DIY Dinosaur Shelf

I’ve been working hard on my son’s dinosaur’s bedroom. He’s obsessed with Dinos and so I am doing my best to feed that love. A few days ago I hung the cutest dinosaur wallpaper and painted the bed. That wallpaper really transformed the space and I got excited to finish everything up! For today, I wanted to share how to make a DIY dinosaur shelf.

how to make diy dinosaur shelf

A few years ago, Pottery Barn kids came out with the cutest rainbow bookshelves. I filed that idea away in my head and figured that one day I could find a place to make my own. I haven’t seen this picture in years, but mine ended up super similar! Their’s are each 24″ wide and $59 each. That display is over $1200 in ledges (each row has 3 ledges)! Isn’t that crazy?! I promise, my version is MUCH cheaper!

tassel drapes / quilt / t-rex art / long neck dino art / stuffed triceratops / wallpaper

Before I could hang the ledges, I painted the whole room white. I wanted to share this cute corner where I hung some art! We don’t have much art up in this house yet, so this feels nice. I grabbed the frames at the thrift shop for $2 each and love the texture they add. I linked to the prints above. They’re both printable available online. Then I sent them to Walmart for 1 hour photo and the quality is great! Let’s move on to the dinosaur ledge tutorial.

 

SUPPLIES

• 1×4-8ft common board (I got 4 of these)
• 1×3-8ft common board (I got 4 of these)
• 1×2-8ft common board (I got 4 of these)
• Chalk paint- I used Soft Pink, Flamingo, Colonel Mustard, Lemonade, Kudzu, Farmhouse Green, and Sea Glass

Cost- $50 in wood to make 8 dinosaur ledges (or book or art ledges). Each ledge is 4′ wide.

If you bought chalk paint for each shelf, that’d add $10 per shelf. Or you could grab craft paint for $1 each for a small bottle. That’d make each 48″ shelf cost about $14 in supplies. 

step 1

Start by cutting the wood. We made 8 shelves 48″ wide each. You could make them shorter if you have a smaller wall. 

step 2

Next, screw the pieces together. Below is a diagram of what piece went where. If you’re using this for books, you can do a 1×3 on the bottom too to make it more narrow. I wanted it wider so that the dinosaurs would have plenty of space. After the screws are in, cover the screws on the front with wood putty and sand once dry.

step 3

And now, it’s time to paint! I used chalk paint because I had some on hand. Since I like to do super thin coats, it took 3 coats of paint for each shelf. Here’s the colors I ended up using. Aren’t they cute?! I tried to use colors from the wallpaper while making them rainbow colors.

Chalk paint- I used Soft Pink, Flamingo, Colonel Mustard, Lemonade, Kudzu, Farmhouse Green, and Sea Glass

step 4

Finally, finish the project by hanging the shelves. The height depends on what you put on the shelves. Our bottom shelf is 12″ off the ground and then each shelf is 6″ from each other. My husband is genius and cut scrap wood 6″ high to act as spacers as he hung up the ledges. He used 2 screws to hang them- each one hit a stud so these are super secure! Once they were up, I filled all holes with wood putty and sanded them then painted the holes.

after

Ta da! Here’s all the shelves installed with my son’s toy dinosaurs on them! Don and I tried to colorize the Dinos and put them on the coordinating shelves. I know they’re just small shelves, but dang, I love them! It’s so nice to have some rainbow in this house ❤️.

I’ve been trying to find beautiful ways to store toys. I know they won’t always look like this. Anything is better than a million figurines all over the floor- right?! Next, I hope to put a small table and chairs in the corner for play time. Guess I better go thrifting! 😉

wallpaper / triceratops head

What else could you put on these shelves? Books, art, or any toys that your child collects. Maybe match box cars, construction vehicles, trains, animal figurines. They could even be used for holding spices or plates in a kitchen! For a girl’s room this would be perfect for nail polish or small dolls. The possibilities are endless! What would you use them for?

I used to have art on picture ledges in my first house. You can see that here. 

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