Make your own modern DIY Built-In Shelving with this simple tutorial. Love the natural wood used in this beautiful bathroom renovation!

I love these types of projects; DIY Projects that you can easily modify and recreate for any space or room. When we removed the closet doorway here, I knew we wanted to use this space for built-in shelving.

Built-in shelving is the best way to use those “wasted spaces,” like corners, hallways, and walls. This DIY Built-In Shelving turned out to be one of my favorite projects of the entire bathroom renovation!

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This is the “before” picture. The doorway that you see in the above photo was there before we moved it and shifted the entire layout around.

We took out the doorway and added a barn door on the other side of the wall to give a new access point for our closet. The switch left us with an open space along this wall, which was perfect for some new DIY built-in shelving!

Materials Needed:

3/4″ thick MDF boards

2×4 wood boards

Wood Stain of Your Choice

Polycrylic

Pine shelf board

Tools Needed: 

Kreg Rip Cut

Circular Saw

Mitre Saw

Drill

Screws

How to Make Your DIY Built-In Shelving

There are a few steps to making these built-ins fit like a glove. If you build them properly, most of your guests will wonder how you did it!

Measuring Your Opening

The first step is to build an MDF box that you will fill with 2×4 shelving.

Start by measuring your opening to determine your outside dimensions of your built-ins. You need to find the height, width and depth. We had framed our opening with 2x4s before starting our shelving project, so that we would have pieces to nail/screw into.

Cutting Your MDF Box

Next, cut your pieces for the box using MDF. You need to cut a back piece, two side pieces, a top and a bottom board according the measurements to collected.

We used a rip-cut to easily make the straight cuts for this box – it connects to your circular saw to make perfectly straight cuts. Remember to consider the thickness of the material you are using when you cut your sides and back pieces.

Constructing the MDF box and Shelves

The next step is to put your MDF box together. Dry fit the four sides and back all together. We used clamps to temporarily hold all the pieces together. If you’ve able, you can bring the entire box into your space and make sure it fits perfectly into your opening.

Before assembling, we pre-drilled the holes (pilot hole and counter sunk bit) at all the joints; we did 3 holes per joint. When you’re ready and confident that everything to to size, remove the clamps, glue the edges, and screw the box back together.

Next, lay out your shelves inside the box. We divided the box into 4 equal spaces to make three shelves total.

Put 2x4s at the front and back of the box where you want the shelves to sit. These boards will be used to attach your shelves. Once you have cut your shelf frames cut, glue and screw them into place.

Below is what the shelf will look like with the 2x4s in place at the front and back. You can see there is a small space left at the front. That space is the width of our pine shelf board, which you are using for the actual shelf. The space is left at the front so that the shelves will be flush with the wall.

Installing the MDF Box in Place

Bring your MDF box to your space and put it in place. Install the MDF box, making sure it is level and screw to your structure. Ensure that it’s screwed into the studs and watch out for utilities in the walls (electrical, plumbing, etc). Putty and touch up finish as required.

You can install trim to finish the box (around edge of box and onto drywall), or you can tape and use drywall putty to blend it into the drywall to achieve a smooth flush transition, like we did.

If you choose to try and tape it into the drywall, router/groove the outside edge of the MDF box slightly (about 1/8″) to allow room for the drywall tape and mud. Putty any screw holes, then, sand, prime, and paint the MDF case.

Build Pine Board Shelves for Built-in Shelving

Measure the inside dimensions of your box where the shelves will go. Each shelf will require 3 pieces: a top, a front, and a bottom. The front board will have a 45 degree cut on the top and bottom, the bottom and top boards will have a 45 degree on the side facing the front board.

When you are measuring the front board, remember to take into account the thickness of the shelf material. Cut all of your pine boards, keep the wood grain the same for the entire shelf when possible (top, front, and bottom).

You can see the top board below (under the polycrylic) with one straight edge and one 45 degree edge.

Finishing

If you are using wood, stain and varnish the shelves prior to installing in the MDF case. If you are using MDF shelves, prime and paint them. I used my Natural Wood Stain from Minwax. When that was dry, I protected everything with Polycrylic.

Attach the shelves to the 2x4s in the MDF case. We used glue and finish nails. You can see how the grain of the wood remains the same across the top and front pieces of the shelving.

Our Finished Built-In Shelving

Now, enjoy your new DIY built-in shelving! I LOVE the look of these shelves in our renovated ensuite!

I’m really happy that we chose to go with a natural wood stain. I love the look of the natural wood against our white paint. The shelves are not only practical, but also beautiful.

See the full, beautiful Modern Bathroom Renovation!