How to Build Extra Storage Space on Blank Walls

Don’t let the vertical space in your house go to waste. A blank wall is the ideal place for adding on an extra storage shelf or two. The items you want to store will determine the placement of your extra storage shelves. Things that you rarely use can go on shelves around the top of the wall, out of eye line and up off the floor. Items you want to display, or use regularly, should be placed on shelves that either run along the length of the wall at an appropriate height or as a column running up the wall.

12-by-36-inch, 1-inch MDF shelf tops
Level
Stud finder
Decorative shelf brackets
2-inch screws
Drill
1/2-inch screws (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  Purchase as many shelf tops as you want to install. If you can’t cut them yourself, the lumber yard can cut them to your specifications. Generally for single shelves, or columns of shelves, 12-by-36 inches is plenty.
- 2
  Mark a level line, or lines, on the wall where you want to put up the shelves. Use a stud finder to mark out the stud locations on the line or lines. You want three adjacent studs for each shelf.
- 3
  Place a decorative shelf bracket on each of the stud points and secure it the wall and the stud underneath with 2-inch screws through each of the screw holes in the shelf bracket.
- 4
  Center a shelf top over the three brackets. You can leave the shelf removable or fasten it to the horizontal bracket arm with 1/2-inch screws through the screw holes in the bracket into the underside of the shelf top.

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