I had mentioned a few months ago that upon the completion of our new home, The Little Barn, we were still lacking any forms of shelving or cabinetry. In staying to the home’s rustic theme and our own passion for DIYs, my husband and I wanted to be the installers of the storage solutions. I also wanted to live there for a few weeks before we would determine what the shelves and cabinets would look like. That way, whatever we did eventually build would be the most fitting for our needs and the general feel of the house.

Due to the insistence of our contractor, he placed a broom closet just off of the kitchen. I was against it at first, and had wanted to use that space for something else. Yet, he didn’t back down, and so I thought that if he was that passionate about having one in our home, then he could put one in. Thank goodness he did! What was I thinking? Of course we needed one. Honestly, this turned out to be one decision that I’m glad I was wrong about. Well, that and our massive wrap-around deck. And our range hood. And ceiling fan.

That being said, we now had this beautiful little broom closet, but with no food pantry in site. The armoire that was originally going to hold all of our non-perishable items was quickly filled with our kitchenwares. I hadn’t realized that we had accumulated so much. For the next few weeks, we had considered every possible way that we could change our broom closet into a pantry. My first solution was to stack crates on top of one another. The end result looked cheap. Again, I left it for awhile, and was about to buy a stainless steel storage unit when I suddenly thought of evenly spaced reclaimed wood shelving. Why hadn’t I thought of that before? Probably because it seemed unsanitary. Hey, I’m all about form over function. (That’s not actually true, I think that both are equally important.)

With a good scrub down and regular dusting, I thought that it would be perfectly fitting. My handyman husband went to work, and in one afternoon, he had installed all of the shelves for me. I love that little closet more than anything now.

Here’s what you need to make your own reclaimed wood shelving:

Reclaimed wood
Brackets (we chose our favourite plain brackets from Home Depot)
Screws
Level
Pencil
Drill
Stud finder

Steps:

1. Take measurements of the available space.

2. Measure and cut each wood board to those dimensions.

3. Hold up the wood to the approximate and appropriate place on the wall. Place the level on top, and mark off the bottom of the shelf once it is level. Remove the shelf.

4. Using the stud finder, find and mark the studs on the wall. Be sure to do so below the space where the shelf is to be hung. If the studs aren’t evenly placed, try to hit at least one with the bracket, and use drywall anchors for the other. 

5. Screw the brackets to the wall. Place the shelf on top and finish screwing the brackets to the shelf. (Keep in mind that depending on the size of the shelves, you may want to do these steps in a different order.)

6. Once the shelving is secure, you may start using it!

I’m so pleased that we went about installing our own shelving this way. It’s simply fitting and functional for our space and needs.

<3

Emory

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