As many of you know, I have been in the process of revamping my bedroom.  I use the space as my office as well.  I shared Part 1 and Part 2 of my new desk system a few weeks back, and I can’t wait to show part 3 next week! These DIY media shelves I am sharing today came as a bit of a solution.   We decided to hang our tv on the wall, and I gave my hubby very specific instructions on where to hang it.  I leave for 15 minutes and the tv is about 12″ higher than where I asked for it to be…  Yep.  He won that one.  So, I canned my original media console idea, and decided to go a different direction instead.  I do love how it turned out!  Check out my DIY Media Shelves!

DIY Media Shelves Tutorial

Media Shelves - Free Woodworking Plans

DIY Media Shelves

I know, I know… I have been very into shelves lately!  I’m a phasey person, and shelves are my current phase 🙂

This is yet another very simple project that costs very little.  Let’s get started!  As always, we have FREE printable plans for these babies.  You can click HERE or the button below to download, save or print the plans.  Thanks so much to Jay of Jay’s Custom Creations for putting all of Shanty 2 Chic’s original ideas into printable plans for our readers.  Y’all check him out!  Great guy with great ideas!

Print Media Shelf Plans

I started by making the cuts for the support of the shelf, or the part that you don’t see.  This part uses the 2×4 boards.  For each shelf, I had 1 2×4 cut to 48″ and 5 2×4 cut to 9 3/4″.

wood for media shelf

shelf support cuts

DIY Media Shelves – kreg jig must have

I used my Kreg Jig to add 1.5″ pocket holes to one end of each of the smaller pieces.

K5 Kreg Jig

Then, I attached them to the longer 2×4 using Gorilla Wood Glue and 2.5″ pocket hole screws.  I used my Kreg Right Angle Clamp to hold the blocks in place while I attached them.  I spaced the smaller boards evenly along each longer board.

Kreg Jig for Floating Shelves

After I had both supports put together, I made the cuts for the shelf.  For each shelf, I had 1 – 1×12 cut at 48″.

wood for top of media shelf

I also had 1 – 1×8 cut at 49.5″…

building the media shelves

And 2 – 1×8 cut at 11.25″.  I added two 3/4″ pocket holes to these pieces.  I will use these holes to attach the front 1×8 in just a bit.

Sides of media shelves

I started by attaching the shorter side pieces to my 1×12.  I used wood glue first on the edge of the smaller piece like this…

wood glue on shelf

DIY Media Shelves – Ryobi drills are the best! 

Next, I used my Ryobi drill to attach these pieces using 1.25″ pocket hole screws.

pocket holes for shelf

This is what the shelf looks like before attaching the front 1×8 board.

pocket holes shelf

 The final step on this part is attaching that front 1×8 through all of your remaining pocket holes.  I also used 1.25″ pocket hole screws on this part.

building the shelf box

Building shelves under tv

And badabing badaboom you have a shelf!

floating media shelf box

Before hanging the shelves, I gave both of the shelves a coat of my fav stain… Varathane Stain in Early American.  You can find this at the Home Depot!  One coat, dries in an hour.  Best stuff ever!  Once that dried, I used my Ryobi Corner Cat sander to distress the finish and make the whole thing look really vintage.

Now to hang it.  The first step is attaching the frames to the wall.  I did this using 3″ wood screws through the frame and into the studs of my walls.  Anytime I am attaching something to my wall, I use my Ryobi Impact Driver.  For those of you with the drill already, you want to make sure you get this one on your list.  Or, you can check out this kit that comes with both tools… Such a great deal!  You can literally hold the driver to the screw and with almost no pressure at all, you can drive your screw.  It’s AMAZING.   Mark your studs using a stud finder first.  I then drew a small line on the frame where each stud would line up.  Make sure to pre drill on this part to keep the wood from splitting!

Attach frame of shelf to wall

You can see here I have the bottom shelf done and the frame of the second shelf attached to the wall.

Shelves under tv

Once the frame is attached, slide your shelf piece over it like this…

Building floating shelves

Then. I used my drill to go through the top of the shelf and into the frame making sure it was attached to the 2×4 of the frame.  I used six 1.5″ wood screws for this part.  I wasn’t worried about seeing them because I knew my decorations would cover the holes.  Be sure to pre-drill on this part as well!

Predrill to attach shelf

attach the floating shelf

That’s it!  I did leave the bottom of these shelves open, because I knew mine were close to the floor and nobody would ever see under them.  Plus, it makes accessing the electrical outlet where everything is plugged in really easy.  That bottom shelf holds our cable box and Apple TV, and I just used my Ryobi Jigsaw to cut a small half circle out the back to run the cords under the shelf.

Ryobi Jig Saw

Ryobi Cordless Jig Saw

So, although I am not at all pleased with the height he placed the TV, I am happy with the solution.  Overall I am really happy with how the shelves turned out, and I added a couple of poufs from Target under the shelves so the kids can pull them out and watch TV when they want.

Here are a few more shots!

DIY Media Shelves Tutorial

Media Shelves - Free Woodworking Plans

Media Shelf Tutorial - Free Woodworking Plans

DIY Media Shelves

Thanks so much for stopping by guys!  Let me know if you have any questions at all!

I would LOVE for you to share and Pin these shelves with all your friends!  You guys are awesome!

Happy Tuesday 🙂

Whitney

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24 Comments

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  2. Hello love your work, my question is we are going to build floating shelves for our bars but want to use the top with glass or acryli…how would you support colorful bottles on the top?

    The design is only 36” long…thoughts thanks, che R

  3. Quick question, do you have the two pillows under your setup their strictly for decoration, or are they there because you have to hide your power ports (ie. the power strip)? Or is your power strip for the TV and the cable box hidden within your shelving system???

  4. I love those poufs! Where did you get them? I am starting to build these shelves this week. Are they the same length as your TV? I have a 32″ TV and I am thinking of doing 36″ shelves.

  5. Hey! How’d you put a bottom panel on the second shelf?? Was it strong enough to hold the media equipment? Thanks!

  6. Hi. How sturdy are these shelves? Could they hold a t.v.? And what about a toddler messing around with the bottom shelf?

  7. am i missing something or is there an extra 1x12x4′ piece in the plans? The supply list has 1x12x8 & 1x12x4 – technically don’t we need just (2) 1x12x4? Just wondering! I love these shelves and am about to build them myself!

  8. Hi there- LOVE this cite! Sorry if you’ve answered already, I just don’t see it all. What did you do for the stain for this? Also, where are all of your wires. We have our tv wires hidden already, but the cable box, etc. How much was total cost? THANKS!

  9. So let me start off by saying I found your workbench plans online and was telling my wife about your site. Needless to say I never had a chance to start building my workbench because she fell in love with your shelves. Your plans were so easy to follow and produced amazing results. The only thing I don’t have is a Kreg Jig, which seems pretty sweet. Thanks Again!

  10. So let me start off by saying I found your workbench plans online and was telling my wife about your site. Needless to say I never had a chance to start building my workbench because she fell in love with your shelves. Your plans were so easy to follow and produced amazing results. The only thing I don’t have is a Kreg Jig, which seems pretty sweet. Thanks Again!

  11. did i miss what kind of wood stain you used for this? would you mind sharing?? 🙂 love this we can’t wait to make it!

  12. Nice job! We also have our cords hidden like that in the walls. But I must say that TV is extra high! I hope your sofa is far back because you’re likely to end up with a crick in your neck after watching a movie as long as say Avatar! lol Husbands! Why can’t they just listen to us sometimes?? 😉

  13. I really, really love these! You did a great job with them! I’m trying to figure out where all your TV cords are and how/why I can’t see them? How’d you hide them?

    1. Thank you! I cut a small hole in the sheet rock behind the TV using a jab saw. They are really inexpensive and easy to use! Then I pushed the wires through that hole and cut another hole next to the outlet which is hidden behind the bottom shelf. I pulled the wires through that and plugged them in. I will add these details to the post! Thanks!!