Make These Picture Ledges for Under $10
Do you have a bunch of picture frames lying around and a couple of hours of time on your hands? Make a DIY picture frame ledge. It’s simple to make, easy to arrange, and looks quite elegant.
Since our move, we still have boxes of picture frames taking up way too much of our closet space. However, we are one ample box lighter, due to the awesome picture ledge that Ash made.
As I was digging through the box that held the white, cream, and grayish frames, I thought about a gallery. However, I already had one on a neighboring wall, so I wanted something different for this collection of pictures.
That being said, one of Ash’s least favorite chores is hanging pictures up on our walls. You should hear how he tries to procrastinate the task, let alone see his expression when he languidly follows me around the house with a hammer and nails.
And, he definitely does not enjoy when I ask him to hold the picture up to the wall, as I direct from across the room saying, “A little bit left, nope too much….” With my indecisiveness, that goes on for a little too long before I usually end up putting the picture somewhere else.
For these reasons, I knew Ash would love the idea of not having to hang any of the picture frames in this hefty box and instead have the pictures rest on a DIY picture frame ledge.
Would you know he had both photo ledges built in a couple hours?
He used all scrap wood, and then I painted with furniture paint for a nice finish.
The best part?
You can make them too for under $10!
How To Make DIY Picture Frame Ledges
Here are Ash’s instructions on how he built these simple photo ledges.
I came up with a very simple design for the DIY picture frame ledge. Here is an exploded 3D diagram that I created in TinkerCAD to show how the pieces came together:
I was able to use all scrap wood leftover from previous projects. I cut the long pieces to the appropriate length. Eileen used the length of the love seat as a basis for how long she wanted the shelves.
Then, I formed the triangle support ends with my miter saw (this is one of my favorite tools – check out my other favorites).
After that, using some wood glue, clamps, and finishing nails, I attached the pieces to each other. Once the wood glue dried, I used the orbital sander to smooth down all the surfaces to make the different wood segments blend into each other seamlessly.
Since it was scrap wood, there were a few gouges here and there that I patched with wood filler and sanded down to a smooth surface.
Finally, my painter, aka Eileen, gave the shelves two coats of paint, and then it was ready to be mounted to the wall.
In mounting, I secured the shelves to the wall using two lag bolts, directly into two wall studs. The heads of the bolts stood out slightly, so to help blend them in, I covered them with some white paint to match the shelves.
Looking back, if I had some Forstner bits at the time, I would have countersunk the lag bolt heads to make them flush with the wood surface.
The cost of the project was free, as we had all of the material in our garage; however, I estimate the project costing $10 for the wood plus a quart of paint.
Our New DIY Picture Frame Ledge
I loved the way the picture shelves turned out. Ash built them so quickly, and without any trips to the store for additional materials, which is always a plus!
I think it took me longer to arrange the pictures than it did for Ash to construct them. (I’m super slow at arranging things…)
Everyone who visits has been commenting on how much they like them. A few people have said, “Have these always been here?” That is one of my favorite comments because it goes to show how great they look where they are.
Not to mention, Ash was so pleased that we didn’t have to hang all those frames. I haven’t told him we still have two more boxes of pictures in the closet. I’m not quite sure where they are going either. Maybe another picture ledge will be forthcoming.
Here’s another angle of our new DIY picture frame ledge. The more I look at it, the more I love it – and it was a lot easier than creating a gallery, and unlike the gallery, I can easily rearrange the picture frames too.
Shelving projects are one of my favorites – I just love different ways you can display pictures, books, and other items. I’m sure we will have more shelving projects coming soon.
These are great. How awesome the money you can save by making them yourself.
Thanks, Charlene! Yes and they are much better quality than store-bought ones too:))
Such a lovely display!! It’s a feature tomorrow at Welcome Home Wednesdays! Congrats! See you there!
Wow, thanks so much, Erin! Can’t wait to see!!
This is such a wonderful idea! Thank you for sharing with us at the To grandma’s house we go link party last week, you will be featured in tomorrow’s party, hope to see you there!
Thanks, Tarah!! Looking forward to seeing it:))
I love the picture ledges. And how much fun it will be to change out the look from time to time.
Thanks, Debra! Yes – so easy to update :)) Happy New Year:)
These do look great! I made some for our stair well but without the baseboard and triangle supports. Yours look classy!
Hi Audra! Thanks so much!! :)) Happy New Year!
What a clever idea!! I love that you can change it all about without leaving giant holes in the walls!
Thank you so much for sharing your awesomeness over at Waste Not Wednesday!
Hi Sam, Thank you for featuring us at Waste Not Wednesday! Super excited :))
Your pictures look gorgeous lined up on your ledge! Visiting from Mad Skills Link Party <3
Thanks Sophie! Loved how easy they came together;)
These are so neat! LOVE them!
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Thanks Jess – will do 🙂
I would love to make some of these for my home or rather, get my husband to make some for me! Thanks so much for sharing this so I can show him! These are so great and turned out beautifully!! Love them!
Thanks Laurie! I’m glad you like them! They turn out so well and are so cheap versus store-bought!:)
These ledges are awesome! I love the raised edge, keeps the pictures from sliding out!
#wearepinnable link party
Thanks so much, Tuula! The raised ledge makes them so safe:)
Love this your picture ledges look great.. Did lovely job arranging frames on ledges. Looks quite simple and we have lots of lumber scraps so hopefully can get Mr. Furry to make a couple for me. Your ledges turned out so nice, added great décoration to your wall. What more cud we want?
Maybe will go out to lumber pile to round up pieces will need to make these. Happy daze
Thanks for your compliments JaneEllen:) Hopefully you can make them from scrap like we did:) Have a great week!
I recently re-arranged my living room and took down a gallery wall in the process. Your picture ledges look awesome and I may go that route instead of re-hanging all those pictures 🙂
Thanks Karlie! Yes, gallery walls are so time-consuming. I always end up putting too many holes in the wall. The picture ledge was much easier and it is easy to rearrange/replace the photos. 🙂
I love the way these look! Such a nice way to display lots of pictures without all the holes in the walls! Thanks for sharing at The Blogger’s Pit Stop! Roseann from http://www.thisautoimmunelife.com
Thanks Roseann! Yes definitely – I’m so indecisive that I always make too many holes:)
NIce home decor DIY project and it saves holes in the wall for all those pictures! Thanks for sharing with us at Merry Monday. Pinning.
Thanks Shirley! Yes I have a terrible habit of changing my mind and making too many holes. The picture ledges definitely solve this problem:)
Very nice! I have a few of the Ikea picture ledges, which aren’t very deep. Yours looks like it holds a fantastic number of pictures all at once. Thanks so much for sharing at the #happynowlinkup!
Thanks Leslie! They do hold a lot of pictures and are easy to add and replace:)
thanks for sharing. pretty easy once you have a “cheat sheet”
Thanks Javier! Yes not a hard project at all:)
Nice way to display those stored pictures. Simple, but makes a statement. Thanks for sharing on Sunday’s Best.
Thanks Rhonda! Yes definitely! Now I just need to make a few more:)
Nice! Love your project. Thanks for sharing this at the Inspiration Spotlight party. Sharing
Thanks so much, Theresa! Glad you like it:)
What a beautiful way to display your pictures.
Thanks Cathy!
These are fantastic! I totally need to do this in my home! 3 kids and our pictures on the walls are getting outdated….no current ones. ugh!! Thank you for the idea I can add to the honey do list! hehe. This makes it easier then to get the pictures out quickly. I always get overwhelmed by the wall picture gallery. This eliminates that stress!!! Thank you. Stopped by from Fridays furniture fix. Pinned
Thanks so much for your compliments Kathleen! It is hard to keep updating the photos, but the picture ledges definitely make it easy! I get overwhelmed by the galleries too and usually use them for landscapes or artsy things rather than family photos. It makes it easier to switch them out:)
My kids were kind of bummed when I packed away their graduation pictures on the mantel and replace them with seasonal decor. This is the perfect solution to make us all happy! Thank you for sharing with us at Celebrate Your Story, and have a great weekend.
Aww that sounds perfect! It’s just like a mantel:)
I have been wanting to make a couple of these in my home for a while (with hubby’s help, of course). Yours turned out so beautifully and are just perfect for what I am thinking over. Thanks for the tutorial. Pinning this one!
You’ll love them, Jelica! It’s an easy project – and you can save so much. A lot of picture ledges from the store have high prices and not great quality. When you make it yourself, you can save and make it nice and sturdy 🙂
These turned out great! Love the addition of the angled support ends, for sure. It really completes the look. Thank you so much for sharing with us at Funtastic Friday! Pinned
Thanks Angie! Just wondering where I can put more now 🙂 Have a great week!
These look really nice. I love how solid they are, certainly ably to hold up the weight of various art pieces. Thank you for the Tinkercad reference. I didn’t know about it and could even use it to show hubs what exactly it is I am requesting.
Thanks Leanna! Yes they are very solid. That’s a great use for Tinkercad – it’s always easier to explain with a picture 🙂 Have a great week!
These are great. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks D:)
Thanks, D:)
Thank you so much for sharing this with us at our To Grandma’s house link party! I will be featuring it tomorrow morning when the new party starts, have a great week!
Yay! Thanks Tarah! Excited to see them featured 🙂
Great job and great picture ledges for so little – I love them Ash and Eileen
Thanks Amber! The price is pretty unbelievable compared to the stores 🙂
I love all your great DIY tutorials guys, I always learn new tips and tricks! Thanks for sharing your projects at #fridaysfurniturefix!
Aww thanks for your compliments, Brenda!
Wow those came out great. I will be featuring this tonight at my Sizzle into Summer party. Please stop by and pick up an I’ve Been Featured button. Thanks so much. http://diybydesign.blogspot.com
Hi Judy, Thanks so much for featuring our picture ledges:) So excited!