DIY Industrial Shelves (IKEA Hack)

For my birthday, I got pretty much my dream gift–a dual tap kegorator. I’m super into Nitro Cold Brew Coffee ever since having my first heavenly cup and so I’ve been dreaming of having it at home. Because it’s dual taps, I plan on having one tap for Nitro Cold Brew Coffee and one tap for beer. Eventually, I hope to brew my own beer but for the time being keg rentals should do just fine.

The kegorator is in the corner of the dining room and I wanted to create a little coffee space reminiscent of some of my favorite spots so I decided to add a couple shelves. I dig the coffee shops with the industrial vibe, mixing metals and wood tones so I wanted something similar. When I was looking at shelves that I liked, they were pretty expensive so I decided to just DIY it.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not very handy. I have plenty of ideas but I can hardly use a drill without getting overly excited/nervous and messing something up. But these shelves were really easy to make, and if you, like me, have someone who can do the drilling for you, even better.

I love the final product. They’re exactly what I wanted.

I bought wood at a local hardware store and had them cut it down to size then sanded and stained the wood. It’s important to sand the wood really well. I opted not to use a coating on top of the paint, mostly because I was lazy, but you certainly could (and probably should, though I haven’t noticed any ill effect to not using it).

Then I used two EKBY Valter brackets from Ikea ($5 each) and drilled them to the wall, followed by the two shelves. After that came the fun part where I put up coffee growlers, plants, etc.

I love it! and now I finally have the perfect spot to walk downstairs in a haze of sleepiness and grab the perfect cup of brew or grab a mug and pour my friends the perfect beer.

There are printable directions at the bottom of this post for how to make these DIY Industrial Shelves.

DIY Industrial Shelves (IKEA Hack)

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Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

A Do It Yourself guide to making Industrial Shelves. (Ikea Ekby Valter Hack)

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Ingredients

• (2) 8in x 23in pieces of wood (I used scrap wood from a home improvement store)
• (4) 7 1/8 Ikea Ekby Valter Brackets (Black)
• Screws + Wall Anchors
• Wood Stain of choice (I used Dark Walnut)
• Wood conditioner (optional)
• Paintbrush / foam brush
• Fine Grit Sand Paper (220)

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Instructions

1. Sand wood making sure to sand all edges well. The smoother, the better.
2. Once finished, wipe the shelf with a damp rag to get off the grit.
3. Stain the shelves using wood stain of choice. You may need to do multiple coats. I did a few until I got the effect that I wanted.
4. Let dry well.
5. If you want, you can put a finish on top of the stain. I didn’t because I’m kind of lazy and just didn’t feel like it but that’s totally up to you.
6. Once the stain has dried and the boards are ready to go, drill your brackets into the wall. This is pretty simple. If you aren’t in a stud, use a wall anchor. Then it’s just about measuring correctly and drilling into the wall.
7. Once the brackets are in the wall, it’s time to attach the shelf. Make sure you put the board on the brackets and use a leveler to ensure that they are level.
8. You can make pilot holes using a small drill bit but we didn’t find this necessary. We just drilled right into the boards.
9. That’s it, you’ve got shelves!