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We did this project on a whim, which should tell you that it’s not too complicated! In fact, I was blown away at how easy it really was, so I wanted to share the tutorial for these DIY hexagon shelves with you too!
I really needed a place to store extra toilet paper in our powder room because there is nothing more awkward than running out of toilet paper at someone else’s house. And there is nothing I want less than to make someone feel uncomfortable at our home!
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So when I had a day off of work, I decided it was as good a day as any to fix this problem once and for all. I inventoried our garage and we had everything I needed to make this happen, so no more excuses! It was time to DIY.
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Tools
What You’ll Need
- 1- 1x4x12 common pine board
- 1- 1x6x8 common pine board (optional – we wanted one shelf to be wider so that we could fit a toilet paper roll on it)
- Wood glue (this is our absolute favorite kind)
- Painter’s tape
- Sandpaper
- Stain or paint (we used Minwax Dark Walnut stain)
- 4- Large D-ring Hangers
Steps to make DIY hexagon shelves
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Step 1: Cut all of your boards
We cut each piece to be 5.5″ on the long side. Each board should be cut at a 30-degree angle so that all of the pieces will fit together.
Feel free to adjust the length of your pieces if you want to make larger shelves. The key is to cut them to a consistent size at a 30-degree angle.
All of your pieces need to be the exact same length, so clamp a board to your miter saw as a guide. With the guide in place, you can quickly slide the board you are cutting up again the guide to get consistent cuts without measuring.
Step 2: sand
Our boards were pretty smooth to begin with and I wanted a rustic look, so I didn’t spend much time on this step. My main goal was to remove splinters from where I cut the wood, so I just quickly went over the edges with 80-grit sandpaper.
STEP 3: assemble
Once your boards are sanded, place 6 of them side by side with the short side facing down. Tape your boards using 2-3 pieces of blue painter’s tape.
Typically, we’re big fans of Frogtape, but when it came to holding the wood together, blue tape worked better.
Flip your boards over so that the tape is now facing down.
Glue the edges of your boards. Be sure to get the glue all the way to the edge. I recommend putting a line of glue down the middle and then spreading it with your finger. This will prevent some of the glue from squeezing out as well.
Carefully flip your boards so that they are standing straight up.
Fold your edges together into a hexagon. Make sure that the seams between boards are tight and the tape is still intact. If necessary, you can add more tape.
Step 4: remove the tape
Once the glue is dry, remove your tape. If there are any areas where glue dripped out, sand them down.
If you want to add extra support, you can pop some brad nails where boards meet.
Step 5: Stain or paint
If any glue dripped out, sand it off and then stain or paint your wood.
If you choose, you can also seal them your shelves, following the instructions for your specific sealer.
Note: If you choose to stain your boards before gluing, you will need to wait until they are fully dry or the tape will not properly adhere to the boards.
Step 6: Hang your shelves
To hang our shelves, we first attached them to each other using glue and nails. Then we added D-rings along the middle plane in each place that two shelves met. The D-rings each straddled two shelves.
If you’re not doing multiple shelves or you’re keeping them detached, you could also use sawtooth hangers to hang your shelves.
That’s it! Now it’s time to style them. That’s what really makes them special 😉 Tag us on Instagram (@craftedbythehunts) so we can see your awesome work!
Trina says
I like the hexagon shelves. If wach cut piece is 5.5” long, what is the widest outside width of the finished shelving from point to point? I have forgotten my trigonometry!
Thank you.
Zoe Hunt says
At their widest, they are 11″