DIY Display Shelves

We’ve been doing a little organizing at our house and I’m really excited to share these DIY Display Shelves!

Conor LOVES his legos and his army guys and he’s gotten really into Lego technic too! He’s been building up a storm over the summer and we were running out of space in the playroom.

Then I had an “a ha moment”! What if we used the extra wall space in his room to display them?

He was really really excited about helping me with this project and LOVED helping make the gif, which you’ll see a bit later in the post.

I actually first got this idea when I saw this cool closet hack on Apartment Therapy.

Why Are Floating Shelves So Appealing?

Floating shelves are so appealing because they make use of vertical wall space while also giving a minimalist appearance. Conor’s room, like all the rooms in our home, is not very big and by painting the shelves the same color as his wall they almost disappear so the focal point can be on the legos.

Why You’ll Love This Project

• The shelves are affordable
• Easy to hang and install
• Painting is pretty easy
• They give quite a sleek and fun look, stylishly affordable!

What You Need For These DIY Display Shelves

• Ikea Lack Shelves (we used three 4 feet shelves)
• Screws and anchors
• Sandpaper
• Stix Primer
• Paint in Satin or Semi Gloss – we used Hidden Sapphire by Benjamin Moore
• Roller for smooth surfaces with tray

Why We Used Ikea Lack System

We LOVE Ikea and really you can’t beat the price. Each shelf was $24.99. The hidden mounting was included with the price. We also thought these were flexible enough if we wanted to add another shelf below we could.

Some Tips Before You Begin

Hanging the Shelves

Ideally hang on the stud, but where there isn’t a stud use wall anchors, or as my husband calls them “Rawl Plugs” (that’s what they are known as in England).

Lightly Sand the Shelves

The finish on the original shelves is pretty smooth. You want to scuff up the shelves before priming so the paint and primer can adhere. This will give the surface “tooth”. Make sure to remove the sanding dust before priming and painting.

Prime!!!

Okay, I know everyone wants to get right to the fun stuff, but priming these is essential. You want to make sure the paint can stick to the shelves. Stix primer is made for all kinds of surfaces from plastic to tile, so it’s great to have in the house for those hard to paint things!!!

I applied one coat of primer.

What paint finish?

This is up to you, really, but we went with Satin. Our walls are painted in Matte. We have textured walls so I always paint them in matte as I don’t want to see the texture. Painting these shelves in Matte would mean they wouldn’t be durable and could scratch with Conor moving lego. We opted for Satin to add durability.

How the Shelves Came Out

Conor is thrilled with his NEW shelves!

Taming the mess that is a teen’s room is a constant battle! Can other moms out there relate?

Here’s a closer look.

Conor’s shelves – a world where Star Wars, Harry Potter and James Bond coexist!

In case you want to recreate this project in your own home I’ve included a project card.

Print

DIY Display Shelves

Wonderful and minimalist style shelves for any room in your home

Active Time3 hours hrs

Keyword: DIY, Shelves

Equipment

• 1 Drill
• 1 Level

Materials

• 3 Floating Shelves (Lack from Ikea)
• 1 can Primer Stix
• 1 can Paint Same as wall color
• sand paper
• foam roller for smooth surfaces

Instructions

• Step 1: Unwrap your shelves and find location on wall where you want to hang them.
• Step 2: Locate studs and use anchors where they shelf won't be secured into the wall.
• Step 3: Mount hidden unit to wall and slide shelf on. Don't push all the way in to make priming and painting easier.
• Step 4: Scuff sand shelf and remove sanding dust.
• Step 5: Roll on one coat of stix primer. Allow to dry for 24 hours.
• Step 6: Apply paint to shelves with roller. I applied three coats of satin finish paint.
• Step 7: Allow paint to cure before placing objects on your shelves

Notes

By painting the shelves the same as the wall gives these floating shelves and sleek and modern look.

These display shelves are great for kids’ rooms, closets, kitchens and the living area!

If you’d like to see more of Conor’s room – you can see the bedroom reveal we shared a few years ago. You’ll see we’ve since moved his bed to make way for the shelves.

We’re big fans of Ikea and like to mix some Ikea products in here and there. See Ikea in our home and more ikea in our home.

Did you make this project? If so, let me know!

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