Leather Strap Shelf // DIY

Something we’ve always been short of in our house is a place to display pretty things. Decor always ends up sitting on the counter and just looking like a mess. In setting up the nursery I knew that we had to have some shelving space that was not only practical, but also pretty. This DIY Wood and Leather Strap Shelf was the perfect solution. It was one of the simplest DIYs in the room, but adds so much character.

Supplies:

Wood plank (Ours is pine, 70cm x 15cm x 2cm)
Strong Leather Strips (2 strips, 70cm long x 3cm; If your shelf is wider make sure to have longer leather strips)
Sandpaper
Leather punch (optional)
Wall plugs and screws (4,5mm x 38mm)
Drill, drill bit (7mm)
Screwdriver

Instructions:

Start by sanding down the corners and edges of our shelf plank. Smooth edges makes all the difference in helping the shelf to look and feel professional. It will also prevent the plank from damaging the leather.

Punch wholes in each end of both your leather strips, four holes in total. Make the hole just big enough for your screw to fit through. If you don’t have a leather punch, simply use your drill to drill holes through the leather. If you have a spare leather piece, do a test hole before drilling the final holes.

Drill holes for your wall plugs, using a masonry drill. Insert wall plugs into the wall and then screw through your folded up strip of leather.

Tip: The trickiest part is figuring out where to drill the holes in the wall. Hold your shelf plank in the position that you’d like it to be. With the strap wrapped around the shelf, use a pencil to mark your screw position, through the punched holes. Use a spirit level to mark your second hole. Remember to make your holes slightly closer together than the length of your plank to ensure a little bit of plank sticks out on each end of the shelf.

Place your plank into the two straps and straighten it out.

I absolutely love how the shelf turned out and think it adds so much to the room. See the full nursery tour here.

We’re still deciding whether or not to add a second shelf above this one, that would be slightly shorter, but we’re living with it for a while first.

Special thanks to Hanja from Onyx & Fair who was involved in the design of the nursery and especially in shelf choice.

I’d love to see your Pure Sweet Joy DIYs. Show me on Instagram using #puresweetjoyblog or email me at deborah [at] puresweetjoy [dot] com. Like what you see here? Follow along on Facebook, Twitter or Bloglovin or subscribe to the newsletter for exclusive access to the latest news and freebies.