Albert Blog: DIY Beautiful Wall Cubby Shelf

Hello friends at Remodelaholics! It’s Ananda from A Piece Of Rainbow, where I blog about home and garden inspirations, and creative DIY projects!

We all love a beautiful and well organized room, such as this gorgeous craft room at Just Between Friends blog.

Are you noticing that wall shelf?

Jonie found this beauty at a local store which has closed. She graciously gave us permission to create a building plan for everyone who wants it. Thank you Jonie!

This unique and versatile wall shelf would look great in so many spaces in a house: kitchen, kid’s room, office, craft room, or even laundry room.

How to Build a Wall Cubby Shelf

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Click here to get a free printable version of this building plan

*All Remodelaholic building plans and tutorials are for personal, non-commercial use only. Use this printable plan as you build, but don’t sell the PDF plan or otherwise distribute the file. (Items built following this tutorial may be sold, but the instructions and PDF file may not.)Thanks!

Before we start building, remember safety first! Please follow good practices to build safely and smartly. Always wear eye and hearing protection. Work on a clean level surface, free of clutter or debris.

Let’s start with the cut list:

All parts are cut from a sheet of ¾” thick plywood.

(1) 9.25” x 40.75” : back side of shelf
(1) 10” x 40.75” : bottom of shelf
(2) 3.5” x 40.75” : top and front trim
(6) 9.25” x 9.25” : shelf dividers
Optional: (2) 3” x 36”, these two pieces are for hanging ( see Step 5 ) and do not need to be very accurate.
Optional: ¾” edge banding if you want to give the plywood cut edges a more finished look.

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Other Materials and Tools:

paint and / or stain for finishing
jig saw, circular saw, sand paper or sanding pad, drill, 1 ½” wood screws
measuring tape, square, pencil, safety glasses!!
Kreg jig ( optional: a 90 degree clamp ) and 1 ½” pocket hole screws

Step 1:

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Drill pocket holes on the back board. Join the back and bottom of shelf together at 90 degrees using 1 ½” pocket hole screws.

A good way to do this is to use Kreg jig and the right angle clamp.

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Image Credit: Kreg Jig

Step 2:

Cut each divider using the measurements below. Cut the curves slowly and carefully with a jigsaw.

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Attach each divider to the back and bottom of shelf using 1 ½” wood screws.

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Step 3:

Add top and front trim pieces to the shelf.

Because these two pieces are not structural, you can screw them at just a couple of end points.

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Step 4: Options for hanging.

One option is to screw the shelf directly to the wall studs.

Another great option is to use French Cleat, which comes with a cleat mounted to the wall and a matching edge cut into the object to be hung.

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You can either buy or make your own French Cleats by cutting a 45 degree slope into two piece of ¾” plywood. The cleat can be the full length of the cabinet, or slightly shorter.

Once the cleat is secured to the wall, the cabinet can be simply lifted onto it. Even a heavy cabinet can be hung easily this way.