Okay y’all, this may be the simplest yet most satisfying project I have done yet! We have given this little house so many additions to make our space functional, yet visually appealing and I have been dying to put these shelves up in our bathroom. This house definetly has challeneged us to simplify and cut back on unneccecary items, yet condensing our bathroom was continually a struggle. We needed something that was pretty, and functional to hide all of our toiletries, hair products, medicines, towels, etc… all in a 2.5X 5 ft space above the toilet. What we had previously definitely was not working in our favor.
Cue our bathroom shelves. I say these were one of the easiest projects to date, mainly because the hardest part was waiting for the stain on our wood to dry so I could put it all together! It’s very rare that I finish a project in one day but these I finished in about 2 hours not including stain dry time-and I only bought the brackets for the assembly of this project, everything else I used I had on hand! WINS all over the place!
I first started off with these L brackets from Hobby Lobby, which at the time were 50% off. I ordered 2 for each shelf, a total of 8. Hanging these guys was super simple-I measured the center of the space above the toilet, then measured 6 inches out to find the where each bracket would sit. Next, I placed my right bracket up against my edge reference point and used a pencil to mark where the screwholes were. Taking a drill bit, I then made a pilot hole for my drywall screws since these would not be in studs. After inserting the anchor, I replaced the bracket and secured it using screws. I used a level to find the placement for the left bracket, and repeated the steps used for the right. I measured 16 inches down for the next shelves and repeated until all 8 brackets were securely in place.
Once the shelving brackets were in place, it was time for the stain. I reused some wood we had laying around in the barn, which measured approx. 1/2 thick and 11 1/2 wide. This would leave a slight gap in the back of the shelves but since this saved me from having to go buy more wood I wasn’t converned-and in the end it doesn’t even show. Retrospectively I would have stained the wood first to save on drying time, but se la vie.
After cutting my wood piece down to 18 inches long, I sanded with 220 grit to give a smooth, refreshed surface for my stain to adhere to. Next, I applied Minwax Pre-Stain (think of this as conditioner for your hair, this step preps the hair and gives a smooth surface for the next product to adhere to evenly). Minwax Early American as my stain color of choice, and since I used scrap wood this was a gamble if it would match the other wood accents in my bathroom. Because stain looks different on every single different type of wood, I typically would test my stain colors but I didn’t have any spare pieces to test. Thankfully this ended up matching close enough for me.
After the stain dried, it was time to assemble and decorate the shelves! I attached the wood to the L brackets with what I calle “baby screws” or #8 wood screws, and there yout have it! Easy, beautiful, functional storage that transformed our bathroom! Do you love them as much as I do? Because after I finished decorating these I could not stop staring! I will link all the bathroom decor on my shop page here!
Talk soon,
xx Lanna