Have you ever had a wire clothes rack rip out of the closet wall taking all your clothes and junk tumbling to the bottom of the closet floor? I have, and I decided it was time to build a sturdy clothes rack and shelf in my closet. In this article I’ll show you how to build your own sturdy wood shelf.
Step One: Materials
When you build your closet from wood, you want it to look nice. You need to pick out a type of wood that best suits your needs. Many closets are built from cedar because of their ability to control bugs and moths that can destroy clothes. While cedar is very expensive it may not be the best choice. Oak or maple look nice but also carry a steep price. A cheap way to have nice looking wood is to buy pine and stain it. Stain can turn white fir or pine into any color matching most grains of expensive wood. Who will know the difference?
Step Two: Measuring and Cutting
Measure the inside of your closets length and width. Cut one 1×2 strip the length of your closet. Cut two 1×2 strips half the width of your closet or to the depth of the shelf you would prefer. These will be your shelves and clothes rack support. Measure 2″ of each end of the side supports and make a mark. Using a hole saw, drill a hole the size of the wood dowel you will use for the clothes rack rod. Make sure you leave half of the wood underneath of the clothes rack rod for support. Drill half way through the 1×2 and chisel the rest out with a wood chisel. Set them aside, measure, and cut two 1×12’s the length of your closet. That will give you a depth of 23″. Add more 1×12’s for a deeper closet.
Step Three: Attaching the Shelf Supports
Mark each wall of the closet to the height that you want your shelf. Transfer the mark with a level or measure down from the ceiling to achieve the same measurement and a level shelf. Find the studs either with a stud finder or simply poke a nail or screw through the drywall ¼” below the line of the top of your shelf. The nail holes will be covered by the 1×2. Make a pencil mark above the line where you find each stud for future reference. Once all the studs have been found and have been marked, attach the back and one side 1×2’s with two 10d finish nails in each stud. Set the nails with a nail punch. Slide in the other 1×2 for the other side and measure from inside to the inside of the holes you drilled previously. Cut the dowel to this length. Insert the dowel in the end of the 1×2 that is nailed to the wall and slide the free 1×2 into place with the other end of the dowel in the hole. Nail the 1×2 to the wall and set the nails.
Step Four: Attach the Shelf
Slide the shelves into place and attach each shelf the under supports with a 6d finish nail and set the nail. If the shelves don’t fall into place, you may have an unsure closet. Simply use a framing square to see how far off the closet is from being square and measure the gap between the framing square and the wall. Transfer that measurement to the 1×12 shelf and cut off the needed amount. Fit the shelf in place and trim as needed. Stain or paint the shelf to suit your tastes to finish your new sturdy wood shelf.
