DIY Reclaimed Fence Board Shelf

I have been working my way through a pile of old fence boards left over from replacing my fence. I've been wanting a cute, rustic shelf for my living room and I thought the boards would be perfect!
Here's how to make one for yourself!

I tried to pick out some of the... ummm... nicer? boards from my pile.

Determine how tall you want your shelf and cut the boards to that length.

I wanted my shelf to be 32" tall and about 24" wide for the wall this is going to be hung on.

You will need two scraps of wood for cross braces on the back. I would suggest using the thinnest scraps you can find. If you used 2x4's for your cross pieces your shelf will stick out from the wall quite a bit when you hang it (not to mention it will be heavier).

Attach the fence boards to the cross braces from the front... I didn't even use matching screws... just whatever I could find! Don't judge... we're going rustic here!! :o)

To create the pattern on the top of the shelf create a pattern with paper if you need to or just freehand it, draw the pattern along the top and use a jigsaw to cut along the lines.

I just free handed it and it's not perfect by any means. If you want perfect then draw 1/2 of your design on paper and trace around that onto the boards, flip it over and draw the other half... I am far too lazy to do that!

Give it a light sanding and add the shelf brackets. I had these rusty old brackets in my pile of valuable junque, they used to be hanging on the old fence that I took down!

The white shelf is a scrap that was trimmed off of a longer shelf.

I made the wreath with a greenery garland I found at Hobby Lobby and a grapevine wreath as a base.

Then I shopped my own house and found this little vintage green fan and a little jelly jar glass that had twine wrapped around it and a bag full of tea-lights!

I really love how simple and rustic it looks!



What it cost: