As part of our half bath remodel, we decided to add some floating shelves. We wanted them to match the floating barn wood counter top we installed for the sink, so naturally we had do to floating barn wood shelves. Though since these were going to be above the toilet, we couldn’t use the same floating shelf brackets we used for the counter top because they’d be exposed.

Instead of ordering a different style of hidden brackets, I decided to get a little creative and just come up with my own way of attaching the shelves without having exposed hardware. I basically used the same concept as the hidden floating shelf brackets, but used a 2 1/2″ piece of reclaimed barn wood and poplar dowels as the “bracket”. The 2 1/2″ piece of wood also extends the shelves’ total depth to 8 1/2″ each; which is a much more useful depth for a shelf in my opinion.

The Materials

I started these floating barn wood shelves with a single piece of 2×6 reclaimed barn wood. I knew that each shelf needed to be 18 1/2″ in width to match the width of the toilet they would be floating above. Plus, I would need another 18 1/2″ to rip in half to make the wood bracket. Add all of that up and I knew that I needed a piece of reclaimed barn wood at least 55 1/2″ long.

I also needed 3/4″ wood dowels, which I happened to have laying around as scraps from another project. Then to attach each floating barn wood shelf to the wall I used 1/4″ x 6″ toggle bolts. I also used some 3 1/2″ wood screws to hold the shelves in place temporarily while I installed the toggle bolts.

The Build

Building the shelves was not that difficult, but there were multiple steps just to prepare the wood since I was using reclaimed barn wood. I started by planing the wood, and then running it through my jointer to get the wood square on all four sides and to remove a decent amount of the roughness. I obviously didn’t want to make it completely smooth and loose the rustic charm, but we wanted it to not be overly rough to the touch or to be difficult to clean.

Once the wood was prepared, I cut three 18 1/2″ pieces with the table saw, and then ripped one of the pieces into 2 1/2″ pieces. You can see these in the gallery below.

Now, to connect the pieces I don’t want to glue them because I need them to be installed separately and I may want to be able to remove them from the wall at some point in the future. So I decided to use 3/4″ dowels going all the way through the 2 1/2″ board and then 2 1/2″ into the 6″ board. I used a jig on my drill press to ensure these holes were aligned on all four pieces.

I dry fit the pieces together for each shelf, ensuring the dowels would go in a full 5 inches. After confirming assembly would work, I cut the dowels to the 5″ length and glued them into the 2 1/2″ board.

Lastly, I sanded each shelf and applied a clear matte polycrylic finish.

Installation

The installation of these floating barn wood shelves was pretty straightforward. I started by pre-drilling two 1/4″ holes in each bracket for the toggle bolts. To allow the heads of the toggle bolts to be counter sunk, I used a 5/8″ forstner bit to expand the top of the holes. I also pre-drilled two 3/16″ holes in each in line with where the stud in the wall is for the 3 1/2″ wood screws I used to temporarily attach them.

Once the brackets were leveled, I used a long 1/4″ drill bit to drill through the holes drilled for the toggle bolts and into the drywall. I then removed the brackets, and expanded the pilot holes in the drywall out to 5/8″. I then reattached the brackets with the wood screws and then tightened the toggle bolts down.

The last step was sliding the front piece of the shelf onto the dowels. To ensure the front boards don’t slide forward over time, I pre-drilled into through the top of the front board and into the dowels. Then used 1 3/8″ trim head screws to secure the front boards to the dowels. This gives me the option to easily remove the shelves at some point in the future, and since the shelves are installed fairly high up, the trim head screws are not visible.

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