DIY Frame Shelves

Many of you know I have been finishing off a bedroom for one of my girls over the past several weeks.  I closed off a loft space upstairs to give her a new room, and I have been busy getting it all decked out.  Last week I shared her DIY corbel desk I created for under $85.  I decided to fill up the blank wall space above it with these really cute and simple DIY frame shelves!  Look how fun they are!

This is such simple project, and a great way to reuse old frames or to dress up cheap frames.  I started with some old frames I used on my old photo wall.  Most of these frames were from Walmart and Hobby Lobby, and they were all super cheap.  I started by taking the glass and backing out and removing any hardware on the back leaving a blank frame.  Then, I measured both sides of the frames.

Next, you will need some 1×4 boards.  I used all scrap for mine.  I actually had scrap 1×4 MDF, but pine will work!  Really anything will!  You will make two cuts for each side.  So, I had 2 cuts at 8″ and 2 at 11″ since that was the measurement of my frame.  Each frame will be different, so just cut yours to size.

Next I added a line of Gorilla wood glue and used my Ryobi Airstrike Nail gun to make a box from these pieces.  I used 3 nails on each corner like this.

Your finished box should look a bit like this…

You can see how it measures the same as the opening of the frame…

Next, I used a line of wood glue around the edge of the frame like this…

I laid my frame on top of my box and used 1 1/4″ brad nails through the frame and into the box to hold it together.

The finished boxes looked a bit like this…

My final step was painting them.  Before I did that, I used  a bit of wood filler to fill all of my nail holes.

I painted all of the boxes and frames with my very favorite spray paint color.  I used Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch in Heirloom White.  You can get this at Home Depot.

Once they dried I was ready to hang them up!  I used command strips for this part.  These things are the BOMB.  They make life so easy.  I decided to use 3 hangers on each frame.

I just attached the strips in pairs, attached them to each box, and pulled the back piece off before attaching the frames to the wall.

I filled each of her boxes with stuff she uses for art and reading.  I found the really cute ampersand HERE at Birch Lane!  The awesome task lamp is also a Birch Lane find!  You can see it HERE!  It’s one of our fav new stores for accessories… Such cute stuff!

Here is how they turned out!

So fun!

I hope you guys love them as much as she does 🙂  I would LOVE for you to PIN and share these frames with all of your peeps!  You guys are the best!

You can also check out the other projects I have done in her room below!

DIY Corbel Desk

DIY Board and Batten Wall

DIY Built-In Daybed 

DIY Floating Shelf or Mantle

DIY Barn Door Media Console

Large Wall Letters