DIY and Crafts

How to make your own towel rail with a floating shelf

Article by Your Home and Garden

Transform this decorative floating shelf from EziBuy by adding a functional rail – perfect for paper towels, tea towels or favourite utensils

floatingShelf

Tools

+ Hand saw
+ Jig saw
+ Square
+ Pencil
+ Sandpaper
+ Wood glue
+ Screwdriver
+ Wood-coloured filler

Budget

+ 18mm dressed pine (enough for 480mm) $32
+ 1.8m pine dowel (20mm diameter) $14.90
+ 2 EziBuy Eldridge pot shelves $100
+ Wood glue $12
+ 8 x 32mm cheek screws $9

Total: $168

Step 1

First make the vertical pieces which will hold the rail (the rail holders). Measure and cut 4 pieces of pine, each 65mm x 120mm.

Step 2

Create a rounded corner at one end of each piece. Do this by turning a 65mm-diameter cup upside down and tracing the shape of the cup at the edge of the wood. Cut the rounded corner with a jig saw and sand edges smooth. You should now have 4 rail holders, each with 1 rounded end.

Step 3

To make the holes for the dowel, measure 30mm in from the rounded edge and mark the centre. Drill a 22mm hole through the mark. Do this for all 4 rail holders.

Step 4

Step 4

Measure and cut 2 lengths of dowel to the same length as the shelf and sand off any rough edges.

Step 5

+ To fix rail holders to shelf, measure 50mm in from each end of the shelf and mark the centre on the underside of the shelf.
+ Apply wood glue to the straight end of the rail holder and fix to the shelf at the mark.
+ On the thin edge of the holder that will be facing outwards into the room when finished, measure 20mm from the shelf end and screw in a screw, angling it into the base of the shelf.
+ Do the same on the back edge of the holder.
+ Repeat for all holders.
+ Set aside to dry.

Step 6

Step 6

Once glue has dried, fill screw holes with wood-coloured filler and sand once dry.

Step 7

Step 7

Once you fix the shelves to the wall, gently feed the dowel through the holes in the holders and hang your utensils or other items. Be gentle when taking the dowel in and out.

Top tips

Change the colour on the shelves by giving them a good sand and a few coats of spray paint in a colour of your choosing. Just make sure you do this before attaching the wooden rails.
There are multiple uses for the rails; you could use them as cling film or tinfoil dispensers.
The shelves would be useful in a bathroom as well as a kitchen. Hang them under a mirror or by the vanity to serve as a hand towel rail.

Words by: Catherine Wilkinson and Martin Laidlaw. Photography by: Wendy Fenwick.