Hello there fellow DIY-ers! Today I have finally started making progress on my built-in kitchen pantry by installing some floating shelves! If you read my previous post here, you’ll remember that I had to build a free-standing kitchen pantry since my house did not come with a built-in pantry.
That free-standing pantry has served us well for 5 long years, however, I knew it was time to convert the old broom closet into an awesome built-in pantry. If you need some inspiration for a cute and functional free-standing farmhouse pantry, hop over to this tutorial…
[Free-Standing Kitchen Pantry]
Now back to the closet makeover! After I gutted the closet I was left with some amazing exposed brick, a not-so-amazing gas pipe running up the middle and some water pipes that couldn’t be moved. Nonetheless, I was determined to create a functional kitchen pantry within this somewhat awkward space.
I decided to build four L-shaped floating shelves to maximize the usable space and still have a place for the broom to live. I’m not going to get into measurements in this tutorial because everyone’s shelves will be a different size, so instead I’m just going to go over the steps.
What you need for this project
- Plywood or Wood Boards for the shelves themselves (I used these fancy boards from Lowes because I liked the way they looked and they were the right width already)
- 1″ x 2″ furring strips for the support frame or ‘skeleton’ that your shelves will be sitting on
- Saw
- Sander with medium-grit and fine sandpaper
- Stain or paint
- Polyurethane Sealer
- Kreg Jig
- Drill and screws
- Nail gun
Cut the boards
To make an L-shape floating shelf you can either cut the desired shape out of one solid piece of plywood or make an L-shape with two pieces of wood. I chose to do the latter because I liked the way these boards looked. They were the correct width already, so I just cut them to length and then cut a smaller piece to make the L-shape.
In this picture you can see the support frame or ‘skeleton’ laid out with my furring strips…
And the shelf laid on top.
Adjust the measurements to your own space. The back furring strip will be screwed to the wall by itself first, so it should be the length of your shelf from wall to wall. Then measure the sides of your space making sure you take into account that back strip! Measure each piece carefully and double check everything! I wanted four shelves, so I cut four of each piece.
Remember that gas pipe running through the middle of my pantry? I had to accommodate that, so I used my jigsaw to cut an opening in each of my shelves. You will probably not run into this particular problem, but remember that you can work around any obstacle you come across!
After everything is cut, I sanded everything down with some medium-grit sandpaper (like 120). Sanding makes a huge difference so don’t skip this step, even if you hate sanding like I do!
Before sanding 
After sanding
Stain and seal the boards
Then satin or paint your shelves and strips. I used Minwax Puritan Pine to bring out the natural beauty in these boards.
If you are going to be wiping, cleaning or dusting these floating shelves, it’s super important to seal them with a polyurethane gloss to make the surface shiny and smooth. I used Minwax Polyurethane Clear Gloss. Apply a coat, let it dry, then hand-sand with a fine sandpaper (like 240). Then apply a second coat and let dry. I only sealed the surfaces that will be cleaned or wiped, such as the top of the shelves and the two front strips. You can certainly seal everything but it’s not necessary if the shelves will be indoors.
Assemble the support frames
So now I began to assemble the support frame. Here is the entire frame as I laid it out at the beginning.
And here are the pieces of that frame that I actually screwed together before attaching it to the walls. As you can see the back piece is gone, as is the small front piece and that small side piece of the L-shape ( we’ll come back to that later). I used a combination of the Kreg Jig and regular screws to piece these strips together. Some times you have to try different things to see what works best. I used a the Kreg Jig on the left side since I didn’t want a screw to show on the front of my shelves.
Attach the front and back support strips inside the pantry
Now take those back strips and attach them to the back wall where you want your shelves. I had to use masonry screws because of the brick. If you are attaching to a drywall wall, make sure you drill into the studs so your floating shelves will be sturdy.
At this point, I also attached the small front furring strip opposite the brick wall on the right side. This is the very front of that L-shape. I used a level to make sure I was even with the back furring strip and drilled into the studs.
Prepare the shelves
Remember this picture? To create a snug fit and a nice smooth L-shape between that big board and little board, we need to attach them together. Honestly, I tried to use the Kreg Jig but it just would not line up perfectly enough for me, so I had to try something different.
I ended up attaching a small straight bracket to underside of the big piece, where the little piece will end up being connected. Don’t screw the two pieces together yet, or you may not be able to fit the shelf into the pantry! Just attach that bracket to each of your big pieces for now.
To prepare the small shelf piece, I used my nail gun and attached that small side strip to the bottom of each board. This strip is just for show and does not add any support to the shelves themselves. I didn’t take a picture before I attached the board in the pantry, but this is what needs to be nailed together beforehand.
Attach everything together inside the pantry
Now that I had all the support frames and the shelves ready, I was ready to finish putting them together inside the pantry. Because I had such a small area to work with, I had to place all four shelves in the pantry and slide them up one by one as I screwed each support frame into the walls. It was a bit awkward, but with help I was able to slide each ‘skeleton’ frame one at a time under the shelf and screw in the sides. Make sure you find the studs in the side walls ahead of time and mark them so you know where to drill! I also used a level to make sure the shelves weren’t tipping forward or back.
Now all that is missing is that little piece of shelf on the right side to make the L-shape. I just slid each of those small pieces in and screwed through the bracket on the underside.
Last but not least, I used my Ryobi nail gun and nailed the top down on all sides.
This project did take me several days to complete, mostly due to a toddler in the house… However, I love the way they turned out and I hope this tutorial will help anyone looking to create custom L-shape floating shelves!
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