MIYM – UPCYCLED SHELF

So I had a raised garden bed. Had being the keyword here. The ants ruined it. It was made of ceder planks so I thought I'd be okay concerning bugs such as termites which are big around these parts. I never once thought about the ants. I did think about the big carpenter ants when get but they don't like cedar, I truly never thought that regular red ants would wreck havoc on my raised bed.

Before: Rot & Bug Stuff Galore

They ate and dug away so much of the raised bed it looked like termites ran through it. When I gave it a good look, no termites. Just ants. Finding shelter from rain. Perfect place for them. Sigh. I was upset and sad because I was getting ready to clean it out and put new soil in for new seedlings. But there was nothing I could do. So I kept the planks just wondering if they can be salvaged. Luckily I was able to save 7 out of 8 planks. I decided on a shelf. I have been wanting one for my craft table to house finished products and use for photos. Instead of spending $30 and up for compressed saw dust ones, I have an opportunity to make my own. Now, I have never built anything before. I have followed instructions and put stuff together, but never actually built something. Here was my chance. It isn't perfect my any means, but I love it. I love the rustic look, I love how it looks against the white wall, I love that I did it on my own. It could have been done in a day for someone who is familiar with this kind of stuff but I was new to it and was feeling a little under the weather so it took the whole weekend. Which I still don't think is that bad for a newbie.

You don't have to use old planks you can easily visit your hardware store and get some new ones, but it's kinda nice to prevent something from going into the trash.

Here are the dimensions for my shelf. There really is not right or wrong way to put this together. So don't worry about instructions.

30 in x 20 in x 7 in

I have shelves at the 10 inch, 20 inch and 30 inch (top) mark

Quick Info:

I used a regular wood saw, wood screws, and sand paper

Planks are 3 ½ inches wide. Adjust your shelf according to how deep you want it to be based off the width of the planks your choose.

Side Planks (4) – 30 inches long

Shelves (6) – 20 inches long

*Shelf Supports (4) 7 inches x 1 ½ inches : You can opt for L brackets or no supports if you won't have heavy objects on it.

After: Cleaned & Cut

Tips:

Measure twice! One thing I learned is the saw will cut away more than you think. So for the shelf to be 20 inches be sure to mark a second line at 21 inches less or more depending on the thickness of your saw.

Sand EVERYTHING before putting it all together. It's so much harder to do it afterwards. If you decide to paint do one coat prior to putting everything together.

Pilot holes are you friend. Trust me. It will really help screwing the pieces together. Makes the process much faster.

That's really it. Just decide how you want your shelves to be and that's it.

What have you upcycled recently? Share some photos with us in the comments below!