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Trash To Treasure

Utility shelf

21 years ago

Here's a utility shelf I made from furring strips (1x2) and premade shelving. The shelving is neat because it's actually made from wheat and epoxy, and it's painted. You will need 2 supports for the shelf, shaped like a triangle.

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Comments (4)

heydeborah
21 years ago
Hi Chuck, i don't post much on here -- i am a looker, but i must say you have the most fantastic ideas, keep them coming, plus they are easy enough for a gal like me to do, and they look professional. do you have any ideas for those wood pallets you can get for free, seems like there are a ton of them around my city all the time. again thanks for your great ideas!
chuckr30
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks. I like to keep things simple and quick.

Pallets have been used in whole to make the 4 sides for a compost bin. I also take them apart and use the slats to make shelving in the garage (freestanding or attached to the wall).

To make freestanding shelves, I take 2x4's and cut 4 of them for each shelf. Nail (and glue) them to form a ring which will be 1 shelf. Nail the 2x4's so they are 3.5" high, and 1.5" wide, do not lay them flat. Laying them upward like this provides more strength.

Cover the top with the slats from pallets cut to size.

Now make 3 or 4 shelves total.

Cut 4 2x4s for the legs, about 92" long. Now, starting at the bottom, nail each leg to the sides of a shelf. Go up about 24", nail another shelf to the legs.

When placing each shelf, measure from the BOTTOM of each leg and measure up, making a pencil mark on each leg where the TOP of the shelf will line up. DO NOT MEASURE FROM THE SHELF BELOW as it might not be level.

So, for the first shelf (bottom shelf), measure 4" from the bottom of each leg and make a mark. For next shelf, add 24", so make a mark at 28" on each leg. Add another 24" to make a mark at 52", etc.

I hope that's clear. It's hard to visualize without a picture but it's really quite easy.

If you want your top shelf level with no legs sticking above it, start nailing shelves to the legs starting at the top. Then go down. Nail your bottom most shelf so it's 1/2 to 1" from the floor in case of water in the garage.
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heydeborah
21 years ago
Wow! i can see it exactly! and another plus it is simple enough for ME to make! I'm going out to pick up some of those pallets this afternoon! i'll let you know how it turns out! thanks again!
chuckr30
Original Author
21 years ago
Here's plans for the 2x4 shelving.

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