DIY Built-In Shelving

I have a very strange coat closet that’s located over the stairs. The floor is slanted, which means that the kids dump their backpacks there and it all falls out every time the door is opened. So I decided a false floor and built-in shelving would be a good solution. My closet already had one horizontal shelf across the top. If you don’t have one, you’ll need to build that first since it holds the vertical shelving in place.

To build the horizontal shelf, measure the width of the closet and cut a board to that length. The width will need to be at least as deep as you want your vertical shelving to be. 14 inches is a good size.

Cut supporting brackets from 2-inch thick boards. You will need 3: one for each side, and one for the back wall. The side brackets should be the cut to the same width as your board (14 inches, for me). Use your stud finder to locate studs, then screw the support brackets into place.

Lay the shelf on the wood brackets and use long wood screws to attach, screwing from the top of the shelf downward into the brackets.

Now we can make the vertical built-in shelves. Measure from the floor to the bottom of the horizontal shelf. You want it to be a snug fit, so err on the generous side if you have carpeting. Cut the wood to this length, and no wider than the horizontal shelf (14 inches, in my case). The board needs to be at least one inch thick.

I had a weird slanted floor to contend with, so I made a template of the angle by tracing where the wall met the floor using a piece of wrapping paper. I then traced that angle onto my board for a perfect fit.

If you currently have a coat hanging rod in the closet, remove it, along with the end caps.

Have someone help you slide the long board into place. I chose to place mine 15 inches from the wall for square cubbies, but it’s up to you. Have your partner hold the board so it’s straight and vertical. Screw through the horizontal shelf and down into the vertical shelving. I added three wood screws.

Your vertical board should be fairly steady, but it will be rock-solid once we add the cubby shelving. Measure between your vertical shelf board and the wall. Decide how many shelves you want and cut them to that width, making them as deep as the vertical board.

Add 3 wood brackets for each shelf to rest on, as you did for the horizontal shelf. Screw the shelves into the brackets.

Stabilize the shelving unit by screwing through the outside of the vertical board and into the sides of each cubby board. I added one towards the front and one towards the back for each cubby shelf, being careful to screw straight through the center of each side.

My weird closet also required a false floor, but you probably don’t have that problem. Paint the shelving unit if desired.

Cut the coat hanging rod to fit between the wall and your vertical board. Re-install the end caps and rod. That’s it! I did this project by myself (well, hubby held the vertical board for a while) in 3 hours. The composite wood only cost me $8! Definitely a worthwhile investment.