Slatted shelves

How to build a wood slatted shelf in an airing cupboard

All you need to make them is some 25x50mm prepared timber and some basic tools.

How to make a slatted shelf

The first thing to do is work out how many shelves you want and at what heights. You can divide the height equally, or leave a larger space at the bottom for a drying rack or hanging rail to fit in before the shelves start above it. Sometimes you're governed by things like a stop cock that needs to be accessible, as to where you can put them.

As you can see in the picture above left I've fixed three battens to the wall, the top shelf will be shorter so it's still possible to access. I've also used a bit of 75x25mm (3x1) timber for the middle of the bottom shelf that is 1000mm off the floor, I'm going to screw a hanging rail underneath for drying shirts etc.

When fixing battens to walls it never hurts to use a bit of Gripfill if you've got some on the back to make sure they don't ever budge. If i'm fixing to masonry I'll use red plugs and 50/60mm screws. Click here for help fixing to plasterboard and for a list of suitable fixings.

Then cut two slats, one for the front and one for the back of each shelf. I pin mine in place with a nailgun, and I havn't hit a pipe...yet!

Fitting slatted shelves round pipes

Cut another batten that will reach from the front to the back slat to support the shelves that can't reach the wall because the pipes are in the way. Drill, countersink, glue and screw it up from underneath where the screws won't be seen, like in the picture.

Now it's just a matter of filling the shelves up. I cut the slats in where they will reach from wall to wall but cut the others a little shorter than touching the pipework.
To space them out I normally use an offcut of batten on edge (about 18mm or 3/4in) starting from the front and working backwards. As you get closer to the back wall space the last few out evenly over the gap that's left. Once you've done one you simply repeat the process for the rest. If you wanted identical gaps all over you could use the same method as when spacing stair spindles evenly.

Here's the hanging rail fixed underneath the slatted shelves for drying shirts trousers etc.

Because I've done loads of these shelves now for speed I generally cut and fix all my wall battens, cut 2 battens for the front and back of each and fix them all, a supporting batten for front to back of each shelf and add all the infills last. I make a list of each piece I can cut before returning to the saw to keep the journeys to a minimum. It just helps save time doing each step for all the shelves instead of doing one before moving on to the next step etc.

Slatted shelves related pages