School of Decorating

Decorate with Confidence and Create a Home You Love

DIY Stair Tread Shelves

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, on purchases made after following an affiliate link. See my full disclosure here.

By

In addition to my craft storage at the laundry room sink, I have two pretty shelves for extra storage.  These two shelves are on the opposite side of the room and high up out of the kids reach.  The top shelf is over 7 ft above the ground.  You have to use a step stool to reach stuff up there, but that is the point to keep everything away from the kids.  I put stuff I do not need to access often on the top shelf.  On the bottom shelf I keep more frequently used items.

Stair Tread Shelves

I used wire mesh magazine files to hold all my craft books.  The magazine files work great to save space instead of using book ends.  The lime bucket is holding decorative edge scissors.  The bamboo napkin holder is stocked with envelopes of varying sizes.  Behind it is a plastic storage container with little clear drawers.  I use the little drawers to hold paperclips, safety pins, eyelits, hot glue gun sticks, snaps, grommets, etc.  The little Singer tin holds all my most frequently used sewing notions.

Stair Tread Shelves

I bought the unfinished pine stair treads and corbels at Home Depot.  They were each $10.  So for two 36″ pine stair treads and 4 corbels, the total was $60.  I painted them to match our trim color (Divine White by Sherwin Williams).  I mounted the corbels to the wall with the included hardware and some wall anchors.  I topped the corbels with the stair treads.  I love the bullnose (rounded front edge) of the stair treads.

Stair Tread Shelves

The bullnose and the corbels make for a pretty profile.  I love easy and pretty storage!

Sharing this project here:
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Domestically Speaking
Blue Cricket Design
House of Hepworths
Miss Mustard Seed
Shabby Nest
Tatertots and Jello

Comments

  2. stephanie says

    I love your blog! Since I found it, I check it out regularily. Below your shelf is a beautiful bulletin board. Did you make it or buy it?

    • Jackie says

      Stephanie,

      I will do a post soon on the bulletin board. It is cork board tiles mounted to the wall with a decorative metal screen screwed on top. The only reason I have not shared it yet, is some of the cork tiles have come loose. I think the mounting strips that come with the tile are not that good. Once I find a fix for that I will definitely share.

  8. anu says

    Love these shelves. We are working on something similar for our office. Thanks for a great idea. I also like your wall colour. Is it that sunken pool colour you have listed on the side bar?

    • Jackie says

      Thanks Anu. Yes the laundry room is painted in Sunken Pool. It is such a nice and refreshing color!

  11. krista @ mk inspired says

    Hi! I found you over at TT&J. So glad I did! I LOVE your shelves, color choices, curtains…and I need a giant pair of scissors! Where did you find yours?
    …off to see the other great posts on your site! :)

    Krista @ mk inspired

  13. Cindy Rippe says

    Love the shelves. I’m working on plans to update my pantry with bead-board on the walls and brackets to support each shelf similar to yours. Love the combination of Sunken Pool and White. Thanks for sharing.

  18. Laura@Ms Smartie Pants says

    I love this shelving. I am wanting to do something just like this in my kitchen. I don’t know why but I never look at Home Depot just Loews and they are right across the street from each other!

    • Jackie says

      Nora,

      The metal screen is from Home Depot. I was hoping it was magnetic, but no luck. So I mounted for to the wall and then added the screen. I need to do a post about the cork board soon.

  23. Susie says

    Where did you buy the gorgeous green curtains I see next to the stair tread shelves? Great site by the way!

    • Jackie says

      Susie, I made the curtains. You can read all about it here: http://www.tealandlime.com/2011/06/laundry-room-no-sew-drapes/
      The fabric was an amazing sale find at Joanns. 100% linen for $7/yd. unfortunately that fabric has no markings in the selvedge to tell you what the print is. The silver lining for me, was with beautiful clean selvedge edges I did not even hem the side of the fabric for the drapes.

      Anyone else know what the fabric is? Or who makes it?

      • Susie says

        Thanks so much! Went to JoAnn Fabrics yesterday and couldn’t find the fabric, so if anyone knows where i can get it, please let me know. Thanks!

  24. Nora says

    Thanks for the great idea. I’m going to use it in my office! I’ve already got the corbels and stair tread; just wondered how you attached the stair to the corbel? A screw down through the top? Also, did you mount yours to studs? I see you have books on there; mine won’t be going into studs so I’m trying to gauge how much weight it will hold.

    • Jackie says

      Hi Nora. My corbels were not in studs either. I used drywall anchors to screw into and that worked well. You can get wall anchor kits at Target or Home Depot. I did not attach my stair treads to the corbel, I just laid them on top and they have not moved a bit. If they were lower or within reach of my kids I would have screwed them into the corbels from the top to prevent them from being pulled off.

      Would love to see pictures when you get your shelves done!

  25. Gabrielle says

    Hi Jackie,
    I love your house and decor taste. I was wondering your curtains in the background of these pics,where are they from? love them!!! The shelves turned out awesome!! Thank you!

  27. Betty819 says

    Hey,Thanks for sharing this project with your fans/followers. I love those shelves and corbels. Do both come unfinished when you buy them at HD? Did you sand and prime them before putting final coat of paint on? How did you attach the corbels to the wall? It looks like the stair treads would he heavy and require a special type of toggle bolt or whatever you call those things(I’m drawing a blank right now for the right hardware name.)

    DH and I are sharing a small office and his solid cherry desk is so heavy, even the movers grumbled when they moved it here. I’d love to rearrange his desk but there’s no way the two of us could do it, even with furniture gliders underneath it. We need some strong manpower! I use the room for my computer and for storing a lot of my genealogy research. I have 30-40 notebooks full of genealogy research. I’d love to get rid of this computer desk(by Sauder)and get a table, no wider than this computer desk but would give me better access to my printer. I hate all the computer cables and my kids keep telling me “Mom, buy a laptop.”
    I’m not comfortable typing on a laptop. I’m going to look around the rest of your blog now; as I just found it. Love the wall color too! What kind of flooring do you have? Carpet, wood or tile?

    • Jackie says

      Betty,

      The corbels and treads come unfinished. I painted mine with latex paint that matches the trim in my house. The corbels have hangers on the back to mount them to the walls with screws. I always try to screw shelf brackets into studs or use plastic anchors.

      We have a mix of flooring throughout our home…wood floors on the main floor, with carpet just in the office and living room. We have new carpet and cork floors in the basement. We live in Minnesota, so tile is reserved for bathrooms and mudrooms.

      Welcome to Teal & Lime. I hope you enjoy your look around. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

  29. Betty819 says

    Printed off your DIY article about using unfinished stair tread shelves with cobels..I love the finished look. That white really stands out against the beautiful wall color. Would you share the wall color and paint brand? With the white paint of the shelves, they would stand out with any color chosen I think.

    Aren’t those stair treads a bit heavy..what did you use as hardware for the corbels to hold up the weight of the stair treads? That would be my big concern. Are the shelves just resting on the corbels or did you screw them into corbels? I love the finished look of the rounded edge on the stair treads. Thanks for sharing this idea with us.

    • Jackie says

      Betty, The pine stair treads really aren’t much heavier than the melamine or MDF shelving. The corbels I used had mounting hardware on the back, which I used with large screws and drywall anchors. On these shelves, I made sure one end of the shelf was secured into a stud. On the other end I used the drywall anchors to secure the screws. I did not attach the shelves in anyway, they are just resting on the corbels. They have not budged for a couple years now.

  31. Rachel says

    Love the shelves! Do you happen to remember the name/brand of the blue paint?! I’m having the hardest time finding just the right shade for my vision of my blue walled office with green accents. This looks just like what I was thinking!!!! Thanks!

    • Jackie says

      Rachel, Sadly this blue paint was part of the Martha Stewart line at Home Depot that has been discontinued.

I believe you are the best person to decorate your home. You just need a dash of courage and a dose of decorating know-how. That's why I created School of Decorating.

I know how frustrating it is to feel like failure at home. I also know how amazing it feels when decorating finally makes sense and your home reflects you. I want to share what I've learned so you can create a home you love without years of trial and error.

Get a free copy of my best-selling book Free Decorating