Easy Built In / Recessed Shelving With Board & Batten **Part 1**

Hi Everyone!!

I hope you all are having a great weekend so far. We did indeed got some snow, but not nearly what they expected. Our bathroom is almost finished with the project I have been working hard to keep from you. Today I am going to show you the first half!! WOOTWOOT! This has become a project that has taken longer then expected. Mostly because I haven't gotten my rear in there for the final coat of paint. I am going to show you what all we did so you can do it in your home too!

We have been working on.... drum roll please.... In wall shelves with faux board and batten. I am SO EXCITED! I have been wanting to add this to my bathroom from day 1. Our bathroom is vary small and lacks counter space. I love decorating and I wanted a nice place to embellish for the seasons.

This plan is for 2x4 stud walls. If you have 2x6 stud walls you will want to use 1x6x12 boards for your shelf depth.

Materials Used:

1x4x12 for the board and batten as well as the trim around the shelves.

¼ Hardwood Plywood (your choice of wood)

Wood Glue

Painters Caulk

Primer& Paint

Sandpaper

2 inch Finish Nails

Tools Used:

Miter Saw

Table Saw

Finish Nailer

Air Compressor

Caulk/Glue Gun

Tape Measure

4 ft. Level

Paint Roller

Paint Brush

Drywall Knife

The first thing you will want to do is measure out in your bathroom where you want the shelves in consideration of the studs (because your boxes will be set between the existing studs). Make sure you also take into consideration of wiring that may be running in the wall. Check the room your working in and the room on the other side for outlets. If you do have outets on either side there will be wiring, but you should be able to adjust your measurments and tuck it in.

Once that is completed mark the height of where you are wanting your shelving. Now is time to grab your level and make sure your lines are running level. Once everything looks good and measures up go ahead and get to cutting those holes out for your boxes you will be building.

I tried to get pictures of this, but my camera battery was dead :(

Once your holes are cut for your shelving you will want to measure and draw up a cutting plan.

Measure the height, width, and depth of your holes. Measure the depth to the stud and the depth to the drywall. This only needs to be done on one inner stud of where your shelving will be. You are taking these two measurements because your interior side boards are going to be recessed compared to the exterior boards when finish. This will give you more of a custom finished look. The depth should be the same on the rest of the holes. Your bottom boards will be the same depth as your interior side boards. These measurements will be the same so you have a slight surface to attach your ledge.

I recommend measuring all of your widths as some stud spacing could be off. When you are drawing up your plan, take off the thickness of the boards. You can do this on either your side boards or top board measurements. If you do not do this step your box will be to big.

Follow your cutting plan and lay out your boxes somewhere where they can be constructed. Use your table saw to cut the 1x4 boards to the correct depth for the walls.

Once your boards are ripped to the correct depth, you will follow your cutting plan to cut your pieces for each box. If you do not have a miter box, other types of saws can be used. You do want to achieve the straightest most accurate cut.

Lay out each piece before construction.

We lightly sanded the cut edges before assembly, although you can skip this if you wish. Anytime using a pneumatic nailer make sure to oil before using. Go ahead and nail those babies together!

Now that you have your boxes together take them in and CAREFULLY make sure they fit into your holes. If you drop those bad boys into your wall they are gone forever :) or at least cause a lot of unecessary work.

Hopefully all will turn out well and you can move onto cutting your backers. This is where your plywood comes in. Simply measure your boxes and shorten them a 1/8 inch on each side. This will guarantee a nice fit with no excess.

You will also attach your backers will your nailer. Do this carefully and try not to shoot your nails through the inside of the box. If it does happen carefully rip the nails out and it can be filled once installed.

Your almost there! Once all the measurements and cutting is done I have to say it does come together pretty quickly. Now we are going to install the boxes into your wall. This is pretty easy.

Put the boxes in until they are flush with where are they suppose to be. Nail them into the studs. We used the same finish nailer for this as well.

After all your boxes are in place you will be installing your ledge. Once again we will simply nail it into place. I am going to explain a technique called toe nailing. This is when you angle your nail to attach it the anchoring pieces. We nailed into the stud as well as the boxes. Nail from the bottom and the top your shelf.

Underneath your shelf we will add the top rail to our board and batten. This will be attached by glue and nailing to the studs. Once you have this up and secure, reinforce your ledge by nailing through from the top, to secure it into your top rail.

Grab your tape measure because you will be measuring for your shelf trim. Start with the interior studs. Measure from the bottom to the exact height of where you want your top trim piece to start. Cut accordingly. Install by nailing into place.

Finish up your trim by taking proper measurements of the side pieces. Install those and continue with taking a simple measurement for your top trim piece. Install.

Well, that's it for today folks.

Check back tomorrow to see how to finish this project by adding the beautiful faux board and batten. It is amazing how much this will add to your space!!!!

See you tomorrow :)