DIY Floating Media Shelf

When short on space, make a floating media shelf, in lieu of a console for your tv wall. A low-profile solution that’s big on style!

One of my favorite projects in the family room is the floating media shelf. For the tv wall in here, I knew we needed to to something low profile; this room connects 3 other spaces, which means traffic patterns galore in this relatively small space.

I was inspired by this long floating shelf from the Design Files. The length would give an opportunity to create a focal wall with layered art, stacked books, etc. (along with the TV), while still keeping a shallow footprint.

Materials:

• Four 1×10 paint grade or MDF wood boards. Board length should be an inch or so longer than your desired finished length.
• One 1×4 pre-finished board
• Wood glue
• Clamps
• Belt sander or orbital sander with 80 and 120 grit sanding belts
• Floating shelf bracket – We used the 78″ Glenn MD Floating Mantel Bracket from Shelfology. Make sure you order your bracket with the screw holes pre-drilled (for easier installation).
• Cordless Drill
• 7/8″ Auger Drill Bit
• 2″ Hole Saw – We used the Hole Dozer.
• 2″ Grommet cover
• Router
• Rust-oleum White Spray Paint
• Kreg Jig

Glue 4 boards together. Drizzle glue onto first board and smear with your fingers (or spatula). Clamp boards together in several locations, until glue is set. Start with two boards. Then glue the 3rd board on top; then the 4th. The 4 boards together create a 3″ thick shelf.

Once boards are glued together, use belt sander or orbital sander to sand all surfaces of the shelf smooth. Start with 80 grit and work up to 120 grit.

Measure wall bracket size, thickness, and rod bracket length and spacing. Route out a void on the backside of shelf to house the size and thickness of your bracket (so your shelf will sit flush against the wall). Then use an auger drill bit (we used a 7/8″ auger bit) to hollow out locations for bracket rods.

Install bracket to the wall according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Then dry fit the shelf on the bracket before moving her outside for paint or stain!

The bracket we used is super strong and can hold up to something like 90 lbs!

Initially, we planned to stain the ledge, but the poplar boards didn’t take the stain well even with wood conditioner. (Apparently, this is common with poplar.) So….we ended up painting the ledge white via spray paint, and I’m glad we went white. There’s already plenty of competing wood grain in the family room!

NOTE: Had I known we’d end up painting the shelf white, we’d probably used a less expensive material such as MDF, rather than wood. Hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it?

Speaking of cost, the total project cost was somewhere around $250. The bracket was $130, the wood materials were around $100, and I’m leaving $20 for miscellaneous supplies like the grommet cover, etc.

Because the TV was to hang above the shelf, we added a 2″ grommet hole for the cords to pass through and run along the bottom side of the shelf (instead of the top). To make the hole, we used a ‘hole dozer’ attached to the cordless drill. Then finished the opening with a plastic grommet cover.

As we installed the finished shelf and began styling, I quickly realized we’d underestimated the number of cords we’d have in this area: TV, 2 lamps, lightstrip, etc. Since there is one outlet on this wall and more than 2 cords, we’d need to use a powerstrip, mounted (with Command strips) to the underside of the shelf the powerstrip was a total eyesore.

In a game-time decision, we added a 1 x 4 prefinished board to the underside of the shelf to conceal the powerstrip/cords, and act as a cove for the lightstrip. The 1 x 4 is attached 2.75 inches from the back edge of the shelf, and is 4″ shorter than the overall length of the shelf. It’s attached to the underside of the shelf with screws using a Kreg Jig.

Without actually moving the electrical outlet, here’s what the cord situation ended up looking like. Everything that’s plugged into the powerstrip (concealed behind the 1×4 board) is controlled by smart technology meaning we can control it using an app on our phones. The grey/white plug is the powerstrip. The black cord is the TV. It’s not perfect, but it’s not bad either, considering how many lamps, lighstrips, etc. are actually at work here!

So that’s the skinny on this floating media shelf. What do you think of our small-space solution? Would you try this at your place or do you prefer to stick with a traditional media console?

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