Inexpensive shelving for your craft space

Okay, I have been slacking on my blogging lately.  It's not because I am lazy, simply that life has been a little chaotic these last few weeks. 

I recently participated in a clean your craft space day forum on Etsy and someone commented on my shelving.  It's not pretty or perfect but it is functional as well as inexpensive to build.  I have over 78 feet of shelving space that cost less than $100.00 to construct.

Somethings you will need for this time consuming project.

1- A handy guy or woman, if you are not.

2- A circular saw, a drill press, electric drill, a pipe cutter or a jig saw, tape measure, safety gear.

3- 2' X 4's,  3/4" conduit pipe, 2 1/2" sheet metal screws and MDF shelves or MDF sheets, you can also substitute 3/4" thick plywood for the MDF if you can afford it.

Construction needs to happen outside due to metal chipping and sawdust.  If you have ever cut MDF you know what I am taking about, it's made from sawdust and it makes a ton of sawdust.  For shelving that is longer that 5 feet expect your MDF to warp a little.

Basically the the 2" X 4"s screw into the studs of your wall and act as peg holders.  The conduit pipe pieces are your pegs and the MDF or plywood is your removable shelf. 

Most importantly you need to know what kind of shelving is appropriate for your craft. How much space do you have available? How much height do you need between shelves? How many studs, pipe pieces and shelf footage do you need?

For example, we are going to create 6 shelves that are 4 feet in length and 10" wide and spaced 1 foot apart.  For this project you will need two 2' X 4' X 8's, Twelve pieces of conduit pipe that are 11" in length (11 feet of piping), six shelves that are 10" wide and 4 feet in length which can be cut out of a 4' X 8' piece of MDF or plywood.

Begin with the pipe cutting , 12 pieces 11" in length.  You will need a jig saw with a metal blade to cut these or a pipe cutter.  A round file or dremel tool is also good to deburr the ends. The tricky part is the drilling of the 2" X 4"s.  Take into consideration whether or not you have baseboard in your measurements as well, you will need to screw the studs above the baseboard. You really need a drill press for this part, drill the holes in the center spaced 1 foot apart, slightly smaller than the width of the conduit pipe and know which end is the bottom and the top of the stud.  After the holes are drilled, pound in the conduit pipe pieces.  There should be approximately 9 1/2" of pipe sticking out of the stud ready to support a 10" wide shelf.  Now you need to screw the studs into the wall studs.  Often times these are spaced on 16" centers if you're lucky.  And lastly place your shelves on top of the pegs and your ready to begin filling them up and asking for more shelving.

It's an in depth process that requires resourcefulness and know how if your not a talented carpenter.  Even though mine are not perfect, no surface in our home is level or square (old 1800's house) I do appreciate not living out of boxes anymore.  Of course, an easier method would be to simply purchase 12 heavy duty shelf brackets.  Nothing in my life is ever that simple, it's just how I am.  I am a process and learn kind of gal.