How to Make and Install Floating Bedroom Shelves

Keeping a child's room tidy is always a challenge. There is a constant clutter of toys, books, and stuffed animals to arrange and rearrange. Ira and Audrey Wise in Fairfield know this feeling too well. Their son Harper's room was wall-to-wall stuffed animals and they needed Ron's help with the perfect solution: wall shelves.

Click here for a list of what you will need in order to complete this project.

1. Design
When designing any project, it is a good idea to create a drawing of the existing space, so you can get an idea of what you will need. (Ron uses a simple design software called SketchUp).

The 3-dimensional drawings for this project were made with SketchUp design software.

Please click here to download the full-size, 3-D drawings for the bedroom shelves project.
To view these drawings, please download the free SketchUp Viewer.

2. Cut wood
After determining how many shelves will be needed and what dimensions, it is time to cut the wood.

The shelf frames are made out of 1 X 2s. Cut all of the pieces for the outside shelf frames, cross braces and mounting strips.

The thin skins are made up of ¼" birch plywood and are cut to length and width with a table saw.

Arrange all the pieces necessary to begin assembling your shelves. Each shelf is like a hollow core door with a lightweight framework and a thin skin on the top and the bottom.

3. Build shelf frame
Begin by gluing and nailing the frame together. Then apply glue to the cross braces and nail them in place.

Once you've finished assembling the frames, the next step is to apply glue and set the plywood skins in place. Staples are used to pull the skins into contact with the frame while the glue dries.

Complete one side; then flip the shelf over and repeat the process.

4. Trim and finish
The edge of the plywood is visable when looking at the edge of the shelves, so mitered trim is attached to the outside edge to conceal the plywood.

Place the trim so that the inside of the miter is directly aligned with the shelf corner.

Draw a line at the opposite end, right at the corner, and make a miter cut right on this mark.

Spread an even layer of glue and then attach the trim and secure it with pin nails while the glue dries. Once the front trim is attached, glue and nail the end pieces.

Finally, fill the staple holes with Spackle and sand the shelves smooth to the touch.

5. Paint
The shelves should be painted first before they are attached to the walls.

6. Placement
To help visualize where the shelves would be the most practical and attractive, use painter's tape to experiment with positioning. It is a good idea to locate and mark the wall studs first, so that you can position each shelf in a location that will ensure that it will be securely attached to at least two studs. If you want to place taller items on any of the shelves, it is important to measure these items and mark them on the walls also.

Once the shelf locations have been established, mark the locations, remove the tape and draw level lines on the walls.

7. Attach mounting strips
First, drill pilot holes into the wall studs at each place where you will attach a batten with a screw. Securely attach each 2 X 2 batten, or mounting strip, to the wall studs along each of the level lines.

The hollow bay in the back of the shelf fits over the batten and is secured with screws.

8. Finishing touches
For an interesting touch, consider painting the edges of the shelves a contrasting color.

The new shelves are very strong and can hold quite a bit of weight. They can easily handle the task of bringing all of Harper's toys up off the floor, providing much more space to play.