Floating Wall Shelf Dupe

Awhile back, I found myself swooning over the Burrow Index Wall Shelves. It’s a truly unique design, but they’re also more than I would spend for a wall shelf. I like a challenge in DIY, hence the Index Wall Shelf Dupe was born. It’s a knockoff of these beautiful shelves, for those of us who want the look, but without the high price tag.

How to Get Started…

The incredible look of these shelves is that they appear to be floating inside of the frame. As a DIYer, I can be limited on the skills or the tools needed to complete a project the way it would be done by others. But, that also means: If I can do it, anyone can!

Materials

• 1 x 2 x 48″ Pine Boards (4 of these will make the two side frames and the inside supports)
• 1 x 6 x 96″ Pine Board (1 of these will give you three 32″ shelves)
• 1 1/4″ Finishing Nails
• Wood Glue
• Sandpaper
• Clean, dry cloths
• Gloves
• Stain
• Polycrylic
• Screws & Anchors

Tools

• Chop Saw
• Brad Nailer
• Palm Sander
• Drill
• Level
• Short Screwdriver

The Process

This Index Wall Shelf Dupe involved a lot of measuring and cutting, and then checking to see if I was matching cuts on all pieces so the frame could end up square.

Step 1: Cut the wood.

I started by cutting the shelves out of the 1 x 6″ pine board. I bought an 8′ board, so I could get three 32″ shelves out of it.

To create the two box “frames” that the shelves would rest inside, I needed 4 long sides and 4 short sides. The long sides were cut at 32″ lengths, edges mitered at a 45º angle, making the inside 30.5″ long.

The short sides would be the tops and bottoms of the frames. Because these determine the depth of the frame, the interior should match the width of the 6″ shelves–which actually measure 5.5″. That means, the inside edge of the 45º cut is 5.5″ and the outside edge ends up at 7″ wide.

The first one: I cut, then checked it against the shelf board. Better to be a *smidge* bigger so they fit. (When I say a *smidge,* that’s about 1/16″)

The support pieces that will hide inside the box frames to actually hold the shelves should be cut at 1″ from the 1×2 boards. You’ll need 12 of these. (Set aside for later.)

Step 2: Sand the Wood.

I used a 180-grit sand paper with my palm sander to gently sand all the wood, being careful not to mess with the angles or lengths I had cut. (It happens faster than you think!)

Step 3: Assemble the Frames.

With wood glue and finishing nails, I assembled the frames, applying pressure to the corners as I nailed.

Let them dry. This is what the finished frames should look like:

Step 4: Prep for Hanging.

I planned to attach these to the wall by drilling through the back board of each frame, right into a stud or wall anchor. In order for the shelves to be level on the wall, the frames needed to have the hardware installation holes in the exact same spots. I drilled two holes in each frame–one at the top, one at the bottom–of the pieces that would be installed against the wall. To make them exact, I created a jig with a pre-drilled hole from a scrap of wood.

I placed the edge flush with the edge of the frame, then I used my drill to create the exact placement of the pilot holes.

Once the holes were drilled in from the back, I created a countersink from the front side to let the screw head nest without worrying about cracking the wood.

This is optional, but I wanted the screws to disappear as much as possible.

Step 5: Attach to the Walls

I know…I know…I seem to be getting ahead of myself. They aren’t ready yet! But, here was my reasoning: I wanted everything up and in place so that I wouldn’t risk messing up the stain–or the walls as I attempted to figure everything out.

I used one frame and one shelf to find the right spots on the wall…checking for studs and to identify how far off the edge of the frame I wanted the shelves to stick out. I decided that about 4.5–5″ works best for the overhang of the shelves on each side, leaving about 19″ in between them. (Do you remember that the holes were already drilled?) I used a tiny drill bit just to mark on the wall where the first hole would go. Then, I used my level to find where the hole should be for the top of the other frame–I went about 19.5″ over. I drilled the pilot holes, then added wall anchors where necessary, and I attached the frames just one screw in the top hole of each frame. The bottoms of both of the frames were still loose. It was another chance to check measurements and verify that everything would be placed properly. Then I checked each frame for vertical level, using that tiny drill bit to poke a small whole through the bottom pre-drilled holes. Then, I attached them in place, checked all measurements and level one more time before I removed everything.

Step 6: Apply Stain

I’ve found that any time you can apply stain prior to assembly, you should. I stained everything with a black stain, Varathane’s Ebony, which adds a rich, dark finish. After the stain dried, I used Polycrylic, in a matte finish, to seal the shelves and resist scratches.

Step 7: Attach Support Pieces

The wooden shelves needed to appear as though they were “floating.” I did this by cutting one inch lengths of the 1×2 pine boards, then sanding, staining, gluing and nailing them on the inside of the frames.Before attaching the one inch “floating” supports, I installed the newly stained and poly’d frames to the wall. They were level in both width and height. Using scrap 1×2 boards, I placed the supports for the bottom shelf. It looked best with two 1×2 lying flat, which means the distance from the bottom of the frame to the bottom of the first support is 1.5 inches.

Once I identified the placement of the bottom supports, I (once again) removed the frames from the wall to attach the supports. You’ll want to use the scrap pieces of 1×2 in place between the bottom of the frame and the bottom of the one inch support. Add glue to the support piece, press firmly, and nail from the interior. I don’t have footage of installing the bottom pieces, but this is what I went through each time I added support pieces.

Put the “shelf” in place, along with 3 placeholder boards in position, add glue to the 1″ support piece, and nail in place. The top two shelves were held in place with support pieces that were installed at a measurement of about 8.5 inches between them. (I did a lot of toying around with different spacers to get the right distance for this.) I ended up using 1×3 spacer blocks to get the exact measurement each time: three 2.5″ boards lying flat, with the “shelf” in place where it will be in the design–pressed up against the support piece.

For the top shelf, I just repeated the same exact steps. And, then, you have to turn the frame over, do the same thing to the other side of the interior. Then, you duplicate all those supports on the other frame. This is why I trust the “placeholder” boards and not just measurements. It ensures that everything is exactly the same. Plus, it’s a lot faster!

Once all of the support pieces are attached, you’re finished! You can install them in place on the wall, and place the floating shelves onto the supports!

It’s a fun way to add unique shelving and style to any room, with a pretty low budget! This shelving was ,created as part of the 8 week One Room Challenge for my son’s room.