LOVE Shelf

my finished product

I saw this shelf on Pintrest a while ago and wanted to make it.  As soon as my summer vacation began, I started the shelf.  I came home from college late on a Thursday night and had the shelf together by Saturday night.  On Friday, I drew up various designs based off of pictures of various LOVE shelves that I had seen.  Then, I decided how tall I wished the shelf to be and came up with the other dimensions.  On Friday evening, I went to the wood store to purchase my wood and the hardware store to purchase screws.   On Saturday, my father and I cut the boards and assembled the shelf.  The next day, I had to pack for my vacation to Washington State.  So, the painting of the shelf had to wait until I returned.  Upon my return, I ventured to Walmart to purchase primer and paint.  Two days ago, I applied the primer.   Yesterday, it rained; so, I was unable to apply the paint.  Today, however, I was able to paint it.  I am very pleased with how the shelf turned out!!!!  I can’t wait to put it in my new apartment at school this coming school year!

Materials

Wood: untreated / 2x6 or 2x8 for best results

Wood Screws: 26, 2.5 - 4 in each

Wood glue

Paint: be sure you have both primer and the color you intend to use

** It also helps to have a drill or a good saw that is capable of cutting at angles.**

Process (before you gather materials):

1    1)      Decide how tall you desire to have your shelf. 

      * You need to decide this first so that you know how much wood to purchase.

2    2)      Take a look at the dimensions so that you know how much wood you need to purchase. 

If you choose to use a different height than 5 feet, multiply the height of your choice (in inches) by each of the above percentages to garner the length  of wood needed for your project.

**NOTE**  Due to an error in measurement, the percentage for the bottom of the "L" (shown in this picture as .5) should actually be .4!

These are the lengths that I used for my 5 foot (60 in.) tall shelf.

**NOTE** There is an error in the picture.  The bottom part of the "L" is 24", NOT 30" as the picture specifies.

3    3)      Purchase your materials.

      *Be sure you purchase enough wood.  It might also be a good idea to purchase more than you think you will need in case you mess up (The angles on the boards that compose the V can be a bit tricky to cut, and it’s possible that you might make a mistake or two while screwing the boards together.)  Also, when you purchase your wood, be sure to examine it to make sure that all your pieces are strait.

Process (after you gather materials):

4    4)      Cut the wood.  Going by the height that I used (5’), you will need about 17 feet of wood.  However, remember to purchase extra! 

    * I purchased 3, 2”x6”x8’ boards and ended up using nearly all of it because of a mistake and a last-mini change that I made to the design after I had already cut the boards.  So, I needed to cut another set for part of the V and part of the E.

    * If you chose to use a different height, make sure you adjust the lengths of each board accordingly.  You don’t want to end up with any misshapen letters.  As a general rule of thumb, take the height you wish you shelf to be in inches and multiply that number by each of the percentages (in decimal form) on the picture below.  This should give you a rough idea of how long you should cut each of the pieces.

    * When you go to cut the boards for the V, remember to cut them at angles.  I apologize that I don’t remember the angles that we used.  We just guessed and checked (This is one of the points where we ended up using some of the extra wood.).  Once you figure out one angle, the other four angles are the same.  I would advise cutting one board at a time so that if you mess up and the board ends up too short, you only need to re-cut one board and not two.
          ** Thanks to a helpful commenter, I now know the angle.  According to Christine 
               Godbout, the angle for the "V" is 22.5 degrees.  Thanks, Christine!  ** 

 

This is my father helping me to cut the angles in the wood that were needed for the V.    I do not remember the exact angles that we ended up using.  We used a guess-and-check method to determine the angles -- we would cut at a certain angle, lay the board down, determine if that was the angle that we desired, and, if it was not, cut at a different angle.  Once you have one angle figured out for how you want your self, the other three angles will need to be cut at the same angle so that all the edges lay flat.

5    5)      It would be a good idea to lay everything out, now, to make sure that it looks the way you want it.  If you accidentally cut a board too long or short, you will hopefully notice it at this point.

6    6)      Screw your boards together.

    * Keep in mind that if you attach the boards a certain way, it will be difficult to maneuver the drill to screw in certain parts.  I would suggest screwing the boards together in the order the joints are listed in the below picture. 

7    7)      Paint your shelf with primer.

    * Follow the instructions on the can.

the shelf after being painted with primer

8    8)      Paint your shelf with paint.

    * Follow the instructions on the can.

the shelf being painted

9    9)      Decorate and enjoy.

I know that this isn't decorated, or even against a wall, but, I will not be displaying it until I move into my apartment in three months.  So, for the time being, it will remain undecorated.

I only painted one coat of black on top of my white primer so that I could acquire  this effect.  Feel free to do whatever you want: splatter paint, a solid color, something like what I did.  Be creative!  And have fun!