Has anyone seen these Restoration Hardware knock-off shelves on Pinterest? I remember seeing industrial pipe shelving a few years ago and instantly thought they looked like a great way to add storage to a small space, along with some character.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit diy pipe bookshelf.
I wanted to recreate this look for a farmhouse-style baby nursery I’m working on for my nephew. I knew new shelves were a must for this space to add a bit more storage and a place to display cute home decor. Plus, that industrial style will complement the other aspects of this cool nursery.
We knew we could DIY these industrial pipe shelves without spending a ton of time or money and that’s exactly what we did. This is definitely an easy weekend project that anyone can do. But, we definitely learned a few tips and tricks along the way, so with our instruction your project can go even more smoothly than ours.
Although we LOVE the look of these shelves, we do want to warn you that this DIY project was NOT dirt cheap (which was a surprise to me).
The materials themselves were about $50, so I would not recommend this look if you’re DIY-ing this specific shelf to save money. Just a heads up so you’re not as shocked as I was.
The first step is to get your pipes cut down to size. For the actual pipes, the only prep work we had to do was to have the pipe lengths cut to size. You can get this done at your local hardware store, usually for free! The one large pipe was cut down into four equal-sized pieces.
We always like to give pieces a light sanding before using spray paint to paint the pipes. It helps it adhere better and we knew we wanted this to have a long-lasting finish. We wanted black pipes, so we used a flat black spray paint color. I always recommend at least two coats of paint.
DIY Tip: Note in the picture there are eight straps to hold the wooden shelves into place, but we actually only ended up needing four for this DIY project. Also, you may need to spray paint a couple of times to get some of the areas that you missed the first time (i.e. the bottom of the safety clips). The paint did adhere to the pipes, but be super careful not to scratch any of these parts on each other. It can be scratched off until it’s fully cured.
Money & Time Saving Tip: If you want black iron pipes (like ours) you can also search for galvanized pipe for gas lines. It’s already painted black and would save you a step!
Now, let’s chat about the wood shelves. Literally, any type of wood will work for this. We wanted the shelves to look pretty thick, so we went with a thicker piece of wood.
Once we decided on the wood, we bought one long piece and brought it home to cut it to size using a miter saw.
Then we used a stain we had lying around (the color “espresso”) and put a coat of stain on each shelf. After the stain and the spray paint on the pipes were dry, we were ready to start hanging!
Here’s a GIF of exactly how we did this. The painter’s tape helped us identify a level line and gave us an idea of where to hang each shelf.
We used a stud finder and found that we weren’t drilling into any studs. So to make these extra secure we knew wall anchors were a must! We used four drywall anchors for each floor flange and then inserted dark screws so that the screws would camouflage with the dark paint. We started with the bottom shelf and then secured the top shelf last.
After each of the flanges was secured to the wall, we screwed in the pipe, then screwed on the caps, and placed the shelf on top of the pipes. Pretty darn easy, right?!
But there’s still one more step that is a must! You need to add straps underneath the wooden shelves to connect the piping to the wood. Without the straps, the shelf can easily move around on the pipes. Once we added the straps (they were only about $1 each), the shelf was extremely secure on the pipes.
We screwed them in with a dark nut and dark washer halfway down the pipe. You can see it in the picture above. I personally think that extra detail makes the shelves look even better. Safety + Style = one happy mom-to-be.
I love the industrial look of these functional shelves and they just might be the best part of this cute room!
Since this is a children’s room, let me address the process my sister and I went through to make sure that the baby will NOT be able to reach them even though they’ll be near the crib.
When the baby is a newborn, the mattress in the crib is on the higher end, which is a tad close to the shelves but since the baby will NOT be standing in the crib when the mattress is at this level, we will not have to worry about the baby ever being able to reach the shelves.
When the baby is old enough to start standing up in the crib, my sister will lower the mattress and the baby will have to be able to reach OVER 4 1/2 feet high to touch the pipes of the shelves. And by the time the baby is over 4 and 1/2 feet, I have a feeling those shelves will be long gone. I mean, we hung them practically to the ceiling!
So rest assured that we are taking safety very seriously in this makeover to ensure that this space is not only stylish but most importantly, very safe.
Our next step in this makeover is to safely hang lots of gorgeous art (more details here) & then you can check out the full reveal of this room here!
Bridget
I’m currently making over our playroom and turning it into a “tween” hangout space (update: you can see that makeover here!) and the boys really needed more shelving for books and LEGO sets. I decided to put my own modern “glam” spin on the typically industrial style DIY pipe bookshelf.
I love the gold, and while they won’t always be styled this neatly (because boys), today I’ll walk you through the step by step tutorial of how I made it.
Project Supplies:
(Affiliate links included. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Cut your 1×12 boards to the following dimensions: 6 pieces at 3’ long each and 6 pieces at 12” long each. Then I gave everything a good sanding with my random orbit sander.
For more industrial wall shelves diyinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.
Next, I drilled 3 pocket holes in one of the short ends of 6 of my short 1×12 pieces. These will be the ends of each bookshelf.
I attached the ends to the long pieces of 1×12 using 1 1/4” pocket hole screws. This long piece will be the top of each shelf so we will flip it over later.
After the “tops” had been attached to the sides or ends of the shelves, I attached the bottom (we’re working upside down) by pre drilling holes with a countersinking drill bit and then attaching it using 2 inch wood screws.
I wanted to use pocket hole screws on the top side so when we flip it over the screws won’t be visible from the top.
After everything was attached, I patched over the knots in the wood using wood filler to prevent bleed through later on since I plan on painting this.
I painted it with Behr Marquee paint and primer in one in the color White 52.
I do typically use a separate stain blocking primer but for this I didn’t bother. You can check out my furniture painting tutorial here where I share my tips and the technique I use to get the most professional looking finish possible. I painted two coats of paint total, allowing it to dry completely in between.
While the paint dried I turned my attention to the steel pipe. I cleaned all of the pipe pieces and flanges with acetone to remove any residue.
I primed the pipes and flanges with Rustoleum rusty metal primer, then I spray painted them with metallic gold spray paint.
While the spray paint dried, I sealed the shelves with some furniture paste wax.
You can use polycrylic or water based polyurethane too, just whatever you prefer.
When I apply paste wax, I use cheesecloth, and I dip it in and coat it well, and then fold it over and apply it through a layer of cheesecloth. Then I wait about 20 minutes and buff it with a clean cotton cloth. An old t-shirt works great for this or you can buy a package of cotton rags at home depot.
I screwed the pipe into the flanges, then I flipped the bottom shelf over and attached the first pipes to serve as the legs, I used 1/2″ construction screws and because I’m only using 6 inch pipes, it’s a tight fit so you’ll want to use a compact sized drill for this or use longer pipe.
Ryobi sent me their new compact series drill and impact driver and they worked great for this project. I started by pre drilling holes but quickly got impatient and skipped this step for the remainder of the shelves. After I attached the first 4 pipes I then flipped it back over.
I attached 4 more, measuring about a 1/4” in from each side and positioning it flush with the front and back of the shelves.
Then I attached the next shelf using the same method, trying to get everything as straight as possible.
I repeated the process until all 3 shelves were attached.
You can check out the YouTube video for this project here:
You might also like:
Are you interested in learning more about long clothes rail? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!