Our bathroom was in need of some more storage, really I wanted somewhere to put the kid’s toothbrushes and toothpaste. If you want to know something about me, I LOVE industrial design. And because I already made an industrial swivel light for the bathroom. I decided to continue the same design and create a simple pipe shelf.
This project was on the easy side, the hardest part for me was trying to install it. But don’t worry after some trial and error, I have found the easier way to do this too. Here is the list of supplies I used.
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SUPPLIES: This is for one shelf!
2 – 1/2″ floor flange
2 – 1/2″x6″ pipe nipple
2 – 1/2″ pipe caps
4 – conduit straps
16 – #10 1.25″ wood screws
2″x6″x (whatever length you want) board
4 – toggle bolts
stain & polycrylic
spray paint (optional)
TOOLS:
drill
level
pencil
sander
ASSEMBLE SUPPLIES:
Once I had gathered my supplies, I washed all the pipe and fittings because they are on the greasy side. After they had dried, I decided to spray paint them to match the light. If you wanted you could spray paint the conduit straps and screws but I did not. Make sure to attach all the pipe pieces together before painting: floor flange-nipple-cap.
Next step was finding out how long I wanted the shelf in the bathroom. I decided the perfect size for my space was 20 inches, I cut two 2×6 boards to this length because I am creating two shelves.
After cutting the wood, I sanded it until it was smooth. Then wiped it clean and stained it using Provincial by Minwax. Once the stain had dried I applied two coats of polycrylic to protect the wood from water. And here is that I was left with.
SECURING THE WOOD:
Before attaching anything to the wall, the wood needs to be ready to secure to the pipes. To do this, I placed the wood on the floor. Then with each conduit strap, I placed it 3/4 inch away from the long edge (length of the board). And 1/2 inch away from the short edge (width). I then marked the hole closest to the short edge. This will be done 4 times.
Then I took the 1/8″ drill bit and drilled a 3/4 inch hole into the marked spot. After I attached the strap with the 1.25-inch wood screw but I DID NOT tighten. I left about 1/4 inch, just enough to install the pipe frame.
Next I placed the pipe frame onto the wood, using the straps. Then I marked the other hole of the strap and pre-drilled the hole the same way. But DO NOT add the screws yet.
ATTACH TO THE WALL:
Now this is the part that I ran into some difficulty because there were no studs behind the part of the wall where I needed to attach the flange (pipe). This would mean the shelf would not hold because it would not have an anchor. But don’t worry I found a SOLUTION and they are called toggle bolts.
I will be sharing a tutorial on how to install toggle bolts in a couple of days. But let me explain what they do, this bolt anchors to the drywall, making it possible to support a shelf.
Before installing the bolts, I first marked where I needed the shelf. For the first side, I placed the flange against the wall and placed it where I wanted it. Then I marked all 4 holes, you will only be using two but this will help line things up.
Then I drilled a hole for the toggle bolts in 2 of the marked spots.
I then attached the bolts to the flange and installed this side.
To make the other side level, I placed the wood onto the pipe. Remember the conduit straps are already added to the wood, so hook these around the pipe. And place the level on top of the wood. Will look something like this.
Once the level shows that the wood is level, mark the three holes that you can see on the flange. Then move the wood and place the flange back to the wall. Mark the last hole then attach the pipe to the wall using the toggle bolts. But before tightening completely, place the level on to the pipe and make sure its level. Then tighten it into place.
ATTACH THE SHELF:
Now that both pipe frames are attached to the wall, it’s time to attach the shelf (wood). This will be very easy. All you do is place the wood onto the pipe and attach the straps to the pipe. Then add the 1.25 inch screws into the pre-drilled hole and tighten the other screw. Do this for all four sides and your DONE!
COST:
So what did this cost me?
wood = $5.50 (for 8 ft)
pipe = $15
conduit straps = $1.60 (bag of 10)
wood screws = $5.60 (box of 100)
toggle bolts = $8 (box of 25)
TOTAL COST = $35.70 for 2 shelves
We now have an industrial pipe shelf for less than $40. Plus my kids have a new place to store their toothbrushes (I purchased the containers from Ikea).
What do you think? It was an easy way to add more storage in our bathroom.
