Our Latest Project: A Floating Shelf

The biggest problem with Pinterest is that Jonathon usually ends up with the brunt of the work when I find really cool things that I want to do to our house. Case in point... floating shelves. I have wanted to do something above our couch for a long time. When I found some pictures of floating shelves (i.e. no brackets or hardware on the outside; they literally look like they are floating on the wall), I knew that they would fit the style of our living room perfectly. We looked into buying one, but $70 was a No Go. So, Jonathon researched making one, and he decided he could do it. He always gives me a long sigh when I tell him about my projects, but secretly, he really likes building and engineering things. And he always does a great job!

So without further ado... our new floating shelf.

It was hard to get a good picture because of the flash and the glare from the glass, so it looks even better in person. I painted the shelf and handled the decorating (see I did do a little bit of the work!). I found a mixture of family pictures and nature pictures that we had taken and had significance to us. I then found a random collection of frames that I thought would bring the whole "creation" together and look nice. I am so happy with the way it turned out. I think it really completes the room.

If you are interested in how to make a floating shelf, here are the basics...

*First off, we found a great tutorial about how to make and install floating shelves here. It really tells you everything you need to know and makes the directions quite simple. 

*The shelf is actually hollow to make it lighter and so it can be installed "invisibly". Here is the framework that Jonathon built. The unframed space on the bottom is where it actually attaches. The measurements are 4' long x 8" deep x 2" tall. He then put the top piece on, sanded it, and then I painted it black. The whole shelf cost about $18 to build, much better than the $70 Amazon wanted.

*Then Jonathon attached a 2X2 to the wall, fit the shelf over it, and screwed it down. It is kind of hard to visualize, but here are some pictures. The first is the 2X2 screwed to the wall ready for the shelf. The second is a picture of the finished shelf leaning against the wall where it will be installed. The hollow space in the front of the picture will fit right over the board already attached to the wall and completely cover it up creating the floating affect. It is very sturdy and is exactly like we envisioned!