Photo ledges are my new obsession. I love that you can continually change it up and refresh it without having to re-hang frame and fill holes.
This photo ledge was shockingly easy to build so here is the step by step! All the products I got from Home Depot Canada, so if you have a Home Depot near you you should be good to head there for everything!
Step 1: Measure your wall.
Measure the space you want the photo ledge to occupy. I centered the ledge over my couch, my ledge is 7 feet long.
Step 2: Purchase Materials
You will need three pieces of wood in the length determined in step 1 which I will denote with an A. I used oak because I love the lightness of its colour naturally, but you can use whatever wood you please.
1) 1 x 2.5″ x A (front)2) 1 x 2.5″ x A (bottom)3) 1 x 3.5″ x A (back)
You will also need: Wood glue, Finishing nails, 4 Clamps, Screws and anchors (to install it onto the wall)
*Paint or stain: This is optional but recommended even if you just do a clear coat stain to give it that finished look. For my own, I found the oak was looking a little pinky-orange in my space so I wanted to whiten it slightly without losing the look of the natural wood grain. So I mixed white chalk paint with two parts water and then brushed it on like a stain. This is fun too because chalk paint comes in so many fun colors so you could do a pink wash for a girl’s room for example.
Step 3: Lay your wood pieces out on a tarp (or outside or garage etc) and arrange your pieces of wood into how the shelf will look (Lay piece 2 on the ground and then stand pieces 1 and 2 on its side and ‘sandwich’ the bottom piece. See Photo) Put wood glue on the side of piece 2 that meets piece 1 and then again on the side that meets side 3. Make sure to wipe any excess and then apply 4 clamps evenly spaced apart.
Step 4: Once the glue is dry (wait 24 hrs), use finishing nails to secure the front piece to the middle piece. Turn the ledge around and repeat on the backside (to secure the back to the bottom).
Step 5: Fill nail holes with wood putty and paint or stain to finish.
Step 6: Hang on the wall wherever you please! Be sure to screw into a stud and use anchors on whatever screws aren’t in studs (I was able to get all my screws into studs but if you aren’t able to do that just ensure you use anchors on those, at least 2 should be into studs)
Step 7: Place your images! All the images pictured here are either mine or from Opposite Wall. If you use code EMILY20 before Jan 15th you’ll get 20% off their whole website!
Thanks for following along!
xoxo
Emily
