I showed you this pretty little shelving unit before when I did my nursery home tour post, but I haven’t really touched on the HOW of it all. They really are very easy to do and they look great, so I thought it’s time to share the step-by-step of how to make your own pretty copper and pine shelves (Margaux took the pretty pictures!).
You’ll need:
800mm copper piping
2 copper brackets to fit the pipe*
20m of 4mm ski rope
3x 280mm deep pine shelves, cut to 700mm, 500mm and 300mm lengths
Paint in a colour of your choice
Clear wood sealer or raw linseed oil
4.5mm wood drill bit
Nail-in anchors to fix the pipe brackets to the wall
100 grit sandpaper for an electric sander
*I couldn’t find copper saddle brackets when I made mine, so I used simple steel ones and sprayed them with copper paint. Clever, hey?!
You will also need:
Jigsaw
Sander
Hammer drill for wall fixing
STEP 1:
Carefully measure where the holes are going to be drilled into the wood: 25mm from the edges of the shelves. Then proceed to drill the 4 holes in each shelf, using the 4.5mm wood drill bit.
STEP 2:
Sand the wooden shelves so that they are smooth – especially focus on the edges and the drill holes. This is a great activity to get your kids involved in, under supervision of course!
STEP 3:
Paint the front and side edges with a colour of your choice. This is not an essential step, but it does add a bit of pretty detail to the shelves!
STEP 4:
Finish the shelves with clear varnish or raw linseed oil. If you know that the unit will have to withstand a bit of moisture or dirt, then using a clear varnish is better. Linseed oil on the other hand has a great natural look and smells amazing too!
STEP 5:
Proceed to thread the rope through the holes in each shelf. Start at the back left hole and thread from underneath. Then create the loop before threading from the top through the front left hole. Take the rope to the right front hole and thread from the bottom, then create the second loop and thread from the top through the back right hole.
When you’re happy with the length of the loops, tightly knot the free ends at the bottom of the right and left back holes.
HANDY TIP:
If the edges become a bit frayed while threading, use a flame to melt them slightly and then shape them once it’s cool enough to touch.
STEP 6:
Fix the brackets to the wall and hang your beautiful shelf!
Rope Loops Measurement Guide:
Top Shelf: 300mm
Middle Shelf: 450mm
Bottom Shelf: 600mm
As simple as that! These pretty copper and pine shelves really do pack a lot of punch – I might just make another one for the guest bathroom as well!
Happy DIY-ing!
NOTE: I made the shelves at the beginning of this year for BUCO’s blog.
