Custom floating shelves and desk

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Acacia project panels were used to help create bespoke office shelving and desk.

The project
Steps
Tools and materials
More inspiration for home office shelving projects

The project

My friend wanted a unique fit out for his home office, so I suggested we do a custom floating desk / shelf combo, using Acacia project panels.

Steps

Step 1

Firstly I marked the wall where I wanted the shelves to go. I used good masking tape run horizontally to show where the shelves would be. It's worth using the good stuff as you don't want to mark the walls or take off paint.

In this case I knew my friend wanted to put some big hardback books on the shelves so made sure they were far enough apart so he could do this.

I used a laser level to get each row of tape perfectly level, although a spirit level and some patience will achieve the same effect.

The shelves would be supported by threaded rod inserted into the wall studs. I ran the stud finder across each wall to mark exactly where the studs were. The Franklin stud finder is perfect for this as it shows exactly where the studs begin and end so you can drill exactly in the centre.

In this case I wanted four shelves with the lowest joining into the desk.

Step 2

I ripped the Acacia bench down into 300mm wide shelves using a circular saw and a Kreg rip cut saw guide. I used the benchtop timber as it was nice and thick, so there was plenty of strength for when I put the threaded rods in.

I needed three benchtops: two ripped in half to make four shelves and another for the desk and shelf dividers.

Step 3

The most important (and difficult part) was to get the holes for the threaded rod to match up perfectly on the wall and the shelves.

To do this, I marked the centre of each stud on the marking tape strips put down in Step 1. This is where I would drill the wall holes. But before drilling the holes, I held up the shelves flat against the wall so I could transfer the position of each wall hole marking to the edge of the shelf. This should end up with them being 450mm or so apart (depending on the stud spacing in your wall). I used masking tape and pencil to number the shelves layers one to four so they each would correspond exactly with their related wall holes.

Step 4

Once I had the shelves marked up, it was time to drill out the holes. I was using 12mm threaded rod so drilled the holes with a 13mm bit. It is vital you get the holes perfectly at right angles to the wall. I used a Carbatec 3/8 jig portable drill guide, but you can make up a 90 degree drill jig - there are plenty of tutorials online.

The wall studs should be no more than 80mm deep (otherwise you risk drilling through the wall into the other side!) and you should go about 100mm into the shelves. Be sure to check for any powercables and utilities that may already be in the wall.

Since the studs were at 450mm centres and the shelves were about 2200mm long, I ended up with 4 holes/threaded rods per shelf.

wall tude.jpg

Step 5

I used an angle grinder to cut the threaded rod into 180mm long lengths. Inserting the 12mm rod into 13mm holes will give you some wriggle room when sliding the shelves into place.

Once I had all the holes drilled and the rod cut, I gave each hole, both on the shelf and wall, a squirt of liquid nails then pushed each rod into the wall. Then I slid the shelves onto the rods.

This was pretty fiddly because, no matter how careful you are drilling your holes at 90 degrees, even a millimetre or two variance in each stud hole and threaded rod will make it difficult to match with the shelf holes. But patience and a bit of elbow grease got each shelf onto its threaded rods.

Step 6

Each shelf ended up tipped a tiny bit up or down. I used the left over shelf material to cut some vertical dividers. These strengthened the overall structure and also brought them to be perfectly level with each other. Take your time to measure these exactly and get the cuts at precisely 90 degrees - I used a speed square for this.

I didnt want too many as I still wanted it to have a 'floating' feeling, so one full size one on one end and several smaller ones gave it the necessary strength. If I needed more, I would use large pieces on alternating ends to give it a zig-zag feel. I fixed these vertical supports to the shelves using 50mm black screw, which were pretty subtle against the dark wood.

Step 7

The desk section was a bit simpler. Since it joined the wall on three sides I couldn't use the same threaded rod method. Instead I cut 30mm white aluminium angel to the length of one long and two short ends of the desk. I then screwed these to the wall studs and placed the desk on top of them them.

Getting the desk the exact size is a bit difficult since your walls may not be perfect right angles. So it is worth making a template out of MDF or cardboard to get the precise fit, then transferring that to your desk panel.

I also used a hole saw to install a 60mm cable duct to allow the computers power cables to pass through the desk

Step 8

We gave plenty of time for the liquid nails to dry before filling the shelves, but as you can see there has been no problems taking his whole library and very important bottles.

Tools and materials

Materials used in the project:

Tools used in the project:

More inspiration for home office shelving projects

Bunnings Workshop member Sean created a floating office shelf and used a false back to attach it to the wall.

Community member Sarah built a custom home office using Flexi Storage units, structural Pine, moulding and VJ panels.

Office shelves.jpg

Get more inspiration from 10 home office project ideas from our creative community members, and 10 ways to update your home office.