Checking In With Chelsea

DIY ideas, crafts, and tips for your home

subscribe and never miss a thing!

Receive Free Email Updates

  • About
  • Videos
  • Projects
    • Indoor Projects
    • Outdoor Projects
    • Craft Projects
  • House Tour
You are here: Home / Indoor Projects / Stained Shelf in Laundry Room

Stained Shelf in Laundry Room

December 14, 2016 By Chelsea Lipford Wolf 3 Comments

Adding a shelf, or ledge, above your washer and dryer is such an easy and relatively inexpensive way to add more style and storage to a plain old laundry room. So after hanging cabinets and painting the washer and dryer in my laundry room project, that’s exactly what I set out to do.

Stained Ledge Above Washer and Dryer

If you’ve been reading all of my posts, you may have noticed I installed the cleat to hold the ledge a long time ago, before hanging cabinets or painting the appliances. It’s the same system I used to hang the shelves on the opposite wall next to the cube organizer.

9 Cube Storage Organizer Mounted on Wall

But this time, I was staining the shelf and therefore the cleats. I picked up a piece of 1×12 poplar cut to the width of the wall, 76-ish inches. I also picked up a 1×2 that was 76 inches plus 11 inches for each side, so a total of 98 inches for that piece of poplar.

Since I got the 1×2 as one long length at the store, I cut them into the 3 pieces I needed at the house. Those measurements, if you’re replicating this at your house, are the length of the ledge itself, then 2 pieces that are the width of the shelf minus the width of the 1×2, so about 10.75″. I then took the edge of the 1×2 that would be facing out and cut a 30 degree angle on it to give it a little pizzazz.

Once everything was cut and sanded, I used the same stain I’ve used previously for the laundry sorter and upcycled laundry cart, Espresso by Minwax.

Staining 1x12 for Ledge Above Washer espresso minwax

After the stain dried and I applied a coat of polyurethane, I went ahead and attached the cleats (1x2s) to the wall. I had the top of the cleat at the same height as the taller appliance, the dryer. That way, even though fully supported on its own, the ledge could ‘rest’ on the top of the dryer.

using black level to hang stained wood 1x2 cleat on blue laundry room wall

Using a stud finder, I located the studs and attached the main, long cleat to them. Unfortunately the shorter cleats on the sides only hit one stud (in the corner). So I used the same technique as the cube organizer, pre drilling a hole so I could use toggle bolts to get a good grip on the wall. (Click here to see those details on my other post.)

I didn’t worry about filling the holes left behind this time since the cleat was mostly hidden by the appliances. And the silver coloring of the bolt blends in better with the stain than it did with the white paint!

Before I attached the ledge itself to the top of the cleats, I sanded and coated it again with polyurethane.

**Update~I forgot to mention that also before attaching the ledge, I used a jigsaw to cut a small notch at the back for the washing machine’s plug. Since the outlet was above the ledge but the plug came from below, I cut a notch out to accommodate the plug, give it room to be slip out in the event the machine gets moved or replaced, but still keep the ledge flush against the back wall.

Then it was ready to sit on the cleats while I used my nail gun to shoot nails from the top into the cleat. I used 2 inch nails at an angle so they went through the cleat and also into the wall a little bit. Don’t know if it actually adds any stability, but it gives me peace of mind! I applied the 3rd and final coat of polyurethane while the shelf was in place. That 3rd round of sanding and polyurethane really makes a difference in how smooth the finished results are!

And since this particular homeowner has the lovely laundry cart for her detergent and bleach, this shelf gets to be more pretty than functional!

Ledge Attached to Cleats Above Dryer

At the beginning of the post I said this project was relatively inexpensive. Going with a nicer grade of wood for staining purposes (poplar) makes it cost more. The shelf itself was $40, plus the cost of the 1×2 cleat. Everything else used was on hand from other projects. But if painted shelves are your thing, you won’t spend quite as much if you use a cheaper material for your shelf and cleats like whitewood.

Stay tuned for the details on that fancy glass tile above the ledge. It was such an easy DIY, so I can’t wait to share!

The best part about this ledge is it would work for top-loading machines or front loaders. Could you see yourself using a ledge like this in your laundry room? Or would it just collect junk and mismatched socks? Share in the comments below!

Thanks for Checking In! ~Chelsea

Subscribe for Free Updates!

Stay up-to-date on Chelsea's latest projects, tips, useful resources and more.

Previous Post
How to Clean Curtains
Next Post
DIY Christmas Topiary

Related Content

Completed Hand Painted Pennant Flag Banner Kid BedroomDIY Pennant Banner for Kids RoomCompleted Large Lighted Two and Zero NumbersDIY Lighted Marquee NumbersBrick Retaining Wall How to Waterproof and PaintWaterproofing Vertical Masonry WallSitting on Back Steps After Finally Sealing BricksStripping Paint from Bricks

Comments

  1. Joan says

    December 17, 2016 at 7:10 pm

    I think the shelf is a great idea especially if you don’t have the cart for your detergent and etc. I’m going to use some of your ideas when I install my laundry room.

    Reply
    • Chelsea Lipford Wolf says

      December 19, 2016 at 8:26 am

      Great, Joan! Can’t wait to hear more about it when you start on your laundry room. Thanks for Checking In! ~Chelsea

      Reply
  2. Marsha says

    November 17, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    What type of paint sprayer do you use? Can you use it on furniture?

    Reply

Please Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome!

I’m Chelsea. DIY
enthusiast who loves
sharing my victories
and mishaps!
Learn more
here.

CHECK IN WITH CHELSEA ON INSTAGRAM

Lookie! It’s a shelf for your bookies! 🤣Build Lookie! It’s a shelf for your bookies! 🤣Building a shelf unit custom for ANY space in your home is so simple and can be done over and over again to add much needed storage aka sanity! The kids were running all over the house at bedtime trying to find a book to read because we had them stashed in baskets and shelves in several different rooms. So I took advantage of this space in the hall next to a closet to create a central location for their books and some of mine too! Plus it adds a little character to an otherwise blah space!🙌🏻
.
.
A full how to video is on checkinginwithchelsea.com! Book nerds can be DIY nerds too!🤓
.
.
#booknerdsunite #diyskills #beginnerdiy #bookshelfie #halldecor #storagesolutions #storageideas #bookstorage #bookstorageideas
5 months in and she’s at the top of my favorites 5 months in and she’s at the top of my favorites list!🥰
.
.
Couldn’t resist using this audio.😅
Using my grandmother’s cookie press to make 🎄 Using my grandmother’s cookie press to make 🎄cookies I used to make as a kid in our brand new kitchen. My heart could burst!😭 I hope you are enjoying the preparation for the main event 😇and bring love and joy to your home, no matter what it looks like.❤️💚
.
.
#christmascookies #christmastrees #familytraditions #christmasbreak #newkitchen #kitchendecor #kitchendesign #madewithlove
3D art install in my girls’ girly bedroom!🦋😍Love this $13 pack of butterflies that comes with everything you need to fill a large wall! And it only takes 30 minutes!🙌🏻 Putting the link to the butterflies in my bio! (https://amzn.to/3VmfZsB)
.
.
First step is to layout the flow of your fluttering butterflies with the large and medium sizes from the pack, leaving room for the small ones. Then fill in spaces with the small size and pat yourself on the back! So easy!
The whole Wolfpack has been staying at my parents’ house on the river for the past week while our hardwood floors are being refinished. Since the kids had the whole week off of school it has really felt like a vacation! Complete with a sunny Sunday boat ride after Mass!🥰🚤☀️Enjoy the rest of your weekend! 😘
.
.
#generationalliving #3generations❤️ #4kidlife #grandparentlife #boatday #riverside #riverlifestyle #fowlriver #alabamalifestyle #alabamablogger #nofilterneeded
Dad and I got our tickets to the gun show!💥 . . Dad and I got our tickets to the gun show!💥
.
.
@todayshomeowner @visitmobileal #exploreyourhometown #hometownpride #mobilealabama #battleship #ussalabama #visitmobile
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Indoor Projects Outdoor Projects Craft Projects
Facebook Pagelike Widget
  • Contact
  • FAQs
  • Advertise with Chelsea
  • Media
  • Today’s Homeowner

Search This Site

Receive Free Updates Via Email

Copyright © 2023 Checking in With Chelsea • All Rights Reserved