Making a Floating Shelf from Scratch for My Oven
- Shreya Teresita
- Sep 14, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 18, 2025
Let’s start of this series with one of the easiest (and highly usable) furniture I made – a floating shelf. You can install it in your living room to organize books, show pieces, etc. or in your kitchen for a rainbow of purposes. I use mine to keep my AmazonBasics Convection Oven on, saving me an ample amount of counter space.
Why did I make it?
Honestly, need. In fact, no piece of DIY furniture that I've made so far was inspired by want.
I got obsessed with baking during the pandemic and bought the convection oven on EMI in a frenzy. But once it was here, I had nowhere to put it. My flatmate’s mom was the one who suggested installing a floating shelf over the fridge. There was never a discussion of buying a shelf online; I personally had never owned an oven before, so my experience in the matters of its 'storage' was zero. She took the initiative to get a piece of 4 by 5 feet of plywood and two shelf brackets to get it made at home.
What we forgot was to factor in the pandemic. So, the 'guy' who'd promised to take the raw materials and build the shelf for us, never came.
When I'd had enough of seeing the perfectly good piece of wood just hanging around in my living room rent-free, I went online and got myself a jigsaw for Rs 2,655 and a can of paint (I already owned a drill machine). And over a particularly hot April weekend, I built and installed my first piece of furniture.
We've been using it for almost two years now. It hasn't come crashing down or lost its appearance, giving me just enough confidence and sense of adventure to continue experimenting with woodworking and dangerous tools.
Speaking of which...
What will you need to make a floating shelf?
Raw materials:
Wood – For my oven, I used about 2 by 2 feet from the whole piece (that was roughly Rs 300). If you’re looking for a sturdier or visually more appealing product, you can go with real wood. Honestly, though, plywood works just fine for 2kg oven.
Shelf brackets – We got a pair of heavy duty industrial brackets for Rs 499, since we were going to mount my precious 15kg oven on it.
Tools:
Jigsaw – I use ISC Powerful Jigsaw Machine. But you don't HAVE to buy one. Alternatively, you can get the wood cut in shape from the store itself, or use a much cheaper hacksaw to chop it manually. You can also borrow one if you're dead set on a jigsaw.
Drill machine and bits that fit the bracket screws – Or you can always use a hand drill, those come for about Rs 500.
Hammer – Or a pestle, like I do.
Sand paper – 180 grit should be fine. I got a pack of 5 for some Rs 200.
Primer and top coat – Ideally, you shouldn't skip these steps for a piece of furniture that you will be using a lot. But due to pandemic issues, I couldn't get my hands on any.
Paint – I used Asian Paints - Walnut Brown (Oil-based). It was about Rs 250 for 500ml, and lasted for 3 projects.
Measuring tape, ruler, pencil, eraser ...
Budget?
With the jigsaw and other tools, the project cost me almost Rs 4,000. The shelf alone, including the wood (Rs 300), the brackets (Rs 499) and the paint which I used less than one-third of here (Rs 250), it was about Rs 1050.
So, how to actually build the floating shelf?
Like I said, I had a massive, 4 by 5 feet piece of plywood, so my first step was getting it chopped to size. Even if you’re getting the wood cut at the store where you’re buying it, you’ll still need to figure out the measurements beforehand.
The size of your shelf, of course, depends on what you’re planning to do with it. If you plan to organise books on it, you’ll need a leaner and longer piece of wood. I was building mine for a bulky, 19x15-inch oven, so the basic surface area of my shelf needed to be at least 22 inches long and 18 inches wide.
On top of that, I left a couple of inches on the three outer sides for some designs. Using a jigsaw allows you to go an extra mile with carving designs into your furniture. But make sure that whatever designs you’re adding shelf is outside the basic surface area that you’ll need for shelving purposes.
You can either trace a design on to the wood or draw one with measurements like I did. If you want to see which designs (and how) I carved into my shelf, check out my YouTube video.
Once you have the design ready, it's now time to saw.
Do's and don'ts of using a jigsaw or any power tool:
Use clamps to hold down the board before cutting into it.
Protect your eyes and ears from flying debris with safety glasses and headphones.
Be masked to avoid inhaling wood dusts.
If need be, use sturdy gloves too.
Never use power tools in an inebriated or sleep-deprived state.
Once you have your wood sawed, it’s time to sand everything down. Sanding will not only make the surface smoother, but will also help your paint grab on to it. Remember to use fine grit sand paper for this, as we wouldn't want the plywood to get scratched.
Be warned that after hours of sanding, you will look pretty much like the gargoyle off the ledges of Notre Dame.
For paint, like I said earlier, use a primer first and a top coat after painting if possible to shield your piece. There are a few other things I wish I had done differently with this shelf, such as using edge banding. Although, since it remains almost fully covered under the oven, I haven't faced any durability issues yet.
You may have to apply a coat or two of paint for full coverage. Make sure the painting process is done in a well-ventilated place. Paint fumes are no joke.
Once done, let the paint dry outside for 8-10 hours or so. Meanwhile, you can get started with the installation process.
You can either attach the brackets to the shelf first and then mount it on the wall or do it the other way around. In retrospect, having seen the process both ways, I prefer the former.
Your shelf brackets should not be too far apart at the edges or too close together. To ensure proper distribution of weight, mount the angles at equidistance from the center.
Quick tip: Measure your drill bit against the anchor/wall plug (the plastic thingies that screws go into) and not the screw. If you don't get the bit size right, it'll be a long day for you.
Triple-check to make sure the brackets have been secured well before mounting and screwing in the shelf to the brackets. This is also when you should do a final sweep for the measurements and alignments. Once that goes up, it's the moment of truth.
Mount whatever you're planning to keep on this shelf, step back and bask in the glory of your handy work.
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