In my opinion, a bathroom can never have enough storage space! When I was trying to figure out what to put above the toilets in both our Master Bathroom and our Guest Bathroom, I knew I wanted something functional (for storage), but I also wanted something that fit the farmhouse look of our home. These DIY industrial farmhouse pipe shelves were exactly what I was looking for! These are incredibly easy to make, but I think it is very important to let you know that just because these are DIY does not mean they are cheap… This is rather expensive for a DIY project.

A huge benefit of these shelves is that you can make them any size you want! The shelves we made for our guest bathroom are only 24 inches long and the shelves we made for our master bathroom are 30 inches long! You have the ability to change the size to fit the space!

Below, I have listed step by step instructions on how to create these gorgeous, rustic industrial shelves yourself.

Supplies (for 3 shelves)

• 6 – ¾” Floor Flanges
• 6 – ¾” Caps
• 6 – ¾” Iron Pipe at 10”
• Wood – cut to desired size (I used wood that is 9” wide by 1 ½” thick and then cut to the size that fits the space) The important thing here is to get wood that isn’t wider than the iron pipe length you choose.
• Stain (desired color)
• Dark Screws (I made the mistake of getting silver screws and had to paint over them at the end)
• Spray Paint (I used a coat of Rust-Oleum Universal Burnished Amber Spray Paint followed by a coat of Rust-Oleum Universal Dark Bronze Hammered Spray Paint)
• Measuring Tape
• Drill
• Level

Instructions

• First, you need to spray paint the flanges, caps and iron pipes. (Photos below for all you visual people)

• I chose to screw the caps onto the iron pipes before spray painting (these will be your brackets) and leave the flanges separate.

• To match our bronze bathroom finishes, I used 2 different spray paints (I already had) to get my desired color: Rust-Oleum Universal Burnished Amber Spray Paint followed by a coat of Rust-Oleum Universal Dark Bronze Hammered Spray Paint. The color matched our bathroom finishes perfectly, and I think the color turned out beautifully!

• Allow them to dry thoroughly. Be very careful after you are finished painting. The paint will easily scratch or chip off the pipes. 

• While the metal brackets are drying, decide where you want your shelves to be! If possible, align the flanges with a wall stud (or preferably 2)! This will all depend on the length of your shelves and the width of your wall studs. If it is not possible to place them on a wall stud, I recommend drywall anchors.

• Place the flange against the wall and mark inside each of the screw holes with a pen/pencil. Because these shelves are not attached to the brackets at the end, it is important to make sure the flanges are level before screwing them in. Measure and re-measure! Level and re-level!

• I would recommend going ahead and placing all of your flanges before proceeding. Make sure each set of flanges are the same distance apart and are vertically in line with each other. I chose to leave 12 inches in between each shelf (from the top of one flange to the bottom of the flange above it).

• Use a level to verify everything is level (both on top of the flanges and on the outside).

• Once the flanges have been attached to the wall, screw the spray painted brackets into each flange.

• Now, it is time to cut and stain the wood. Measure the distance from bracket to bracket. In my opinion, the shelves look best with at least 3 inches between the bracket and the outside edge of the shelf. So add at least 6 inches to the distance you just measured and cut your wood!

• I stained the wood with Minwax Wood Finish – Penetrating Stain from Home Depot (left over from my DIY Bar Cart blog. Be sure to stain the ends of the wood, as they will show when you place the shelves on the brackets!!

• Once you get the perfect color for your shelves, let them dry completely. Then, place them on the brackets! These shelves are probably one of the easiest DIY projects to replicate!

• Now, on to the fun part! Decorating!!

It’s as simple as that! If you are planning to build some farmhouse pipe shelves of your own, remember, these shelves can be placed anywhere. They don’t just look good in bathrooms!

I would love to hear your thoughts, and if you plan to build some shelves of your own, place a photo of the finished product in the comments!! Happy building!