3rd – perpendicular to 2nd, i.e. at 45 degrees from the longitudinal axis or corrugation 1 in the other direction.
  • 4th – perpendicular (orthogonal) to 1st.

A 5-layer set will be even stronger: the corrugations of the 1st and 5th layers are along the longitudinal axis, the 3rd and middle ones are orthogonal to them, and the 2nd and 4th are at 45 degrees in different sides. In this case, it will be easier to choose a groove for the edge (did you forget about edging?), it will be located just on the corrugation of the 3rd layer, and not between the layers.

Note: The layer blanks, of course, need to be cut with some allowance, so that the part can then be cut exactly to size.

You need to glue the layers quickly, without waiting for the PVA to start setting. The glue is applied with a brush in rays from the center with a contour outline (see figure), then smeared over the entire plane, the next layer is applied, etc. You need to glue it on the underlying film. The glued workpiece is covered with the same film and lightly loaded. It is best to do this with books: the load will be absolutely uniform, and at the same time the cardboard, slightly soggy from the glue, will not be pressed. And we won’t describe what strength and rigidity the dried part will acquire, glue the piece together and check.

Now let's assemble the parts into a whole. This is also done with glue at the ends. Only now you need to glue according to all the rules: wait for the glue to gelatinize (its film will begin to turn yellow), press the parts tightly against each other and, without moving, load, bend or wrap with an elastic cord.

It remains to reinforce the end connections, because Any adhesive joint does not hold shear loads well. There’s nothing complicated here either: we use toothpicks or, better, pointed plastic sticks from ear swabs. For them we use “Moment” glue, etc.

The sockets for the connecting pins are pricked with an awl in increments of 40-70 mm. Then a drop of glue is injected into each one in turn and a pin is stuck in. Place the knot on the butt and drip glue into the pins on top. When it dries, the knot is turned over and reinforced further until everything is ready.

If you have an old bamboo fishing rod lying around, it is better to split it with a knife into splinters 3-5 mm wide and use them as pins. You need to saw the bamboo at the nodes, then widening the pins to the outer edge will provide additional resistance of the joints to lateral loads.

Note: The edges are edged after painting. Instead, you can cover the ends with thin cardboard or thick paper and paint everything together.

Maritime

Another option for shelves made of something is shown in Fig. The materials are not completely waste: good boards and rope. But it can be done, including leveling, in half an hour. How is clear from Fig.

A curious belief

Fans of dark humor often knit loops for hanging at the lower ends of the ropes of such shelves. They are mostly superstitious people, so we remind you: the rope of a hanged man brings happiness only if a big villain was really hanged on it. If the execution did not take place; Let's say the condemned man received a pardon at the last moment, then a blank rope will bring great misfortune. In this case, it was supposed to be burned with a prayer against evil spirits, and it had to be read by the same chaplain who confessed, gave communion and buried the condemned person.

TV subtleties

Modern flat-screen TVs are convenient to hang on the wall on a swivel bracket, but it is no longer a shelf or furniture at all. However, that's not what this is about. And about why “cool plasma” or LCD is placed on pedestals like the one on the left in the figure? Is it just for the sake of perverted taste? It would seem that something long should be in harmony with the fruit of high technology, so that you can install additional acoustics, with niches for a player, satellite tuner and boxes for discs and cassettes, for those who still have them, along with a video recorder, and a completely man-made appearance.

It's all about the acoustics. In the bass, on low frequencies up to 150-200 Hz. In modern speakers, the amplitude-frequency response (AFC) by electronic means, together with a large excess of amplifier power, is stretched to the required uniformity, but the laws of nature cannot be deceived, and the phase-frequency response (FFC) is inevitably curved. As a result, the bass is a bit harsh. The pop “boom-boom-boom” is directed under this feature, but, say, on symphonic music or on “Deep Purple” from a well-digitized DMM vinyl, even a person whose ear has been stepped on by a bear will hear the difference. It is for the sake of a uniform phase response that experts prefer wooden acoustics closed type large volume or even open with acoustic resistance panels (PAS), and bass reflexes and systems with control electronics are ignored.

This is where the seemingly exclusively utilitarian upper niche of the shelf can come into play, if it is made of coniferous wood (preferably spruce) and, like an open acoustic resonator, is tuned to approximately 63 Hz. The resonator picks up the slightest tremor at the bottom of the TV itself, since its body is plastic, and gives the bass juice and softness. Not to the level of tube velvet, but still more pleasant to listen to. So connoisseurs look for old, shabby chests of drawers with suitable niches and pay handsomely for them, and even more for restoration.

And we won’t spend money on antiques. On the right in Fig. with TV - drawing acoustic shelf under the TV; dimensions - in cm. Material, as already mentioned, spruce or pine. The tree must be seasoned, straight-grained, without strands or knots. The lower niche will accommodate equipment and media, but the upper niche should be left free for greater effect. Assembled on dowels and PVA. The rear wall of the lower niche may have windows for cables, but the upper one must be blank.

Instrumental

A tool shelf is, first of all, not a shelf, but a cabinet: more or less experienced master the instrument is not held in bulk, but hung on hooks or in clamps, as shown in Fig. on right. Second: high-quality material - 10-16 mm plywood, impregnated with a water-polymer emulsion or dense hardwood, also impregnated or oiled. Impregnation is necessary for hygroscopicity, so that the instrument does not rust and does not lose accuracy.

A simple alternative to a locker is in the video below.

Video: tool shelves made from pipe scraps

Children's

It is an axiom that a shelf for children should be strong enough and environmentally friendly. So here it is best material– seasoned natural wood or MDF. Wood materials with impregnation (OSB, chipboard) are not suitable, who knows if the manufacturer is telling the truth that without phenolic compounds. Fresh wood is also undesirable; allergies may result from its fumes.

There is one more circumstance: the shelf in the nursery should take into account the peculiarities of child psychology. The point here is not in the conversation tests, but in the fact that the neural connections in his brain have not yet developed. And if they don’t work out correctly, then it will be useless to explain and persuade. Therefore, the design of a children's shelf is the first priority.

For example, the one on the left in the picture seems to hold objects well, but it looks like a prison. The bunny simply shouts to an adult: “Let me out of here!” And he stretched out his paw imploringly. What about a child who perceives toys as beings close to him?

The remaining 2 contribute to the development of disorder. Connections between brain neurons are formed not by some abstract ideas, but by information received from the senses. Over 80% of it comes from vision. And if everything in front of your eyes is crooked and flickering, then your brain will become a mess.

So, the main requirement for the design of a children's shelf is simple shapes, soft color tones, and a matte texture. It is common knowledge that you can’t hang mirrors or anything shiny.

In toy shelves, it is necessary to take into account gender differences, which children themselves may not yet be aware of. For example, a boy without a ball is not a boy. And even cars, airplanes, trains. These are things, from his point of view, that are valuable in themselves. By analogy: an Audi is an Audi, and a “Zaporozhets” is a “Zaporozhets” in any garage. So he needs a shelf for toys rather in the form of trays, as long as the contents are at hand, do not fall on the floor and are not lost, on the left in the figure.

Any girl is first and foremost a woman and a housewife. For both her and her toys, it is important not only what they look like, but also what environment they are in. Conclusion: it’s better to make shelves for girls’ dolls and utensils in the form of a house, right there. Let us remember that for children toys are not toys, but their own little world. So the dolls also need a home with a boudoir.

And one more thing - about originality

Shelves, as stated at the beginning, are easier to make than any other furniture. There is a big temptation here to be original, since there are more than enough stunning creations by famous designers. However, we must not forget that the main thing is functionality. The difference between a designer and an amateur is that, while inventing the first, he constantly keeps the second in mind. Let's see with examples that there are incorrect and correct original shelves.

Let's say pos. 1 in Fig. Whatever you want, I won’t drink wine from a bottle where sediment accumulates in the neck. Wine bottles are stored horizontally, everyone knows this. By the way, it’s easy to make a mini-wine cellar in an apartment from cardboard pipes on PVA, see the picture on the right.

Now pos. 2. Formally, everything seems to be correct, but you will get lost in this maze. Pos. 3 – natural branches, this is certainly cool, but then general style need an appropriate one. And so – a speck in the eye, and that’s all. Pos. 4 – God bless him, what’s on sloping areas you won't bet anything. Perhaps the owners have 100 square meters per person. But are they sure that their cat knows how to handle books? In this case, why not immediately place a saucer of valerian next to them? Pos. 5 - it will fall down. And, according to the law of meanness, just on the face and just when something is poured into the bottles.

On the trail. rice. – examples good decisions. Pos. 1 – the effect is not only provided by rounded shapes. Without going into details, the thing is the watch. They are also round and hang where they need to be. In the center would be acceptable, but not quite right. Complete symmetry is boring. Pos. 2 – to a more or less developed person it is immediately clear that this is a tree. With all the associated associative structure. But, in the words of Georgy Vitsin (the smartest, subtlest and non-drinking person, by the way) as the Coward from “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” without “bad excesses.” Simple and tasteful.

Pos. 3 is absolutely a masterpiece. All it took was skillful painting of the most utilitarian thing, and the shelves became invisible. This, one might say, is the pinnacle of originality. Pos. 4 – associations are obvious, but elegant and understandable, flowers on a tree. And the effect is no weaker because the flowers in this case are Uzambara violets, which are not epiphytes at all. And since the effect is persistent, it means luck. Pos. 5 – originality was made to work. Specifically, there are a lot of flowers, but they take up little space and hardly obscure the light. To achieve this also requires subtle work; first of all – mental.

A win-win option for decorating any room is shelves. A multifunctional decorative item that allows you to place great amount things so that they look neat. They take up little space in the room by placing them on the walls and give it a more sophisticated look. Human imagination and hands can create the most unusual and beautiful shelf design that will harmoniously fit into the interior. Furniture stores provide a wide range of different design solutions, but why overpay if you can make shelves yourself.

A win-win option for decorating any room is shelves.

There are several types of shelves according to the type of their placement.

1) Floor-standing – installed on the floor. Tall structures are additionally attached to the wall. They are not stable, it is better to be safe. This type includes mainly shelves for shoes, flowers, for books, TV or small items and decorative elements. High floor shelves (more than 1 meter) are called racks.

A multifunctional decor item that allows you to place a huge number of things so that they look neat.

2) Wall-mounted – attached to the wall thanks to special fasteners. Designed for storing books, decorative elements, photo frames, family photo albums. In the kitchen, containers with spices or other kitchen utensils are often located on shelves. In the bathroom, jars with toothbrushes and paste, combs, hair dryers, towels, etc. are installed on them. In the hallway, a wall shelf will be an excellent storage place for hats, gloves, umbrellas, and handbags.

Use in a bedroom or living room is also appropriate.

3) Suspended - they are suspended from ceiling beams, pipes running under the ceiling, or attached directly to the ceiling. Hanging models are more often used in the bathroom and kitchen, where the pipes are located under the ceiling and are not hidden in decorative boxes. Use in a bedroom or living room is also appropriate.

Designed for storing books, decorative elements, photo frames, family photo albums.

Design and construction. Types of products

The design of the shelf must be completely consistent with the interior of the room, otherwise it will look like an extra item. To avoid inconsistency, you need to choose the type that will harmoniously complement the interior.

Types of shelves Description
Classic style Discreet minimalism and standard form are the main features of this type. They “fit” well into a classic interior, in offices, classrooms, and libraries. It’s easy to make a classic shelf with your own hands. Feel free to get to work.
Corner placement Corner structures are made in classic style. They are convenient in rooms that have a small area (baths, kitchens), but they are also appropriate in large rooms. Corner shelves are divided into two types: internal and external. The second ones are installed on a protruding corner, this makes them unique. Their creation is somewhat more complicated than the classic ones, but not too much.
Modes This type of shelves is a structure made of different materials of different lengths and widths. Modus shelves create a 3D effect due to their volume. Abstraction is the main feature of modes. Will decorate any room in a modern style. A well-designed project is easy to assemble, so you can make these shelves yourself.
Exclusive This category can include all the unique shelves that have the most non-standard solutions. It’s not easy to create such a masterpiece yourself. But will you find the answer to the question of how to make a shelf exclusive?

The design of the shelf must be completely consistent with the interior of the room, otherwise it will look like an extra item.

Choosing a material?

Traditionally, wood is used to make shelves, but metal, plastic, glass and even cardboard materials are also suitable. When choosing a material, you also need to rely on the interior of the room. Perhaps the things that will suit you are those that have already served you well and are simply lying in the pantry, then the cost of the shelf will be minimized.

Gold goes better with light-colored wood, and for dark shelves you can choose silver.

If you find an old ladder, then you will succeed original shelf for books. In this case, all you have to do is process the appearance of the stairs and make fastenings. Shelf in rustic style ready for books. As you can see, making shelves on the wall with your own hands is simple and easy; the following examples will once again confirm this.

Traditionally, wood is used to make shelves, but metal, plastic, glass and even cardboard materials are also suitable.

Perhaps there is a large spool lying around in the pantry, on which a rope or wire was once wound. Now it makes a great floor shelf. The coil needs to be processed, all irregularities and roughness removed, and then covered with stain and varnish. If you want to paint it, then it is better to treat it with a primer, which will even out wooden surface, then the paint will adhere perfectly.

You can also use fabric and rope covers.

An old pallet that is just taking up space, treated, painted and placed vertically on the ground will become beautiful shelf for street flowers. They are used to create designs of various types. By sawing the pallet into pieces, you will get several shelves that can be hung on the wall, both outside and in the house. Here is another option on how to make shelves on the wall with your own hands, for your piggy bank.

Perhaps the things that will suit you are those that have already served you well and are simply lying in the pantry, then the cost of the shelf will be minimized.

Old water pipes that have been left gathering dust since the time of Stalin under the pretext “may be useful” have finally come in handy. These pipes, which have a vintage look, can be used to make an excellent shelf for books or other things.

Making shelves on the wall with your own hands is simple and easy; the following examples will once again confirm this.

Buy or make it yourself? That is the question

You don’t have to rack your brains and go on a trip to furniture stores so as not to find something that might suit you. The possibility that you will be able to find the right shelf is not excluded. But, most likely, it will be approximately similar to what you imagined, and its cost may also not be what you expected. To save yourself from disappointment and save money, you can make your own shelves. Why is this option better?

  • As stated above - savings. Shelves made from materials you have around the house or old unwanted items will significantly reduce costs.
  • The ability to create a unique, inimitable shelf design.
  • Reliable assembly - robust design;
  • Use of strong, reliable materials.

If you want to paint it, then it is better to treat it with a primer that will level the wooden surface, then the paint will adhere perfectly.

Materials needed to create a shelf with your own hands

To make a shelf, you can use boards, bars, impact-resistant glass, remnants of pipes, plastic parts, various wooden structures (food boxes, pallets, Soviet-era TVs), cardboard.

The option of applying drawings to the side parts of the shelf is also possible.

All parts of the shelf are attached to each other and traditionally use screws or nails for this. But there is rope method, when all components of the structure are connected in series with a rope. An equally original way to attach each part of the shelf is to use bottles, preferably of the same size. And if you place lanterns in bottles, the shelf will take on an extraordinary look.

You can find the most unexpected things in your pantry or attic that can be used as shelves, giving them a second life.

If you do not have the above materials, you should go to a hardware store to buy them. In the store you can also buy fasteners, stain, primer, paint, nails or screws and everything you need to make a shelf.

Visit a decorative store and you will realize that decorating a shelf is easy.

Required Tools

You can't assemble a shelf with your bare hands. We will talk about the tool that is useful for making a shelf below.

1) The very first woodworking tool that comes to mind is a jigsaw, but just a hand saw will do. A jigsaw is a convenient, dexterous, fast tool; with its help, blanks for a shelf will be made in a matter of minutes.

2) A grinding machine or sandpaper of different abrasiveness will help to sand the surface of each part of the shelf. A sanding machine will cope with this task quickly, unlike skins, which take time to work with.

3) Electric drill– helps to drill holes both in the components of the shelf and in the wall for fastening.

4) Screwdrivers or screwdriver - needed to screw in self-tapping screws, connecting the component parts of the shelf to each other. Evaluate the advisability of using a screwdriver if you need to tighten four self-tapping screws. You can handle them with a screwdriver.

5) Self-tapping screws, screws, confirmats - connecting elements. Upon completion of work on the shelf, they are masked with plugs matched to the color of the shelf.

6) Varnish for coating wood - this coating must be of high quality. The shelf will be used regularly, so its appearance should be preserved as long as possible. We recommend an alkyd wood varnish with a urethane additive, which provides strength.

7) Paint brush– necessary for applying paint and varnish coatings to the surface of the shelf. Choose a medium-sized brush.

8) Square - a special measuring tool, the design of which has a right angle. It allows you to check and position the shelf parts relative to each other at right angles. If you don’t have a square in your arsenal of tools, you can use available tools: ceramic tiles, a sheet of cardboard, a photo frame, etc.

9) Hand router - this tool will help decorate the shelf with patterns and give straight lines non-standard shape. Decorative patterns will make the shelf even more beautiful.

You don’t have to rack your brains and go on a trip to furniture stores so as not to find something that might suit you.

How to make shelves on the wall with your own hands: step-by-step instructions

Let's consider making a classic wall shelf made of wood.

We determine the place. Where will the shelf be located? What material is needed to make it? Its shape, design and dimensions. If you use available materials to make it, use their size and quantity to determine the size. When buying materials, the situation is different; you buy as much as you need.

To save yourself from disappointment and save money, you can make your own shelves.

When choosing wooden boards, make sure that they are the same color. When processing wood, dark fibers appear more. This stage must be approached responsibly, otherwise you will end up with a shelf whose constituent parts will have different appearances.

Reliable assembly - robust design.

Marking and preparing shelf parts for assembly. The boards are laid on a flat surface for work, after which the markings are transferred to them according to the drawing.

To make a shelf, you can use boards, bars, impact-resistant types of glass, remnants of pipes, and plastic parts.

Check that the markings are applied correctly. Once you have ensured that the cut locations are indicated accurately, you can begin cutting.

All parts of the shelf are attached to each other and traditionally use screws or nails for this.

Time to start processing parts of the future shelf using sandpaper or a sanding machine. The surface of the wood must be smooth and free from roughness, so that paint coatings light as well.

If you do not have the above materials, you should go to a hardware store to buy them.

After the parts of the shelf have dried, you can begin assembly. Assembly begins with the bottom board, which is laid on a flat work surface. Markings are made on it for the holes. We retreat approximately 8-10 mm from the cut line of the board in two places and draw an even line parallel to the edge. Along the marked line we mark points at a distance of 5 centimeters from the edges of the board. Drill holes for self-tapping screws at these points. When the marks on the bottom shelf are ready, make the same markings on the top of the shelf. The holes are ready, all that remains is to screw in the screws. Take the bottom part of the shelf and install it perpendicularly work surface. Then we attach the sidewalls and screw them on. We install the resulting structure with its lower part on the table and screw the upper part to the sides. We screw the fasteners to the sides on the back side adjacent to the wall.

You can't assemble a shelf with your bare hands.

Decoration

Decoration no less important stage in the manufacture of bookshelves. Of course, you can leave it in the original video, but to add sophistication and uniqueness to your creation, you can use minimal decorative elements. Let's say the front parts of the shelves are covered with thin gold or silver strips, which are sold in all stores where decorative elements are offered. Gold goes better with light-colored wood, and for dark shelves you can choose silver. You can also use fabric and rope covers.

Decorative patterns will make the shelf even more beautiful.

The option of applying drawings to the side parts of the shelf is also possible. Drawings are applied with paint. They are made in the form of a mosaic from scrap materials (coffee, shells, rope). Visit a decorative store and you will realize that decorating a shelf is easy.

We install the resulting structure with its lower part on the table and screw the upper part to the sides.

Give free rein to your hands, turn on your imagination and decorate your home!

Decoration is an equally important stage in the manufacture of bookshelves.