written by Melissa Dalton | illustration by Allison Bye

This project is an attractive way to display your wine bottles. It uses a basic floating shelf design and adds a decorative backing board for stabilization, as well as gallery rails. The rails ensure the bottles don’t roll off the shelves.

The best part of this project is that it’s a template for your own personal style. For instance, if the slat application described here is too modern, the backing decoration could be wallpaper or a nice stained wood. Depending on the hardware purchased, the gallery rails could be brass or a colored metal.

1. PREPARE THE BACKING BOARD

Instead of attaching the shelves directly to the wall, they will be attached to a backing board for support, using ¾” plywood. Cut the plywood to size, about 20 inches wide by 30 inches tall. These dimensions can be tweaked to your preference. (If doing something other than slats for the back, finish the backing board here.)

2. CUT AND ATTACH THE SLAT BACK

For a modern look, apply thin slats to the plywood for texture and dimension. Using ¾” wood trim, cut the pieces to size, to be placed vertically on the backing board. This should be about 20 pieces total, but double-check measurements to ensure even coverage. To attach the first slat, start at one outer edge of the backing board. Apply a thin bead of wood glue to the back of the slat. Line it up to be flush with the edge of the backing board, and press into place. Secure by punching in three brad nails at equidistant lengths.

To space out the slats evenly, turn one on its narrow edge, and line it up with the first. This will be the guide. Line up the next slat so it is flush with the guide, and attach with glue and brad nails as before. Lift out the guide, and repeat this process until all of the slats are installed.

3. CUT SHELVES AND INSTALL GALLERY RAILS

There will be five shelves, spaced about 5¼ inches apart in height. Cut a 1×5 board to the correct width to span the backing board. Leave unfinished, or finish them with stain or paint to the desired look.

With a pencil, mark the spots for the gallery posts. These will line the front of the shelf, and leave the ends open to slide wine bottles in. (Gallery posts and rods can be bought online or at specialty hardware stores.) Install according to product instructions, first drilling pilot holes, then attaching posts, then rods.

4. ATTACH SHELVES TO BACKER BOARD

Mark placement of shelves on the backing board with pencil, and then drill in three pilot holes for each, with one hole at each end and one in the center. Align shelves with pilot holes, and glue into place. Let glue dry. Flip over the unit, and redrill pilot holes, so the depth reaches into the shelves. Sink screws into each pilot hole, so the shelf is securely attached.