Floating Shelf: Almost never was and still isn't.

Before I knew I was going to be buying a house, I started a shelf project. Since I had no idea I would be making a blog based on things I would make, I do not have pictures of the entire progress. The shelf is not quite done, but I figured now was as good of time as any to show you what I have and tell you how I did it.

This is what it looks like now:

It started as a couple of dingy media shelves that I no longer used. They had a cheap cardboard back, multiple holes for the shelving pegs and no charm what-so-ever.

What you need
Old media shelf
MDF
Nails
Putty
Sand Paper
Primer
Paint
Sealer
Screws
Wall Anchors
Drill (optional but very helpful)
Contact Paper (optional)
X-acto knife (optional)
Tape (optional)
Vinyl transfer paper (optional)
Husband Guy (optional but also very helpful)

Step One

Remove the crappy cardboard! That will definitely NOT hold the shelves up when you hang them on the wall.

Step Two
Measure the back so you can buy a board that will fit and hold the shelf up. I bought some cheap-ish MDF and as easy as I thought the process would be, I was wrong. The guy at Sutherland's was a complete idiot an tried to cut it all crooked. I had to chase someone down that was off work and leaving to ask him if he could cut it for me.

Step Three
I used some smaller (but not too small!) nails to attach my board. Super easy.

Step Four
Use some kind of wood filler to plug up those holes. I just used some spackle I had around from filling holes in apartment walls when I moved out. It worked great!

Step Five
Sand. Here is where I made a mistake. I only sanded the holes. I really should have sanded the entire thing so the paint would stick better. I initially didn't do that because I didn't think the crappy particle board and weird laminate crap would sand well. You really just need to rough it up a bit, not actually sand the whole damn thing.

Step Six
Paint. Well, don't just paint it. You need to prime it first to also help with the paint staying where you want it. I used this Bulls Eye 1-2-3. One coat may look like it will do it but I would go for two just to be safe. Once it's dry you can buff out any drip looking spots or lumps with a fine grit sand paper. Wipe of the dust really well and start with your regular paint. I chose white. Here is a picture of the painted shelves:

Another thing I didn't do that I wish I had was sealed the dumb thing. If I had sanded and sealed, I probably wouldn't have to repaint these things, but that is on deck as a project because I left it out originally.

Step Seven
This step actually involves a few things, but I'm going to include it all here because there are so many different ways you can do it. You can also skip this step and move on to number 10 if you don't want to ad any decorate what-nots to your shelf.

The hard way: Better known as the way I did it. I bought some textured contact paper from Home Depot and cut it to the size in my shelf. I made my design in Photoshop, printed it out on several pieces of paper, taped them together and taped it to the contact paper. Insert Husband Guy who is very handy with the x-acto blade. He cut out the design and we fought for over 30 minutes trying to put it on the shelf right.

The easy way: If you have a Silhouette, you can make the machine cut out your design on sticky vinyl. If not, you can still do it the way we did, but I would HIGHLY suggest using vinyl transfer paper instead of trying to place it by hand. It will turn that 30 minute ordeal into a quick five minute thing. If you don't have a Silhouette, might I suggest the new Cameo. I just got mine and it is incredible! Unlike the Cricut and other cutting machines, you can make your own designs to cut out!!! You'll see this in action with my next blog.



This is my shelf with the design laying inside so I can make sure I like it:

I had used paper that already had stuff on the other side because I try not to be a paper waster. 

Step Eight
Contact paper does not stick very well and neither does some vinyl. I covered my design with two coats of glossy Mod Podge. It actually gave my textured contact paper an even better look. I wish you could see how cool it looks in the picture!

Step Nine
This will have to be filled in later because I plan on adding a glass tile trim and some ribbon around my contact paper. I only have to add the ribbon because I cut my contact paper very poorly around the edges and it doe not match up so great. I may end up painting this whole shelf black and using the negative cutouts on the other shelf and keeping that one white. It would make a nice contrast.

Step Ten
This is the part where you hang it on the wall. Always make sure it will be level and that you like the placement before you start drilling holes. This shelf only used three screws, one in each side and one in the center, all three at the top( duh!). Use wall anchors if you are hanging it on dry wall instead of studs. The other shelf has my Kinect and video games on it, so just in case I put six screw in. I know it's a little overkill, but better safe than sorry.

I will update this the next time I have time to work on this project so you can see how far it has come along and maybe get some more inspiration. Please feel free to ask any questions or give some suggestions. Maybe even share your own project ideas!

On Deck: Key holder, necklace and fun zombie wall art!