Introduction: Suspended Rope Shelf
We have a little room attached to the side of our home, called "the mud room". It was/is supposed to be a place to store boots and such when coming in from outside when it's snowing or raining, etc. We figured this space could be better put to use as a nursery for our garden and for bringing some plants inside during winter.
My wife proposed I make a shelf from rope. I took the challenge and built a simple rope suspended shelf. Its of course sized to fit exactly to the dimensions of the room, and also to have descending shelves to match up with the concrete stairs. It worked out pretty well!
Supplies
Rope of your choosing.
Shelf wood. We used 12" x 8' x 5/8" boards, they look almost like butcher block made up from small rectangles of wood.
Strong hooks for the ceiling. At least 4 depending on your design.
Tools
Saw (table saw recommended, but a decent jig saw also works)
Drill
Step 1: Design
First thing you need to do is figure out your design. How many shelves? How high for each? How long and deep? For my design, I figured I needed 4 shelves. 3 of them are shorter while the bottom 4th one extends longer. This is because there is a window on the wall. The wood I found was in 12" deep sheets so I made the shelves 12" which was a good size for the space.
For the rope you are going to need to measure each shelf, plus the length to reach the ceiling. Give yourself a few extra inches for each shelf for making the knots, and extra at the top for a knot. It's better to have a little too much than too little. Also if you are going to make crosses on some shelves, account for that extra length as well (hopefully you can remember your hypotenuse..). I just got a couple good sized packs of rope and measured as I went because I like to live dangerously, and I just kind of built this by the seat of my pants since I didn't plan it ahead of time like I usually do.
Step 2: Cut
Measure twice, cut once. Make sure you get all your shelves measured to fit and then cut them all out. If needed sand all corners a little to remove burrs and slightly round them. Then drill your holes in each corner with a bit that will let you easily get the rope through, but does not leave any slack to move side to side. In my case, I have a bottom shelf that needed rope support in the middle as well as the corners.
Step 3: Hooks
You will need at least four good solid hooks. I used chromed heavy duty loops and I was able to locate studs into which to screw them. Drill a pilot hole first. If you need to use drywall anchors make sure they can support the planned weight of whatever you are putting on the shelves plus extra to spare.
My ceiling sloped and it was added on after the house was built so the studs are kind of weird, and so I have some of the loops put in at weird angles.
Step 4: Tie
This is the tricky part. Start from the top by tying your ropes to the ceiling loops. Then feed it through the holes in the shelves, starting from the top shelf. Raise it up to where you want it. I used clamps on each corner to hold the rope while I leveled each shelf.
Make a mark on the rope under the shelf so you can see easily where you want the knot to be. I used a "double overhand knot" which makes for a nice stopper. This is just like a regular knot only you go through the loop twice. With a little practice you will be able to adjust these to be just where you want them to be before pulling them tight.
Make your way down one shelf at a time. I used a combination of some ropes crossing and some going straight down to the next shelf. You could try tying knots above and below each shelf, or tying the ropes together where they cross, for more stability. I'm not putting anything heavy on these shelves and they are against a wall on three sides so it seemed stable enough.
Additional note on the rope ends. I recommend using some type of nylon / plastic rope, and then when you cut the ends, immediately use a lighter to melt the ends so they do not fray. Actually I found that melting the rope slightly where you want to cut it, before you cut, works well to keep them from immediately fraying, and then melt the ends directly a bit more after the cut. This will keep them intact especially as you are trying to stick them through the holes.
