When sharing some movies of our lavatory on Instagram lately, a lot of you observed a straightforward replace we added: a picket, floating shelf within the window. It was such a easy DIY challenge that we did on a whim some time in the past (and it was extraordinarily reasonably priced too!) so we needed to indicate you the straightforward steps to make one your self.
For reference, that is what the window regarded like after we first confirmed you the earlier than and afters of this house again in 2020. We’ve at all times used the deep windowsill for some decor and greenery, however including the additional shelf gave us room for extra issues, and simply usually provides some good curiosity to a previously non-descript window.
The steps for this rely considerably in your particular window, however right here’s what we used for ours:
Instruments & Supplies
*You might additionally get the board lower to measurement at Lowe’s or Residence Depot, during which case you wouldn’t want a noticed & may possible use a small hand noticed or hack noticed for the skinny quarter spherical helps.
We had all of those provides readily available – even the scrap piece of butcher block – so all we’d like was about $2 in cove molding to make this challenge occur!
Why This Window Was A Good Spot For A Shelf
This challenge gained’t work on each window, however ours was an ideal candidate for just a few causes. First, it has a deep sill (about 4″), which implies we may add a 4″ shelf with out it bumping out into the room in any respect. Something considerably shallower would possibly make it tougher to suit most issues on there (though our picket arms from Mexico simply want about an inch of wooden to stability on). Certain, we may’ve made it stick out into the room a little bit bit (which you are able to do in case your sill is narrower), however we personally like how the shelf is flush with the window casing because it was already deep sufficient to carry what we needed up there.
Secondly, this window has frosted glass in it – which means it doesn’t want a blind or curler shade to offer us privateness. Most window remedies would intervene with a shelf like this, so any home windows that want masking (bed room or lavatory) may be a no-go. This could possibly be superior in a kitchen window although! Even when it’s not frosted and has a pleasant view. It’s additionally value noting that this window got here frosted with our home, however we’ve added frosting movie to home windows in loads of our earlier homes earlier than – so right here’s a tutorial for that if you happen to’d wish to take away your lavatory shade, frost the window, after which add this shelf.
Lastly, since this isn’t a sleeping house, we didn’t want to fret about egress – i.e. when bedrooms want a viable escape route in case of emergency. Loos are usually not required to satisfy egress, however we have been certain to put in our shelf in a approach that allowed the window to open behind it.
We additionally opted simply to carry the shelf in with just a few small end nails (as you’ll learn in a second) so it can simply be knocked out of the way in which if there’s a actual emergency. These are all good issues to consider earlier than including any shelf in entrance of a window that opens.
How We Constructed The Window Shelf
This challenge was so fast that we didn’t cease to take a single progress image, however I believe you’ll discover the method fairly self-evident from the after images. It’s mainly a bit of butcher block that rests upon two small items of cove molding!
The wooden we used is this butcher block as a result of we had a scrap piece left over from this built-in storage challenge. It’s fairly dear if you happen to have been to buy it JUST for this shelf, so there are actually different choices – even a primary 2×4″ may work! However, relying on the inside span of your window (ours is 28″), you’ll most likely need one thing sturdier than a regular 1″ thick board. One thing that skinny may sag over time with out assist within the center, particularly if you happen to plan to place heavy-ish gadgets on it.
Since we knew the butcher block was very sturdy, we merely needed to discover a strategy to prop it up in place. We didn’t need large obnoxious brackets, so we determined to do that low-profile cove molding as a substitute, which blends in properly with the window trim, nearly giving us the impact of a floating wooden shelf.
So with that plan in thoughts, the steps themselves have been easy:
- Minimize your wooden shelf to measurement utilizing a noticed (ours measured 4″ deep & 28″ extensive) or have it pre-cut
- Minimize two items of cove molding to the depth of the window trim (ours was 4″)
- Measure & mark the specified placement of the underside of your shelf on both sides of your window trim
- Nail the cove molding into the window trim, utilizing a stage to ensure they don’t slope ahead or again.
- Add your wooden shelf and test once more for stage.
- Nail your shelf to the cove molding (we went from beneath) to maintain it in place.
- Caulk nail holes and paint them to match your trim
The nails we used have been simply easy 1.5″ end nails in our nail gun – nothing tremendous heavy-duty in any respect – as a result of the shelf itself actually isn’t that heavy. You’ll be able to even see the divots the place we put the nails in (guess they might use a second coat of caulk!).
Once more, this was a extremely fast, tremendous easy DIY challenge that we did within the spur of the second with some leftover butcher block, however we love the way it turned out, and extremely advocate it when you have a room that would use some further curiosity.
Oh, and if you happen to’re questioning extra about what’s ON the cabinets – apart from the 2 crops – these are picket arms coated with milagro charms that Sherry picked up on our Mexico household trip final 12 months. We wish to joke that from the surface it appears to be like like arms recreating that scene from Titanic.
Different DIY Shelf Tasks
When you’re in search of some extra DIY shelf initiatives, we’ve bought loads of these:
*This publish accommodates affiliate hyperlinks, so we might earn a small fee if you make a purchase order by hyperlinks on our website at no extra value to you.