DIY Built-in Shelves with Corbels
What We Did
Our shelves are 5 feet 7 inches long and about 6 inches deep. We used 4 corbels on each shelf.
Use a table saw to cut the 1x6x8 down to the shelf length you’d like. Ours is 5 ft 7 in.
Decide how many corbels you want to use. We used 4. Remember this is the support for your shelf so you want to have enough corbels to hold the weight of whatever you are planning to put on your shelf. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you have one at least every 2 feet.
Rip the 1x7x8 down into 3 pieces that will fit between the corbels. The gaps between our corbel are 20 3/4 inches.
Measure and mark where you want to hang your corbels. Make sure your marks are evenly spaced and level. THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT. Since your corbels are holding your shelf up, they will determine whether your shelf ends up level.
Attach the corbels to the wall. We used heavy-duty drywall screws since we couldn’t screw directly into studs and then hung the corbels from the screws.
Set your 1x6 shelf on top of the corbels and nail it into the corbels through the shelf.
Screw the 1x7 pieces into the wall between the corbels.
Cut the 0.5x2x8 wood to fit around the edges of the shelf. This piece gives the shelf a little ledge to keep things from being pushed off. The long piece across the front should be long enough to cover the edges on both sides of the shelf.
Use pin nails to secure the trim edge to the base of the shelf. Line up the edge with the bottom of the shelf as you work across.
Use painters’ caulk to cover all of the seams and holes from screw and nails.
Paint and install pegs. I painted a coat before installing the pegs to make it easier to roll. I evenly spaced my pegs between each set of corvals which was just short of 7 in.
For before and afters of our pantry and more sources you can check this post.
