How to Boost Your Room with Simple DIY Square Shelves

I spotted a square shelf on Pinterest months ago, but when I clicked through to the website, it was made of fake wood. After spoking about it with my husband, he told me we had everything to make our own.
And so our simple DIY square shelves are born. A storage solution that’s chic, functional, and the statement piece our walls were missing.

Simple DIY Square Shelves

Materials

Ruler
Pencil
1in x 6in x 6ft walnut wood
Saw
Sandpaper 120, 240 400
Wood glue
Floating shelf brackets
Wood finishing Wax
Stud finder
Drill
Level

First, determine how long your shelf needs to be.
Cut 4 pieces of 1×6 that are your desired length. We don’t like 45 deg angles, so we made them 90 deg. You can have your home improvement store make the cut for you.
Add wood glue, and assemble the square.
If you have a strap clamp it may be helpful to clamp the square together to assist in assembly.
Let dry for 24 hours.

Mark with a pencil the center point over the bracket. Then, mark the center point of this location on the shelf edge where the holes will be drilled.
You want to drill your bracket holes about 4″ – 4 1/4″ deep to properly fit the brackets. Drill the bracket hole with the 7/8″ drill bit and use a tape measure to ensure it’s at least 4 inches deep. My husband wanted the shelves to be attached to the wall without the edge of the bracket, so he preferred to carve the wood a little, but you can also avoid it!
Sand and waxing your shelf.

Use a stud finder and determine where the wall studs are where you want to hang your shelf. Ideally, you want to hang the brackets on the wall studs. However, if the studs don’t fall where you need the brackets to be then you will need to drill into drywall and use the anchors that were included with the brackets.
We ended up having to drill into drywall.
Hold the first bracket up to the wall where you want to install it. Make sure the bracket is level, then mark the holes with a pencil.
Drill pilot holes over the pencil marks. Then, tap the wall anchors into the holes with a hammer.
Next, install the bracket using the provided screws and drilling them into the wall anchors.

Carefully slide the square shelf onto the wall brackets. And that’s it!

These DIY Square Shelves are simple to make as-is, and simple to change shelf height or depth, too.
Add a back, or leave it off; leave the wood natural, or stain/paint it.
Use a row of the same shapes, or mix up the sizes. Hang them on the wall, or set one (or more) on a shelf or tabletop. These little shelves are very versatile!