Daily Archives: November 11, 2014

Anatomy Of An Office #3: Incredibly Strong DIY Shelving For Under 25 Dollars!

Nubby Twiglet | Anatomy Of An Office #3: Incredibly Strong DIY Shelving For Under 25 Dollars!

Welcome to Anatomy Of An Office. This series is dedicated to pulling together a functional yet stylish workspace with plenty of budget-friendly tips!

My first mission when I signed the lease on my new office was to find a simple shelving solution. I had a lot of artwork and books I wanted to show off but the biggest issue was that I knew I’d grow bored and want to change the selection out all the time — and it seemed rude to be constantly pounding new holes into the freshly redone drywall.

Nubby Twiglet | Anatomy Of An Office #3: Incredibly Strong DIY Shelving For Under 25 Dollars!

Nubby Twiglet | Anatomy Of An Office #3: Incredibly Strong DIY Shelving For Under 25 Dollars!

Joey is the Mister Fix-It in our household and had an immediate idea — why not take the extra door frame trim from a leftover remodeling project and mount it sideways? The genus part of this solution was that the thick, ornate trim already had built-in grooves which could easily hold my art in place. The last thing I wanted to deal with were frames sliding off and shattering!

There are plenty of pre-made shelving options out there but my issue was the strength — a lot of them are flimsy at best. With the weight of many of my books and art being an issue, we went this direction because the steel dowels placed in the studs are incredibly strong and could hold much heavier items than I’m showing in these photos without bowing or worse, ripping loose!

Nubby Twiglet | Anatomy Of An Office #3: Incredibly Strong DIY Shelving For Under 25 Dollars!

Nubby Twiglet | Anatomy Of An Office #3: Incredibly Strong DIY Shelving For Under 25 Dollars!

Directions: For this project, Joey started by drilling three linear holes into the wall studs and hammered the steel dowels into those. Once the dowels were in place, he mounted the shelves and secured them with plastic cable ties. In total, it took about a half hour and best of all, came in at less than $25.00!

Nubby Twiglet | Anatomy Of An Office #3: Incredibly Strong DIY Shelving For Under 25 Dollars!

There’s nothing like an quick, easy and functional D.I.Y. Let me know if you have any questions about the art on the shelves!


On the hunt for even more office tips and tricks? Check out Anatomy Of An Office!