Inside: Turn thrifted drawers into cool floating shelves for the wall; use brackets to mount them and create a unique display shelf unit!

This project is a great one if you live in a small space and are in need of wall storage, or if you are like I am and like to create unique display shelves out of thrifted items! When we first decorated our living room, I really wanted to have floating shelves on the wall and so I figured out how to make these DIY Floating Drawer Wall Shelves and I love them.!

Our living room looks very different now, however. I have gone through many different versions of this room to land on the final design plan. Since hanging these drawer shelves, I’ve also stained and installed bracket shelves in the corner (which I didn’t end up loving), and then we recently upgraded to an entire Ikea Havsta unit – which I think is going to be the permanent solution.

I’ve done a bunch of other floating shelf DIYs though – you can see how I turned old kitchen cabinets into a playroom credenza (we used this for about six months before we totally renovated the playroom); and we’ve also repurposed stock kitchen cabinets as hanging wall mounted shelves in my office.

Here’s how to create floating wall shelves from old drawers

1 set of floating shelves

DIY Floating Drawer Wall Shelves | UPCYCLE PROJECT

Turn thrifted drawers into cool floating shelves for the wall; use brackets to mount them and create a unique display shelf unit!

Materials

old drawers
paint or stain
sand paper
brackets with mounting hardware
paper for the back of the shelf

Instructions

First thing you want to do is sand and wipe down your drawers. Mine came off an old buffet unit and really needed a good clean. I then primed and painted mine white. Then I used some graphic paper to line the inside. I gave it a coat of Mod Podge to seal it, but this step is definitely not necessary.

I joined my two drawers using two wood shims in the middle. I stained it a darker colour to create contrast. The only reason I did that is because the end of my drawer shelves weren't even (old drawers), so it's really just cosmetic. You also don't have to do this part! To hang them, I centred them on the wall and installed the brackets first. Then I screwed each shelf into each bracket securely.

That's it! Then I staged them up!

These turned out so cute! I still love the concept and think they’d be amazing in a playroom or in a kids’ room to hold story books and trinkets, don’t you?

They made an amazing addition to our living room gallery wall at the time and were the perfect spot to perch some other thrifted finds.

If you’re into these kinds of projects, you should also check out my Fabric Wall Mounted Headboard tutorial and also how I turned an old lampshade into a DIY Industrial Hanging Cage Lamp.