Storage & Shelving

Picture Ledge Shelves

Build these quick and easy picture ledge shelves using pocket hole joinery to avoid nail holes on the front side.

Difficulty: Easy
Time: 2.5–4.8 hours
Cost: $$

About this build

Build these quick and easy picture ledge shelves using pocket hole joinery to avoid nail holes on the front side. This is a perfect beginner woodworking project and they are very cheap to make. Hang them up in your home in the living room, hallway or bedroom and add some picture frames!

Tools

Essential

Brad Nailer
Miter Saw
Pocket Hole Jig
Random Orbit Sander

Optional / nice to have

Bar / Pipe Clamps
Tape Measure

Materials

Item	Qty
Board, 1x3 96"	1 board
Board, 1x2 48"	1 board
1 1/4" Pocket Hole Screws	5 each
Wood Glue	1 each
Wood Stain	1 each
2" Finish Nails	12 each
Pocket Hole Plugs	5 each
80 Grit Sandpaper	1 each
150 Grit Sandpaper	1 each

Overall cost: $$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.

Cut list

Part	Qty	T × W × L
Bottom and Back Piece	2	3/4" × 2" × 48"
Front Piece	1	3/4" × 1" × 48"

What to buy

Buy 3 boards at 8 ft.

3/4" × 2"

2 boards

3/4" × 1"

1 board

Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →

Start building →

Instructions

1Cut wood.
Using a miter saw, cut the wood down to size. There are three pieces total for each shelf. Our shelves were designed with a 1x3 piece on the back, 1x3 piece on the bottom and 1x2 on the front side. Our shelves are 4 feet wide, which fits well in the hallway space that they are going in.
2Drill pocket holes.
On the bottom piece of wood (one of the 1x3 pieces) drill 5 pocket holes with a Kreg Jig. We spaced them out 1" from the edges and then 1 foot spacing between each pocket hole. The pocket hole placement is detailed in the woodworking plans, which can be found in the Extras tab.
3Attach front.
Using 1 1/4" pocket hole screws, attach the front piece to the bottom.
4Attach back.
Using wood glue and 2" finish nails approximately every 5 inches or so, attach the back piece.
5Fill pocket holes.
Using pocket hole plugs and wood glue, fill pocket holes for a more finished look.
6Sand.
Sand the entire shelf well with an orbital sander and 80 grit sandpaper for shaping and then with 150 grit for finishing.
7Stain.
With your stain of choice, apply stain on the entire shelf. Alternatively, you could also paint the picture ledge shelves! We used Dark Walnut stain by Miniwax.
8Seal.
Once stain has set in, apply polyurethane over the entire shelf.