I Love Our HOME Shelf and How to Make your Own
I love the HOME shelf we made from pallets, and it all started with the question. What does it really mean when they say home is where the heart is? I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s all about the little things; a rose my daughter picked for me in the garden, my son’s cheeky smile, a candlelight dinner under the stars, our fur babies, a good book, and laughter. Without the little things, a house can never be a home.
A house is made of walls & beams. A home is made of love & dreams
And our pallet HOME shelf we made last weekend is the perfect place to display some of those special things.
Isn’t she something totally different?
The shelf was inspired by the beautiful LOVE shelf that’s all over Pinterest. Have you seen it? We drew up the plans and started cutting up some pallets.
Okay, before we get to the tutorial, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!
How to Make a HOME Shelf From Pallets
You’ll need pallet pieces that are at least 13 cm wide to fit all those little mementos. Cut one long 80 cm (31 1/2 inches) piece to form the backbone of the shelf and then cut and sand:
For the H
- 1 x 20 cm (8 inches)
- 1 x 15 cm (5 7/8 inches)
For the O
- 2 x 17 cm (6 3/4 inches)
- 1 x 16 cm (6 1/4 inches)
For the M
- 1 x 20 cm (8 inches)
- 2 x 11 cm cut at 45 degrees (4 3/8 inches)
For the E
- 2 x 17 cm (6 3/4 inches)
- 1 x 10 cm (3 7/8 inches)
To put the shelf together, start at the bottom with the E. Use a pneumatic staple gun and wood glue to attach one of the 17 cm pieces at 90 degrees to the bottom of the 80 cm piece, then measure up 9.5 cm and attach the 10 cm piece. Make a mark 20 cm from the bottom and staple the last 17 cm in place.
For the O, create a U shape using the two 17 cm pieces as the sides and the 16 cm piece as the bottom.
Measure 20 cm from the top of the 80 cm backbone, dab some wood glue on the ends, and use the staple gun to attach the O to the backbone.
Now the H and the M. The M scared us a little. I think it’s those 45-degree angles, so we left it for last. The H was pretty straightforward. Attach the 15 cm piece to the middle of the 20 cm piece to form a top-heavy T shape.
Attach the H to the backbone so that the top of the “H” is flush with the top of the backbone.
Okay, it's crunch time, we can't avoid those angles anymore ..........
Glue and staple the two 11 cm pieces together to form a V shape.
Attach the V shape to the backbone where the bottom of the O joins the backbone. Sit back and smile because that wasn’t as bad as we thought. In all honesty, that was pretty darn easy 😀 Do a victory dance around the garden, and consider having a beer to celebrate.
Come back down to earth and attach the last 20 cm piece. Go get a beer and grab the fur babies so they can see how we conquered angles.
Time to Make The HOME Shelf Pretty
We used a dark wood stain and then painted over the whole shelf with Annie Sloan Old White. We had some leftovers from making this cute little side table and this COOK shelf.
Finally, we used 100-grit sandpaper to lightly distress the shelf before sealing it with clear wax.
I’m really happy with how it turned out. What do you think?
All things considered, those angles make it worth it!! Yup, no angle will ever get me down again. Okay, maybe they will 😉 To hang the Home shelf, we attached sawtooth hooks to the back of the “H” and the “E.”
The little HOME shelf and our suitcase-themed dresser makeover are probably my two favorite things we’ve made so far.
Our little HOME shelf is a gentle reminder of everything we hold close to our hearts. Where do you keep your special memories and little keepsakes?
If you like the idea of making a small HOME shelf, don’t forget to pin it for later.
Oh, and before I forget, to save you the trouble of trying to find some of the things we used, I’ve added some affiliate links below. Disclosure: If you click the links, we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry, it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us come up with more unique DIY and craft tutorials for you 😉
Until next time, I hope you have a beautiful, love-filled week. Thank you for popping in for a visit.
How long is this from
Top to bottom? I want to make it
Hi Kell, it’s a small shelf and just under a meter long.
Whatever you make my friend is perfect!!! I love your shelves and I think it looks perfect on your wall 🙂
? Awwww Christina thank you so much for that. I still need to work on those angles but I’m real happy with how the HOME shelf turned out
Hi. That shelf is very cute. My question is: how does shelf attach itself to wall? Thanks
Hey Nicolasa, thanks so much for reaching out. The shelf is attached with zig zag hooks also called saw tooth picture hangers. One behind the H one on the E.
How crafty! Love love love this and the finish is really nice. Think I’ll give it a try!!
Thank you so much Patti. Let me know if anything doesn’t make sense and I would love to see a picture when you’ve made yours
How did you end up mounting it to the wall?
Hi Nate, we used those zigzaggy hanging things. I believe they’re called Saw Tooth Picture Hangers. There’s one behind the cross bit on the H and another one on the top bar of the E
Your home shelf is so amazing and creative Michelle!! And I love how you have distressed it as well! Brilliant!!
Thank you Sam, it’s still one of my all time favorite projects
Oh, Michelle, this is so clever and so pretty! I love it!!!
Thank you Janine
I am flipping out over this one! OMG Love it. You guys are so super talented. I’m so inspired by you. <3
Ahhhh Carolann, thank you. The little HOME shelf is one of those truly special DIY things we did. I’m really so glad I could get my head around those angles
Love it! How to hang?
Thank you Donna. We hung the shelf using those zigzag picture frame hooks. I hope that’s the right word for them. Let me know if it makes sense please
Hola! I’ve been following your site for a while now and finally
got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Atascocita TX!
Just wanted to say keep up the fantastic work!
Hello Christine from Texas, thank you so much for the shout out.
Michelle, this is fantastic! I think I know some people I could make these for and they would just love it!
They work like a charm Angie. We had some friends around this weekend and they all want one.
Okay, so I just cut all these pieces and the shelf is awesome but its much smaller than it seems in the pictures. I may try it again and double all the measurements. I really like how it seems to take up a good piece of the wall in the pictures. Thanks for the idea. My first pallet project!
Awesomeness Jammie. I’m so glad it worked for you and congrats on your first pallet project. Wishing you many more 😉
What an awesome shelf Michelle! I am loving it! You are so creative, and always coming up with something unique and awesome! I love the rustic look of the shelf.
Aww Linda, thank you so much.
The pictures seem to be a much larger shelf then the dimensions listed unless the area mounted is not a full wall. If so what are the larger dims.
Hi Mike, the area we’ve hung the shelf is a odd little alcove (I think that’s the right word, it’s a small kind of cut out in an existing wall). The measurements are correct as far as I remember but if you find something odd please let me know. When I built the shelf I worked on 20 cm (just under 8 inches) per letter but I’m sure you can make it bigger or smaller depending on your space. Hope it helps, if not let me know and I’ll measure again or try explain a bit better.
Awesome! I love it!…Christine
Thank you Christine 🙂
ok, stop the presses. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Love that you spelled the word home with your shelf. #geniusidea!
So glad you shared this, beautiful job.
Lol!!! Thanks Christine <3
What a cool shelf!! You have some neat projects! Would love for you to share some at our link party!
https://www.thestonybrookhouse.com/2016/04/dishing-it-digging-it-link-party-91.html
Oh Wow!! Thank you for the invite. I’m off to have a Dishing It and Digging It party 🙂
What an amazing blog you have Michelle. Why have I not been here before? Truly unique work with lots of repurposing going on here. I’m subscribing! Michelle, I along with Keri and some other friends are hosting a link party and we would be honored if you would link up your creations with us over at Sweet Inspiration.
Wow, what an awesome comment from someone who inspires me on a regular basis. Thank you Mary
love it so much! I want it!! Thank you so much for sharing! I’d love it if you would check out my blog: sweetyummygoodies.blogspot.com ! Thank you! <3
I’ll swop you a shelf for those delicious chocolate strawberries and crepes?
Love it! And so gonna make this. Excellent project for those little keepsakes that get lost on a larger shelf. 🙂
Thank you so very much
love it, love it, love it, made my heart all squishy xx
Mwah, squishy hearts are good 🙂
YOU ARE SO CLEVER!! I hadn’t seen the shelves on Pinterest so I had to check them out. Yours has them all beat, hands down!! I want one now! I just drug home a solid maple, Early American style end table from the 1960’s. It will be a small patio table after a cleaning and a paint job. My husband see’s my vision for that one, but, when I come dragging a pallet home I’m pretty sure he’ll have to think really hard to get this one! I can’t let that stop me, I really love your incredibly creative shelf! I’m looking forward to seeing your next project! Thanks for sharing!
Lol, my hubby does the same. Can’t wait to see how your end table turns out. Thank you for your lovely comment
How do you attach it to the wall? Love it but can’t figure out how to attach. Please help!
Hi Pat, thank you so much for stopping by. We were originally going to use bracket to hang it up, one under the H and one in the O, but it’s hanging on two nails. If you zoom in on the first pic you can see what looks like a little black dot under the the roses on the H, that’s the one nail and the other one is in the corner where the M and the O meet. I’m pretty sure you could also use those zig zaggy things you find on the back of frames.
Michelle, this home shelf is awesome!!!! Love your creativity!! I also love the special things you’ve placed on the shelf. How amazingly wonderful!! 🙂
Ahhhhhh Keri, thank you