DIY Picture Ledge

Learn how to make an easy DIY Picture Ledge with this easy tutorial! Make the perfect shelf to display books, photos, plants, etc.

There will never be a home that doesn't have a spot for a picture ledge. I'm sure of that. Photo ledges are so versatile. They can go in almost any room, they can hold so many different pieces to style your space, and they can be stained or painted to fit any decor style. Versatile. When I decided that we needed one, I couldn't find a tutorial anywhere with the design I was picturing, so I'm sharing the tutorial in case someone out there is looking for a DIY picture ledge that is slightly more contemporary than the rest.

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When we were redecorating a bedroom for my kids this was one of my last minute additions. We had painted a horizontal line around the room and I really wanted something for the eye to rest on as it travelled around.

We built this ledge to sit exactly on top of that line, and it was the perfect piece to help give that side of the room a little extra character.

Instructions for Making a DIY Picture Ledge

The first step is to cut your wood to size. This will totally depend on your own space and the size of ledge you want. I knew that I wanted ours to go across the entire length of the wall behind the bed, but if you are doing floating shelves behind the couch or on a wall, you'll need to measure your space first.

We cut the board to width first - ours was 3" wide, but you can do yours wider if you're going to drill into studs on the wall. And then we cut the length down on the table saw.

Next we wanted to create a groove in the board. The groove would allow books and picture frames to sit on the shelf securely, but having their edges rest on an angle.

We used our router table for this, and just slide with wood through the table with a ½" router bit to make a groove. If you don't have a router table, you can also do this with a table saw, as in