Floating Book Shelf

One thing our fabulous kid's room was still missing was book storage. We have plenty of storage space in the closet, but we want the books to be out and accessible to make it easier to read as often as possible. We don't have a huge amount of space left though, as all the furniture and stuff has been slowly loaded into the smallish room. I've noticed that many nurseries store books facing forward so that the covers are easier to see, but it seemed like that approach wouldn't hold as many books and wouldn't transition to older ages very well, so I opted to build a normal-sized, floating shelf over the radiator instead. After some quick measuring, I decided I wanted the shelf to be about 30" wide, 3" thick and 8" deep, so that it can fit the average book but be as lightweight as possible. In case we change our minds in the future, we wanted the shelf to be removable.

Step 1. Shop
To build one floating shelf that is 30" wide - I needed the following (most of this came from my scrap pile):

• one 1"x2"x8'
• one 1"x3"x6'
• one 1/4"x4'x8' plywood
• wood glue
• 2" wood screws
• 1.5" finishing nails
• plaster anchors

Step 2. Build and Attach the Frame
Using the 1"x2"s, I cut one 29" long piece and four 7" long pieces. Then I used wood glue and wood screws to attach them to each other, with roughly even spacing for the interior supports. Once the frame was built, I used the level and plaster anchors to secure it to the wall. I purposely wanted to build the shelf right in the corner so that I could anchor it on two walls, making it as strong as possible (books are heavy).

frame is put together and ready to be installed

frame attached to the walls

Step 3. Build Shelf Box
Next, I started to build the box that will slide over the frame. Using the remainder of the 1"x2", I cut another 29" piece - this board will be a support for the plywood top and bottom. Then I cut the front and side faces out of the 1"x3" - cutting one piece that was 30" long and one that was 8" long (These are rounded numbers - I measured each before cutting, and had slight variations based on the squareness of the wall, etc. Measure first if repeating this project).  The two faces will cover everything up so that you can't see the interior frame or the sides of the plywood. Using two finishing nails and some glue, I nailed them together. (Meant to use a kreg jig so that the nails wouldn't be visible from the front, but took the lazier route because I was tired.)

two faces get nailed together

Next we need to attach the 29" support piece to the back of the front face. The goal is that the plywood top will sit on top of the support so that it's flush with the top of the face. (Because I'm using 1/4 inch plywood, I will be able to make the top flush but not the bottom. If you used 1/2 plywood instead, you should be able to center the support on the back of the face and have both the top and the bottom be flush.) I held the faces up to the un-cut plywood, dry fitting to get a sense where the support needed to be to make the top flush, then glued and nailed it onto the faces using finishing nails. 

the support gets nailed to the back of the front face, with a small space for the top of the shelf to fit

Step 4. Attach top and bottom to shelf box
Using the leftover plywood from the bookcase project of forever ago, Spouso used a circular saw to cut 2 pieces that were 29" wide and 8" deep.  Using wood glue and the finishing nails, we nailed the top and bottom onto the support. Again, the plywood should be sitting on the support and flush with the top of the two faces.

finished shelf box ready to be painted

Step 5. Paint & Attach Shelf Box to Frame
I opted to paint the shelf white to lighten it up in here a bit, and then let dry overnight. Lastly, I slid the shelf box over the frame. I predrilled, and then used screws to attach the box to the frame, so that it can't slide back off but can be removed in the future if we want.

shelf box slides on and gets screwed to the frame

Step 6. Cover with Stuff
Once it was attached, we loaded it up with books. I also added two small plants, because every room needs a plant, and a piggy bank. (I love that the little asparagus fern looks like a truffula tree.). We bought some books that were recommended by blogs and Amazon, but we definitely need more. If anyone has recommendations for books for babies - please let us know!

shelf is all finished and loaded up

I thought the books would take up more space... must get more.

close up of the plants - so cute!

This is officially the last project for this room. Final reveal coming next.