Introduction: DIY Shelf From Reclaimed Door

About: Jason Barlow. Aspiring Tamer of Wood. Sharing in my journey of woodworking and making quality hand made items.

Due to my darling bride's affection for Christmas time, the closet located in the guest room is filled to the rim with jolly ole’ decorations. So we needed a place for guests to hang their clothes. I had seen designs on Pinterest showing a combination of wood and iron pipe and loved the rustic combo. Here's what I did:

Step 1: Cut Door to Size.

I used the cuttoff from my DIY Headboard from Reclaimed Door project for this shelf. The door I used had two smaller panels at the top and that made for a cool design. It measured 14 ¼” by 29 ¾”.

Step 2: Wash With Soap and Water.

Step 3: Sand and Prime.

I sanded up to 220 grit.

Step 4: Paint Color of Your Choice.

I used Valspar Swiss Coffee latex paint. Let it dry. I distressed the corners and some of the edges to make it more rustic looking.

Step 5: Coat With Sealer.

BE CAREFUL. I used a brush-on lacquer and it turned the paint yellow.
Next time I will use a spray polyurethane or a poly-acrylic. Follow directions for sanding between coats and drying time.

Step 6: Plan Your Pipe Layout and Purchase Parts.

Below is a list of what I used. This is the harder (time consuming) part. I measured to the center of the shelf from the wall and figured I could get close without having to cut the pipes to specific lengths. I went with ½” pipes and fittings because they seemed to be cheaper. I took some time piecing this together in the middle of the isle at the big box store but they didn’t seem to mind.

4x ½” floor flange fittings

2x ½” 8” pipes (braces from wall)

2x ½” 90deg elbows

2x ½” Tee fitting

2x ½” 5 ½ pipes (vertical braces)

2x ½” 1” nipple fittings

1x 24” pipe (or as wide as you want shelf)

Step 7: Paint Pipes/fittings.

Because the fittings/pipes weren’t a perfect match, I decided to paint
the whole setup with a glossy black spray paint. I also painted the heads of the screws to match the flanges.

Step 8: Prepare Shelf.

To give it a “floating shelf” kind of feel, I routed out a dado in the back of the shelf and cut a piece of scrap wood that fits inside the dado to attach it to the wall for extra support. If you don’t have a way to do that, you could always use another way to secure the piece to the wall ("L" brackets, supports, etc.)

Step 9: Assemble and Mount.

Put the two pieces together and mount to the wall. I used a piece of
wood to hold the shelf level while I screwed it (from top down) to the scrap cleat. I couldn’t decide whether or not to put the two together then mount to the wall or attach them separately and then connect. I ended up doing a little of both. It was quite difficult to get everything right. I think if had done it over again, 1) I would have had help putting it on the wall, and 2) I would have left it all in one piece and put it on the wall all at one time.

Mounting tip. Make sure that you use good wall anchors
or screw it into a stud. Or in my case, I did both. I screwed the scrap cleat into the studs and put in drywall anchors for the pipe flanges because they did not match up with the studs.

Step 10: Sit Back, Relax and Enjoy Your Hard Work.

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions on this project, feel free to contact me.

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