Do you have tall walls in your home that feel like the perfect blank canvas? If you’ve been looking for a budget-friendly way to fill that space, these DIY floating shelves might be exactly what you need. In this post, I’m sharing how we built extra-large floating shelves for a tall living room wall using affordable materials, which is perfect for beginners and high ceilings.
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Why We Chose DIY Large Floating Shelves for a Tall Wall
When we first moved into our new home, we were faced with a huge wall that is nearly 20 feet high. During the building process, built-ins weren’t in our budget, and we didn’t want to add a fireplace on that wall since we had already installed a wood-burning stove in another area of the room. Once we finally settled in, we were left with a ginormous blank wall to deal with. We didn’t even have a TV to hang there.
I knew I wanted to do something with that wall someday, but I needed time to brainstorm. After searching for inspiration for quite a while, I finally landed on an idea: extra-large floating shelves. Lucky for me, this turned out to be a great beginner project since I don’t have much woodworking experience.
Planning Floating Shelves for a 20-Foot Wall
We knew from the beginning that we wanted a TV on this wall, and I completely fell in love with a Frame TV. I wanted the wall to look beautiful even when the TV wasn’t in use. This might sound a little silly, but we truly designed the entire wall around the Frame TV, and I have zero regrets.
The blank wall we were working with is approximately 20 feet tall and 19 feet wide, which felt both exciting and overwhelming at the same time. After installing the TV and centering it with our furniture layout, we were able to plan the most logical design for the floating shelves. To keep everything looking balanced and intentional, we centered the shelves with the TV, allowing the entire wall to feel cohesive rather than cluttered.
Designing the shelves this way helped the TV feel like part of the décor instead of a focal point that stood out when it wasn’t in use which was exactly the look I was going for.
Supplies Needed to Build Large Floating Shelves
Because this home isn’t our forever home, I decided to take the budget-friendly route and build the shelves out of pine. After measuring the space, we determined that one 8-foot shelf and one 10-foot shelf would fit perfectly. So off to the lumber store we went to gather everything we needed.
At the end of the project, here’s what we used to build two large floating shelves:
Supplies
- 2 – 10-foot 2x4s
- 2 – 8-foot 2x4s
- 2 – 10-foot 1x8s
- 2 – 8-foot 1x8s
- 1 – 10-foot 1×6
- 1 – 8-foot 1×6
- 1 – 4-foot 1×6
- Wood glue
- Wood filler
- Brad nails
- 3½-inch wood screws
- Sanding supplies
Tools
How to Build Extra Large Floating Shelves
We went back and forth on how we wanted to mount the floating shelves to the wall. The traditional method involves building a bracket system: a 2×4 mounted horizontally to the wall, with additional 2x4s attached perpendicular to it for support. However, after consulting with my brother-in-law (who works in construction), he suggested a simpler approach: mounting two 2x4s on top of one another directly to the wall and then securing the shelf to them. This method was much faster and easier, while still providing plenty of support.
Assembling the Shelf Box
Next, we decided how to assemble the shelf boxes. Since we have a table saw, we were able to miter the edges for a seamless look. If you don’t have a table saw, you can absolutely skip this step and simply butt the edges together.
We cut 45-degree angles on the long edges of the boards. For the 8-inch boards, you only need one miter cut along the side where it connects to the 6-inch board. The 6-inch board requires a 45-degree cut on both long edges. Then, using the miter saw, we cut 45-degree angles on all of the short edges as well.
Once all the cuts were made, it was time to assemble the shelves. We applied a bead of wood glue along the mitered edges, assembled the box, and secured everything with a finishing nail gun. This part was quick and surprisingly easy.
Sanding and Finishing Pine Floating Shelves
After the glue dried, we filled all the nail holes with stainable wood filler and sanded…a lot. This step is especially important when working with budget-friendly wood like pine. Start with a rougher grit and work your way down to a fine grit to get that smooth-as-butter finish. Once sanded, we applied a pre-stain wood conditioner (don’t skip this since it’s key for even stain absorption), followed by stain and a top coat.
How to Mount Floating Shelves Without Brackets
Mounting the shelves to the wall was straightforward. There are a few ways to do this, but here are the two options we considered:
- Glue and finishing nails:
Apply glue to the mounted 2x4s, slide the shelf box over them, and secure with finishing nails. This method is very sturdy, but removing the shelves later would be more difficult. - Screws only (the method we chose):
We skipped the glue and secured the shelf box to the 2x4s using screws placed on the top and bottom of the shelves. This option is still very stable, but it makes removing the shelves much easier in the future. Plus, the screws are barely noticeable once the shelves are styled.
Finished Floating Shelves in Our Living Room
Now that our oversized DIY floating shelves are installed, they completely transform our once-blank wall. I absolutely love how they turned out, and this project holds a special place for me since it’s one of the first major DIY projects I completed mostly on my own, with just a little help from my husband.
