How to build cheap and easy DIY closet shelves

Learn how to build closet shelves for any closet in your home. These DIY closet shelves are inexpensive and easy to customize for any size closet.

My sons’ shared closet is finished and I have never been so excited about a closet before! 

The closets in our house aren’t anything to write home about – all of our bedroom closets are standard double closets with sliding doors.

When I started planning how to make this room work as a shared bedroom for both of my sons, I knew there needed to be way more usable storage in the closet to hold all of their stuff. 

So I designed and built custom DIY closet shelves, gave everything a fresh coat of paint, and now it is perfect!

For those who are new here, I am in the middle of a complete redo of my sons’ bedroom. I am transforming my 4 year old’s bedroom into a room he can share with his two year old brother. (Baby boy #3 is coming this summer so we’re on a bit of a deadline!)

This is how the closet looked before.

One bar for hanging clothes and one high shelf. Plus a small bookcase I stuck in there to add a bit more storage. 

Not a great closet for anyone, but considering how few hanging clothes my son has, it was basically just one huge waste of space!

I knew I wanted to create my own custom closet system. That way I could configure it exactly how I want – plus it would be way cheaper! 

When I started figuring out the design, I tried to keep several things in mind. 

It needed to have lots of shelf space for storing toys, shoes, clothes, etc. and my two and four year olds needed to be able to reach as many of the shelves as possible. (I definitely want to encourage them getting out and putting away their own clothing!) 

On the other hand, I also wanted it to continue to function several years down the road when they are a bit older so the area for hanging clothes had to be big enough to fit full grown man clothing.

Also, since this is a closet with sliding doors, you can only access one half of the closet at a time. So whatever built-ins I created needed to make sense with only one door open at a time.

I came up with a few ideas and then used painters tape to see how they would actually work in the closet.

In the end I decided the design on the far right above was the winner. There were plenty of low shelves/cubbies for storing all kinds of stuff, a long hanging bar, and a high shelf above it to put absolutely all of the vertical space to good use. 

The boys won’t be able to reach the clothes that are hanging on the bar for quite some time, but almost none of their everyday clothing needs to be hung up, so that wasn’t a deal breaker.

(Update – Since sharing this post, I’ve also given our tiny master closet an update as well with a more grown-up closet organizer. And I also gave the sliding closet doors a major makeover in the process.)

Once the design was decided, I got to work on my DIY closet shelves!

First step, remove everything that was already in the closet including the closet rod, shelf, and shelf supports that were there before. I patched up the nail holes with spackle and then gave the whole closet including trim a fresh coat of white paint.

To keep things simple, I reinstalled the same shelf and curtain rod that were there previously higher in the closet.

I built the rest of the shelves using MDF. This was actually my first time using MDF instead of plywood and it was perfect. I chose it because it was quite a bit cheaper, but I also love that it is easy to cut and the surface is incredibly smooth.

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Supplies for DIY closet shelves

• A sheet of MDF cut into 14” strips – My cubbies are 14” deep but you can use whatever measurement works best for you based on your closet size. Another option is to use 12″ MDF shelf boards if you want to avoid having to rip your MDF down to the correct width.
• 1″x2″ pine boards to create the side shelf supports (two 14” pieces for each shelf)
• 1″x2″ poplar or pine boards to create a nice thick facing for each shelf (amount depends on size of your closet and shelves)
• spackling and caulk – for filling any tiny gaps and nail holes for a perfect finish
• white paint (or the paint color of your choice)
• small foam paint roller and paint brush

Tools

• miter saw or circular saw – for cutting your wood planks to the correct lengths
• nail gun – You can also make this with a hammer and nails, but it will take a lot longer. This is the nail gun I have and it is very easy to use.
• stud finder – this is by far the best, easiest stud finder I’ve ever used
• level
• tape measure

How to Build Closet Shelves

My closet plan involves building square cubbies, but the first step is to build three simple shelves spanning the closet.  

I prefer to paint all of the pieces of a project like this before installing them. You will still need to do a quick paint touch up at the end, but painting each piece separately is so much faster than trying to maneuver in all of those tight corners.

Attaching the shelves to the wall is easy.  All you need are some inexpensive 1″x2″ boards.

Nail each support into the studs on each side wall of the closet and then set the shelf boards in place. (Be sure to use a level when hanging your shelves!)  

If you are building straightforward shelves, you also need to add wood supports along the back wall of the closet.

Simply cut another 1’x2′ board the length of your shelf minus 1.5 inches (to accommodate the side supports) and screw it to the studs along the back wall of the closet. (Again, don’t forget the level!)

But because I am building cubbies in this closet, that wasn’t necessary. The vertical pieces separating each cubby will provide plenty of support. 

To create the cubby dividers, cut more MDF to the size you need. I used 14”x14” for the bottom two rows because my shelves are 14″ deep and 14″ high. The top row supports are 9″x14″ because the shelves are 14″ deep and 9″ high.

To install them, I started on the bottom row and nailed a few nails into each divider through the shelf above to secure it in place. Then I added the middle row of cubby dividers and the top row the same way.

Finally, I added the 1″x2″ poplar facing. This is completely optional but gives the whole thing such a great, finished look. 

Poplar boards have gotten increasingly expensive over the past few months, so if you are looking for a less expensive option, pine boards will also work. Just be sure to use a good primer before painting. Pine is notorious for bleeding through and yellowing white paint if it isn’t sealed well. I like to use oil-based primer for this.

The process was pretty simple. I added long strips of poplar to the front of each horizontal shelf and then smaller pieces to each cubby divider. All you need are a few finishing nails to hold each board in place.

The poplar is thicker than the MDF, so it will overhang the shelves a bit. You won’t be able to see this from the front though and the thickness is what makes it look so good.

Seriously, that small detail makes such a difference!

The final step is filling the nail holes with spackling and caulking all of the seams.

I am always amazed at how beautifully caulk and wood filler fix up any imperfections.  (If you aren’t sure of the difference between caulk and wood filler, I have a whole post on when to use wood filler and when to use caulk.)

Finally I added the DIY fabric storage cubes I shared last week as well as these inexpensive white plastic baskets I picked up at Target.

And finally, I filled up the closet with all of the boys’ things. There are clothes in all of the fabric bins, shoes and accessories in the plastic bins, a large basket to toss clothes in as they outgrow them (on the left), a basket full of puzzles (on the right), and extra storage on the high shelf.

And now for the best part of any DIY  post – the before and after photos:

What a change!  There is so much less wasted space now, plus it is gorgeous!

I was planning to do something to update the blah sliding doors, but now I’m considering the possibility of simply leaving the doors off altogether. It would make it easier for the boys to access their own stuff and the closet looks so cute now! 

Update: Since sharing these DIY closet shelves, I’ve upgraded my fabric storage cubes to DIY wooden storage cubes made from gorgeous cedar planks. As great as the fabric bins were, these are so much better!