How to Make Cheap Shelves

Never enough storage space? Nowhere to put things? And no budget? Here are some ways to make cheap shelves quickly.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wood for shelves
• Odd pieces of wood
• Cinder blocks
• Bricks
• Twist Tie - the kind on a spool
• Heavy Cardboard boxes
• Wood glue
• Paint
• Contact paper - patterned and/or Clean

Use What You Have

1. Look around the house, basement, shed or those of your family and best friends for good junk-like those things on the 'things you'll need' list. It's amazing how many things we can use that are just hanging around.

2. Cinder blocks are great for storing things. Put two of them on the floor at each end of the space you have for your shelves. Make sure that it isn't longer than about four feet. If it is, you'll need a cinder block in the middle, too. Put a board or shelf on top of the blocks, add two more blocks, another shelf and continue until it's the height you want. If there's space for you to get to the ends of the shelf you can store things in the little cubbyholes of the blocks themselves. Office supplies, tape, stapler, or CDs, or anything else that fits will tuck right in.

3. Stack bricks using two piles of four or six and then adding your board. Repeat the same size piles of brick with each shelf you add.

4. Use old plastic milk crates for instant shelves of cubes. Stack them beside and on top of each other until you have the size you want. If you want them to be a little more stable, tie them together with plastic coated twist ties. Just loop the end through both cubes, twist and cut. You can put as many as you want. A twist tie in each corner will make it pretty sturdy. Cubes can hold anything-books, t-shirts, pantry items, computer games. The list is endless.

5. If you can get a collection of everybody's old phone books, you can stack these to use as shelf holders. They work well if you cover each one in contact paper. They'll be stronger-and you won't have all that paper that can attract mice and roaches.

6. Use really sturdy cardboard boxes like those found at an office supply store-those that paper comes in are really good. They usually give these away if you just call ahead. You can cover these with contact paper, too for added strength and better looks. These will hold things that don't weigh too much like stacks of t- shirts, computer games, small paperbacks, extra purses, stuffed animals and games. These can be lined with contact paper inside, too or painted and then covered in clear contact paper. These are great for baby things like diapers, clothing, changing supplies, and toys. They work nicely against the back of a closet as well.

7. You can use old pieces of wood between shelves. Cut them into lengths that are as long as your shelf board is wide. Use as many as you need high to support a shelf. If they are narrow boards, like 2x4s you can stack use two side by side. Glue each supporting block together with wood glue. If you have 1x4s, just stack them higher. Any wood can be used as long as you keep the blocks the same height. If they don't all match, paint them to make it look more uniform.

8. Use your imagination. You can use all kinds of old crates, boxes, and building supply leftovers. Contact paper and paint can help to strengthen and dress these up.

Tips & Warnings

• Paint and decorate shelves any way you, like then cover them with clean contact paper.
• Store only things that are not heavy in the shelves of cardboard.

[eclecktic]

on 9/15/2008 I love these ideas! I especially like the cardboard shelving ideas.