Bracket shelves
made from 2-by-2 lumber and fiberboard are a simple project.
Building shelves can be as simple or as difficult as you care to make it. Complicated ladder shelving units, floating shelves or stand-alone shelving systems will all take time and need a good level of woodworking skill to complete successfully. Bracket shelves, on the other hand, are simple to build and can be made with easy-to-find materials such as 2-by-2 lumber and fiberboard. Very little woodworking skill is required and if you get your lumber cut at the lumber yard or hardware store, it will cut your work in half. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Cut the 2-by-2 lumber into a cleat measuring 36 inches and two lengths of 14 inches for shelf brackets. Miter the ends of the brackets to 45 degrees, so that they will sit flush up against the underneath of the shelf and flush to the wall.
2. Find and mark two consecutive wall studs in the area you want the shelf to be. Wall studs are spaced 16 inches apart in common building standards. Draw a level line between the two studs where you want the shelf.
3. Place the cleat along the line you just drew, evenly spaced over the studs. Screw the cleat into the wall, with screws into the studs and then one screw every 5 inches.
4. Center the fiberboard sheet on the cleat. There should be 1 inch of overhang on either end. Screw the shelf to the cleat, staggering the screws with those used to screw the cleat into the wall.
5. Position the two brackets underneath the shelf so that the ends that sit against the wall are each over a stud.
6. Attach the brackets using drywall screws in the end that sits against the wall and wood screws for the end that abuts the underside of the shelf.
Tags: 2-by-2 lumber, 2-by-2 lumber fiberboard, against wall, Bracket shelves, cleat into, cleat into wall