DIY: stained bookshelves for home office

In our study cum guest room I had built wall shelves for our endless books. I decided to extend the top half of that, above my husband's desk since it was getting too crowded for him with a second monitor being there. This way all the office supplies could be put away on the shelves and the desk surface would be free of clutter. I used to have everything on a tray for him before. But the tray was taking quite a bit of valuable space. Now its so much better! Check out my project.

Walnut is my favorite stain. I don't fancy mahogany or any reddish stain for that matter. Made a trip to home depot for the raw wood shelves and some brackets. My existing shelving is on tracks, but I had to use brackets for these since there are just two of them. I matched the color of the brackets so that it blends in.

I stained everything outside in my terrace. It was a humid day, so it did not take long for it to dry. Stain the top side first along with all the sides. And then do the bottom. You decide which one you want to be the top and the bottom. Make your choice based on the beautiful grains, knots and marks of natural wood.

You do need 24 hours for it to dry completely for it to be drilled and put up.

To place the brackets, lay the shelf against a perpendicular surface. Make your marks. Place the brackets 1/3 distance away from the edge.

Drill them 1/3 of the way. Just a little bit. And then holding the bracket in place, screw them in. Tighten the screws once all of the screws are secured in.

Use a level to set the shelf on the wall. Besides that, I also had to make sure that the new shelves aligned perfectly with the existing. It was not perfect, but it worked. Once the shelves are up, rub some wood oil on the shelves for protection and shine.

Choose what you place on the shelves. Between your very important objects, place some decorative ones. You will see how it brightens up.

My new shelves are shorter in depth than my existing ones. It is because of the desk space underneath. I don't want our heads to be banging every time we get up. The overhead rule. It does not look weird at all. Mostly, you don't even notice it.