I don’t know about you, but I’m a big fan of the look of floating shelves. They’re clean, minimalistic, and make a room feel brighter and more open. However, I’ve noticed that if you have hanging shelves with lights above them on the wall, it can sometimes be difficult to tell where one shelf ends and another begins. But did you know there’s a way to combine hanging shelves with lights? You can create floating-looking shelves that actually have lights inside them. These will look amazing in your home office or living room—just follow these simple steps:
Cut the boards for the front and back of your shelf according to the dimensions you want.
To cut out your shelves, you’ll need to use a saw. There are many different kinds of saws available, but the only one that you should use is a table saw. You could also use a jigsaw or miter saw (if you have one), but they’re not as safe or effective and won’t produce consistent results. You can also use a circular saw or even try using handsaws and hacksaws if you’d like—but we don’t recommend it because they don’t all cut wood equally well! Finally, if none of these options work for you then go ahead and get some help from someone who has access to other types of machinery such as bow saws or coping saws (if needed).
Stain or paint your boards.
- Stain or paint your boards.
- Use a stain or paint that you like.
- Choose a waterproof paint that is easy to clean, easy to apply, and easy to touch up if necessary.
Use two small pieces of wood to make a box at the back of your shelf that you can put a light inside. Glue or nail them into place.
Before you start working on your floating shelf, it’s important to know how to choose and place the lights. You need to make sure that the light isn’t too bright or dim and is placed in a way that will not interfere with your decoration.
When choosing LED lights, consider:
- The brightness of each bulb (a brighter bulb can be overwhelming)
- How many bulbs you need for your shelf (you don’t want too few or too many)
- If you want them wired in series or parallel (if they are wired in series, they will all turn on at once; if they’re wired in parallel, only one bulb will be on at any given time)
Screw in the bottom of the shelf.
After you’ve cut your two shelves to size and they’re ready to go, it’s time to place them on the wall. You will need two 1/2-inch pieces of wood that are the same length as your shelf (or longer), one 1/2-inch piece of wood that is a quarter inch shorter than your shelf (this will be used for the bottom), and four #8 screws with washers.
To hang the floating shelves with lights for an amazing effect, start by drilling holes into the back of each shelf using a drill bit that matches up with your screws’ diameter. You’ll want this hole big enough so that it doesn’t split when you screw in a screw; if it splits, then you have gone too far! If this happens, just take out all three screws from each side and try again using another drill bit size or going slightly deeper into the woodwork until it works
Screw in hooks on either side, then add hooks to each side of the board so it hangs from those hooks.
- Screw in hooks on either side, then add hooks to each side of the board so it hangs from those hooks.
This will allow you to hang your shelf from any place that can accommodate a hook and make sure that it’s secure.
Attach a strip of LED lights to power and tape them onto the bottom of your shelf.
- Connect the lights to a power source and turn them on, so you can see how bright they are and make sure they’re not too bright.
- Tape the lights to the bottom of your shelf, making sure there are no gaps between the lights and your wood surface.
- Test out your setup! You may have to make some adjustments based on how much light is coming off of each strip (or if you have more than one).
This will end up being a very cool looking shelf
- This will end up being a very cool looking shelf
- It will be a good addition to your home.
- It will be a great conversation piece.
- You can use it for many different things, like storing books and magazines or displaying collectibles.
Conclusion
Now you can follow these steps to make your own floating shelf with lights
