Beyond nightstands: bedside shelves
I feel like I’ve been talking about our guest room makeover for some time, and I have just one last project post before I share the whole room. You are on the edge of your seats, I know.
One afternoon while complaining to my mom about how I needed nightstands for our guest room, she dug out an issue of Better Homes and Gardens that featured this innovative play on a bedside table.
Courtesty of www.bhg.com
Apparently it stuck in my mind for some time because months and months later I found myself trying out my own DIY bedside shelves. Here are their humble beginnings…
Not so pretty, but definitely promising. Here you see the materials needed for one shelf. From Lowes, I purchased 2 1 x 12 x 24″ shelves, 8 feet of 1″ crown molding, two sets of brushed nickel brackets and, yes, a mitre box…so I could cut the 45 degree angles needed for the molding, of course.
First I secured the brackets to the wall, then went to town on the molding. I quickly got the hang of the mitre box and cut three pieces for each shelf. I applied the molding to the shelves using liquid nails. I let them dry for a few nights then finally got around to painting the molding white. I attached the shelves to the brackets on the wall, and voila, bedside tables for less than one leg of a nightstand would normally cost.
(Yes, you are witnessing my still-alive plant in its cute seashell planter and a sneak preview of the guest room paint job…aren’t you lucky?)
Sure, these shelves aren’t forever, but they certainly made a great short-term fix. Maybe in year 10 of my domestic adventure I can get real furniture?
Those turned out great! I was looking to do that exact thing in my guest room! If you wouldn’t mind, about how much did this cost you? (I know that’s a tacky thing to ask!) I’m just trying to get ready for guests on a super tight budget.
Hi Olivia,
That is a very important question and not tacky at all! I was going for the same super cheap idea. The reason that I didn’t include cost in the original post was that I had bought the supplies so long ago, that I forgot what the overall cost was! But, here is my estimated breakdown:
Brackets: $6 per piece
Shelves: $6-7 per shelf
Moulding: $8 (for 12 ft.)
Total cost: $44
The total cost is less than the cost of one nightstand, for sure! But if you wanted to reduce the cost even more, you could purchase unfinished wood for the shelves (I opted for the pre-finished shelf in the closet organizing section at Lowes) and you could use less expensive brackets, depending on what look you were going for.
I hope that this information helps! Good luck with your shelves!
- e
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