Who said bookshelves have to be boring? Spice up your space with this cool DIY hanging bookshelf tutorial; equal parts rustic and modern, this bookshelf is an easy, stylish and fairly inexpensive way to update your apartment. Plus, hanging the bookshelf from the wall means you have more space down below, which is always a plus in an apartment.
For this project, you will need:
-A wooden plank, cut to your desired dimensions (A hardware store employee should be able to do this for you; just make sure you choose a board wide enough to hold your books.)
-Acrylic paint and paintbrush (optional)
-Two large screw eyes
-Twine about ¼-inch thick
-A pencil and tape measure for measuring and marking
-Scissors
To start, you’ll want to paint the entire board your chosen color (I think black looks especially chic, but you may want to choose a color that fits with your existing décor). Another option would be to leave the board unpainted for a rustic, raw look.
Once your board completely dries, you’ll want to make four marks on the board for where you want to drill your holes. Measure about an inch in from both sides of the board and make a small mark with a pencil. Then use your drill to make the hole there. Keep in mind that you’ll want to make your hole slightly larger than the thickness of your twine, to make it easy to thread your twine through the hole. So if you are using twine that’s ¼-inch thick, you’ll want to use a drill bit that’s one size up from that.
Next, you’ll want to cut two lengths of twine; this is what will hold your bookshelf up. Remember to add an inch or two to your desired length, since you’ll be knotting the twine beneath the board, which will use up a bit of length. If you’re not sure how far down you want your shelf to hang, go long with your length of twine, since you can always trim it once you tie your knots in place.
Once you’ve cut your twine, you’ll want to thread one end through a hole on one side of the board, then knot it tightly. If the end of your twine is a little frayed, put a piece of tape around the end — this will make it easier to thread through the board. Repeat the process on the other end of the board. At this point, you should only have two knots tied, not four, because you still need loose ends to thread through the screw eyes.
Now to actually hang the shelf! First, you’ll want to screw the screw eyes into the wall. Make sure you use a tape measure and pencil to measure and mark where to screw in the eyes so your bookshelf hangs evenly. The space between the screw eyes on the wall should be the same length as the board, minus two inches, since you made your holes in the board an inch from each end of the board. Keep in mind that when you pack up and move on from this apartment, you’ll want to unscrew the screw eyes and fill the holes with spackle, just like you would with holes left from hanging frames or mirrors.
Once your screw eyes are in place, you’ll want to thread the loose end of the twine through the screw eye, then through the hole in the board, and tie a knot underneath the board. Keep the knot pretty loose at first until you repeat the process on the other side; that way it’s easy to untie and adjust the length of the twine so your board hangs evenly on both ends. Once you get the board hanging exactly how you want it to, retie the knots extra tightly.
And that’s it! Now you can populate your new shelf with your awesome book collection, picture frames and knick-knacks collected from your travels; mixing up your books with other mementos keeps your shelf visually interesting. Still need more space for all your stuff (and extensive Harry Potter collection)? Check out this other bookshelf DIY project from the ForRent blog.
What will you be putting on your new bookshelf? Share with us in the comments below!