It’s been two years since I began what has turned into an agonizingly long process of zhuzhing up our guest bathroom. I’m still not quite done, but thank goodness there is light at the end of the tunnel.
One of my recent tweaks was the addition of these Leather Strap Floating Shelves. Or are they hanging shelves? I’m not quite sure. Either way, it’s a mouthful, but the idea and DIY process is actually pretty simple.
Initially I was planning to add traditional all wood floating shelves, but I wasn’t feeling entirely inspired by the idea, so I set out on a google mission for unique shelving ideas, and came across these fun shelves on Etsy, and thought to myself, “Bree, you can totally do that!”
I immediately bought everything I needed to get started, and then promptly put the project off for several months. But now that I’m done, I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I WAITED. It was honestly one of the easiest projects I’ve ever done. Swear.
Here’s what I used
Tools (had on hand):
- Drill
- Power Sander
- Tape Measure
- Level
- 120 grit + 220 grit sandpaper
- Box Cutter (This is what I used to cut the leather to size)
- Miter Saw (note – whenever I’m too lazy to get my saw out, which is often, I get straight cuts done at Lowe’s or Home Depot when I purchase the wood)
Materials:
- 2″ x 6″ x 8′ Untreated Lumber x 1 ($11.00)
- 1 3/4″ W x 72″ Leather Straps x 2 ($26 each)
- 4 Pack Brass Cap Decorative Mirror Screws ($14.00)
- Drywall Anchors + Screws – needed 4, but bought pack of 20 ($9.00)
- This Stain + this Polycrylic (had both on hand)
- Foam Brush (had on hand)
The most difficult part of this project was motivating myself to put holes in the wallpaper that I painstakingly cursed my way through applying not long ago.
The second most difficult part was measuring where I needed to drill the anchors in the wall, as I first needed to figure out where I wanted the actual wood shelf to be, and then work backwards calculating how long each leather strap needed to be, and then measure the vertical distance from the wood shelf up to where the screw securing the leather would go.
The best way to be sure you have a level shelf in the end is to measure everything multiple times, double and triple check your marks with a level, make sure your leather straps are exactly the same length, and pre-drill holes in the leather where your screw will go (I stacked my strap ends and drilled straight through all of them at the same time so they would be identical, thus my shelf would hang level).
Overall, it was a pretty straightforward project though. I’ll include some pics of the process, as well as a video, but even if one has never done a DIY project in their life, they can likely tackle this one.
Sooooo…..what do you all think?? Cute, right?
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