Building a Crown Molding Shelf

Instructions on Building a Crown Molding Shelf

By Mark J. Donovan

If you have some scrap crown molding lying around your workshop, you might want to consider putting it to good use by building a crown molding shelf. A decorative crown molding shelf is ideal for displaying various collections of knickknacks or even small trophies. Not only is a crown molding shelf a beautiful accent piece to a room, it is also very inexpensive and easy to build.

Required Materials for Building a Crown Molding Shelf

To build a crown molding shelf all you need is a few feet of crown molding and a piece of 1-by material, such as 1”x3” or 1”x4”, depending upon the style and size of crown molding you are using to build the crown molding shelf. A little wood glue is also helpful.

Required Tools for Building a Crown Molding Shelf

To build a crown molding shelf you need a miter saw, and preferably a finish nail gun, although a hammer and finish nails will also work.

Building a Crown Molding Shelf

To build a crown molding shelf use your miter saw to cut a length of crown molding stock the desired length of the shelf. The ends should be cut at a 45o angle. Note that when cutting crown molding it is important to position it on the miter saw upside down so that when it is hung on the wall it will sit properly.

Next, cut a couple of side rails out of the crown molding stock. The length of the crown molding side rails is determined by how far out the crown molding shelf will penetrate outwards from the wall. Again, a miter saw should be used to cut 45o angles on the edges of the side rails to form the 90o corners associated with the front piece of the crown molding shelf. The back ends should be square cut to the desired depth of the crown molding shelf.

Once the three crown moulding pieces have been cut, glue and nail them together.

Next, cut a section of 1-by stock to fill in the top gap of the crown molding shelf. You may want to use a table saw to create an angled groove along the top of the piece of the 1-by material if you want to display plates on the crown molding shelf.

Now fasten the 1-by material to the inside area of the crown molding shelf frame, again using glue and nails.

After the glue has dried, sand, prime and paint the crown molding shelf.

To hang the crown molding shelf on the wall, it is best to use a small block of wood that you fasten to the wall, and into wall studs. The crown molding shelf can then rest on top of it, with the block of wood sitting inside the crown molding shelf cavity and flush up underneath the flat shelf piece. You can then use a few nails to fasten the crown molding shelf to the block of wood.

For information on installing wood crown molding see HomeAdditionPlus.com’s “Installing Crown Molding Ebook”.