Quick and Easy LP Shelves

For a cheap way to bring color to our dull gray-green living room (with any luck, this color won’t last much longer–Sherwin Williams is having a sale at the end of the month), we picked some of our favorite (blue and yellow-ish) LP covers to fill some shelves which were a piece of cake to assemble.

In this photo, you will see how drastically the lens on my point-and-shoot bends straight lines.

Additionally, you’ll see how the shelves (4 ft each) hold 3 records, easily changed on a whim (way better than album frames!). This will also be an easy way for us to display Christmas cards this winter!

To make the shelves, we used one 1×2 and one 1×3, cut in half at Lowe’s (complimentary!) to make 4 4-inch pieces of wood. We had Doug’s brother cut a groove (above) into the 1×3 so that whatever’s on the shelf has a space to rest comfortably. We then attached the 1×2 perpendicularly to the back of the larger board with two screws (each screw around 8 inches from each end). To put them on the wall, we carefuly measured and leveled, and screwed them directly into the wall. Since they aren’t holding much weight, we didn’t bother to look for studs (plus, the wall is plaster and a nightmare in the first place) but when hanging other shelves–FIND A STUD IN THE WALL for an anchor!)

For now, the unfinished wood is similar to the color of the bookshelf we got at Target (which is in the opposite corner of the room) so they don’t bother me too much currently. Eventually, however, they should be painted white to match the trim (baseboards and windows) in the rest of the room.