Crown Molding Shelves

You can greatly enhance nearly any area of your home by building crown molding shelves that can display collections, mementos, trinkets, and photographs.  Attractive crown molding shelves take only a few hours to construct and require very few tools, making them the perfect afternoon or weekend project for woodworkers of any skill level.

Although you may be familiar with using crown molding to make the gap between the wall and the ceiling more attractive, perhaps you had never thought of constructing crown molding shelves for use throughout the home.  Let’s look at how you can make attractive crown molding shelves easily.

Building Crown Molding Shelves

You will need a miter box and saw or (optimally) a miter saw to build your crown molding shelves. If you have never worked with crown molding, take special notice that crown molding is placed upside down in the miter saw to achieve the correct miter cuts.  The reason for this is that the crown molding needs to be positioned in the miter saw or miter box in the same way that it will be mounted on the wall.  By placing the crown molding upside down, the miter saw’s fence and the work table will hold the molding in the same ninety-degree angle that crown molding would be traditionally installed around the wall, next to the ceiling.

Measure the length of crown molding that you will need for your shelf.  It is easier to cut the corners and sides of the crown molding shelves first, and then cut the flat top that they will fit around.  Cut the crown molding in a length to your predetermined length, according to the size of the shelf you wish to build. For the corners, you will cut the crown as if you were cutting it for the outside corner in a room.

Cut two corner pieces in this same fashion, according to the depth of the shelf you plan to construct.  Glue and nail the corners to the main crown molding section that you measured and cut earlier.  You will next cut the wood stock that will make up the actual shelf, or the flat top.  Nail and glue the two pieces together.  Cut a small cleat that attaches to the back of the shelf for hanging purposes.

You can choose to purchase shelf mounting hardware or attach the shelf with screws through this cleat. Always hang your crown molding shelves by mounting them where there are studs in the walls so that the shelf will support various weights.

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