Industrial Pipe Shelves

Industrial shelves
Industrial shelves

A lot of the projects I write about are around my house. It’s certainly been a work in progress. The half bath upstairs that was renovated fairly recently, so it was clean and somewhat modern but was in need of a refresh. These easy and inexpensive DIY industrial pipe shelves were just what it needed to add some character!

DIY Industrial Shelves

I have seen similar products in pictures and thought that it would match with that space, a bit rustic and a bit modern. I also have brushed iron hardware already in this room so it tied it all together.

What I really like about these is the versatility you can get just by changing the wood color, tone or effect. They look great with light raw wood, dark stained, grey washed or weathered wood. You can use thick slabs of wood or go for a thinner sleek look. Everything looks good!

Installation

At the moment, I’m using 2 pieces of sanded 2×4’s! I intended to darken them and give them a rustic worn finish but I haven’t had the time. I actually plan to make a coordinating wood and hook curtain “rod” to match but I have been waiting to find the perfect piece of free wood 🙂 It’s easier to finish them all together to keep them with a consistent look.

Well there is not much as far as directions for these industrial pipe shelves. Here are some links to the products I ordered. *Disclaimer – these are affiliate links that may earn a small commission if you purchase a product at no additional charge to you.

You will need wall anchors if you are not directly drilling into studs. Make sure you use a level to hang the pipes. I would have a space of 24-48″ between pipes. I cut the wood with about 3″ overhang on each side.

Candy Cane Cookies

Candy Cane Cookies
Candy Cane Cookies

I wanted to share some of my favorite Holiday cookie recipes and this Christmas candy cane cookies recipe is one of my favorites. My mother has been making these cookies since before I was born, and I have the original recipe to prove it 🙂

photo of old candy cane cookie recipe

I do change this recipe a bit, as I don’t use shortening, I substitute butter.

My mother is half Italian and she makes twenty different Christmas cookies, and stores them all in tins. Its been like this for as long as I can remember. I only make a few kinds, including these candy cane cookies, and give them as gifts around the holidays.

Candy Cane Cookies Recipe

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup confectioner sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • red food coloring

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and extracts. Hand mix in the flour and salt just until combined. Split the dough in half and add red food coloring.

making candy cane cookie dough
candy cane cookie dough

Take 1 teaspoon size balls of dough and roll into 6″ long ropes. You can use flour or confectioners sugar to stop the dough from sticking to your surface.

making candy cane cookie dough

Twist the red and white ropes and turn the tops down into the shape of a candy cane. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Baking Candy Cane Cookies
Candy Cane Cookies

Bake 9-10 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden brown.

Candy Cane Cookies

Thanks for reading and check out some of my other recipes here.

DIY Picture Ledge

Build a simple DIY picture ledge

This simple DIY picture ledge project is super versatile and simply elegant. I made this picture ledge with scrap wood from my Farmhouse X desk project and it now holds my painted mason jar pencil holders.

Picture ledge as a shelf
DIY picture ledge

I used equal length pieces of wood; two 1×6’s and one 1×2. but if you look closely the ledge strip has a mitered corner. The space I needed to fill was about 18″ long, but you can make these in any length. I used my Kreg Jig to screw the back to the bottom along with wood glue. This length needed 2 screws

DIY Picture Shelves

Then, I glued and hand nailed on the 1×2 with some finish nails.

DIY Shelf

I wanted this to sit flush on the wall so I routered two hanging holes in the back and anchored screws to the wall using a level.

What I love most about these DIY Picture Ledges is the versatility. I love the look of these in black with a gathering of black and white photos and frames. You can go super rustic with a drift wood look to sleek and modern. Look at these other great images of picture ledges!

Beautiful photo ledge and gallery wall
From Ikea
gallery wall
From Wayfair