$100 Half-Day Designs: Install Floating Shelves

Materials and Tools:

fence post
screw driver
paint scraper
chisel
hammer
stain
brushes
L-bracket
screws
canvas
acrylic craft paint
1" wide painter’s tape

Steps:

1. Distress the shelves by marring the surface. For this project, they used a screwdriver, hammer and chisel by poking, jabbing and hitting the wood until you have achieved the desired look.

2. Stain the shelves. Apply the stain liberally allowing it to get into all the nooks and crannies. To achieve a darker color stain on the wood, let the stain sit longer on the wood before wiping it off.

3. While the stain dries, paint your own masterpiece to be displayed on one of the floating shelves. For this project, they used an 18 by 22-inch canvas. Tape off the edges of the canvas with one-inch-wide painter’s tape to create the frame. Paint the canvas. It's free hand so go with the flow and let your paintbrush do the painting. When you are done, take off the tape, and let dry.

4. Once the shelves are dry, mount them to the wall. Screw the L-brackets into the wall so the brackets look like an 'L'. The shelves will rest on top of the ‘L’ so that you’re screwing into the bottom of the shelf.