Bathroom Shelf

Last week while I was doing a deep clean of the bathroom my “nesting” wife decided it would be a good time to make some décor changes. So as part of that project I am doing this project. Tiffany found her inspiration for the shelf online. We discussed a few modifications and then I set to making plans in Sketchup and she picked up the lumber. For this project we are using 1x6 and 1x8 pine boards, a bit of 1/4” plywood, and some 1/2” hemp rope. Since I knew I was going to be cutting a bunch of dados and I don’t have a table saw that can take a stacked dado blade, I build a jig that I can use to easily cut dados with my router. Next I cut all of the boards to length on my table saw using my crosscut sled and a stop block to ensure I had the same length. Then I clamped to two side peices together to do some work on them. I made the mistake of not cutting a fresh end on one of them so I had a rough “factory” edge that I wanted to clean up. So I sanded each end down with them clamped together so maintain their equal length. Then I marked the spot for the hole and drilled it through both boards on my drill press using a 1” forstner bit. I cut one of the corners of at a 45° angle on my miter saw. And finally with the boards still clamped together, I market where I would be cutting the dados. Next I cut the dados.

This was Tiffany's inspiration for the project. http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2013/08/bathroom-shelf.html
Here is an isometric view of the design I created in SketchUp. We knew we didn't want to use 2x4's and 2x6's as in the original design. Instead we went with one-bys. We also measured the specific space that the shelf was going in (above the toilet) and chose dimensions that we felt fit best in that space. Tiffany also has some baskets that she wants to put on the shelfs so this dictated how much space we wanted between each self.
Here is an exploded view of the shelf design.
Here is a dimensional view of the design.
My new dado jig. One fence is fixed and the other slides in slots with t-bolts. Made it from material I had already bought and had laying around in the garage.
Three of the four shelves cut to length. We finalized the plans after we bought the lumber and relized that we were going to be a bit short on the 1x8 boards, so we still need to pick up another board.
Here are the two side pieces clamped together.
This is how the side pieces turned out after all of the work I did on them while they were clamped. You can see I have already marketed the positions for the dados.
Setting up the dado jig. It would have been a lot easier to set up if I head clear access to my workbench, but my table saw got the job done.
The jig worked pretty well. One thing I did discover is that this pine has a tendency to chip out when my router gets to the end of a cut. To solve this I just started all for corners first then cleaned up the middle and they turned out pretty clean.
Dry fit. The dados didn't end up quite as tight as I would have liked but they will work just fine. The 1/4" plywood tacked to the back will prevent the shelf from racking and the dados should hold fine with just glue. I am going to be using Tightbond 2 which should resist any moisture in the bathroom.
Like my work bench? Sure wish we didn't have so much junk in the garage. Someone needs to stop buying new things before we get rid of old things.
Using a round-over bit on my router table I rounded over the edges of the holes so that the hemp rope wont fray over time.
Another dry fit. This time with the shelves notched out.
Another dry fit. This time with the shelves notched out.
Gluing and clamping up.
Gluing and clamping up.
Gluing and clamping up.
Shelf is finished. Alexa helped me find the stud for fastening to the wall. No we are not relying on the rope to hold it up. It's just for decoration. The shelf is actually fastened with two cabinet screws. One at the top and one at the bottom. That's one of the reasons for the two plywood pieces.
I painted the shelf with white latex paint. Three coats of paint and two coats of spray on polyurethane with light sanding in between. Next time I would probably just use white spray paint with extra coats of poly.
Tiffany found the baskets and jars at the crafts store. We used them to help us determine the shelf spacing during the design phase. She created the fabric liners herself.