DIY Scalloped Bookshelves

I’d had this scalloped book ledge idea in my head for a while and because I couldn’t find anything like what I was looking for in stores or online, I figured I’d just make these DIY scalloped bookshelves.

I’ve been in one of those moods lately where I want to declutter and sell all our things. Does anyone else do that? I suddenly had an idea last week that we should sell our guest bed because, ya know, when will be the next time we have guests?! Freeing up that guest room meant Eleanor could move to a bigger bedroom and the smaller one could be a little home office/workout space (because we have let ourselves go in quarantine). It was a win-win.

I painted the room a fresh coat of white paint with grey trim (the same color scheme we’ll eventually have through the whole house) and got her stuff all moved in a couple of days ago. Because her other room was so tiny, though, she didn’t really have any book storage and they were all stacked up in little bins or, let’s be honest, all over the floor.

If you’ve been following along for any length of time, you’ll know how much I love building ledges of any kind.

In our old house, we had photo ledges in our hallway for an easy-to-change gallery wall and just a few weeks ago I built another one for our living room with a couple of extra screws as a way to hang stockings without a mantel.

They are so quick and easy to make, and they’re really budget-friendly! I got them all finished in a couple of hours, including painting. I love these DIY scalloped bookshelves so much – they add a much-needed pop of color on the newly-painted white walls and add a surprising amount of storage for such petite little ledges.

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Tools & Materials

1×4 at 8 feet
1×3 at 8 feet
4” wooden craft circles – we used these, but craft stores like Hobby Lobby, Joanns or Michaels probably stock something similar
Miter saw
Wood glue
Wood filler
Nail gun
1.25” and 0.5” nails
Sander
Paint or stain

Cut wooden circles in half

You could use a variety of methods for this, like a jigsaw or the miter saw. I used the miter saw, but it was a bit tricky because the circles are so small and I really didn’t want to get my hands too close to the blade while holding the wood in place (because they were too small for the built-in clamp to hold it).

I ended up using a wood stop block (which is just a piece of scrap wood clamped to the saw to give you a consistent spot to hold your piece up to) and the push stick from my table saw to hold the little pieces in place while I cut them all in half.

Make your wood cuts

You could make these shelves any length you want, so make sure to adjust if yours will be bigger or smaller than mine, but I made them six scallops across, which was 24.25”.

So, for the three shelves, I made three cuts each out of the 1×4 and 1×3 at 24.25”.

Assemble the shelves

To visualize the shelves, the 1×4 piece is upright in the back and will be how it’s attached to the wall; the 1×3 is the bottom part, and it’s flat on the bottom between the 1×4 and the scallops; the scalloped pieces are attached along the front to the 1×3 to stop any books from sliding off the ledge.

Now you can kind of picture it, hold your 1×4 piece upright and run a dab of wood glue along the long end of the 1×3. Put the 1×3 on the surface of your work space, with the wood glued side pushed up against the 1×4.

The glue will make it a bit slippery, but either clamp or hold the pieces flush at one end and shoot a nail from the outside of the 1×4 into the 1×3. Do the same at the other end of the piece, and then add a few more nails along the whole thing to really secure those two pieces together (the back side of the 1×4 will be up against the wall so you won’t ever see those nails).

Pre-paint your scallops

While you’re waiting on the wood glue to dry a little, start painting your scallops. I found it easier to paint them before attaching so I lessened the likelihood there would be drips or an uneven paint job. If you use the same craft circles as I did, you should probably also give them a quick sanding with 220 grit sandpaper before painting. I didn’t, and it’s not as smooth a surface as I’d like.

My method was to use my brush to paint the rounded edge of the scallop, then lay it flat and paint the surface, leaving it to dry until flipping it over and painting the back side.

I went for an ombre look with my ledges, so each one is a different color. They’re all Behr, and the darkest is Terracotta Urn, the peachy one is Naroibi Dusk and the lighter one is Mesquite Powder.

Paint your ledges

Pretty self-explanatory, but once you’re done with your scallops, do the first coat of paint on your ledges.

Add scallops to the ledge

Use the same wood glue/nail combo to attach the scallops to the front of the ledge, this time using 0.75” nails. I found that my miter saw had splintered the edges of a few of the scallops, so I looked at each side of each piece and made sure the better, smoother side was facing the front.

I was a little worried that baby girl might pull up on the scallops and pull them off while grabbing a book, so I went hard on the nails and think I put four in each scallop. GOOD LUCK, DEMON CHILD.

Fill the holes and sand it down

Add a bit of wood filler into each nail hole in the front of the scallops (don’t worry about the nail holes in the back of the 1×4) and wait for them to dry. Once they are, give the whole thing a light sanding so the scallops are flat and it’s all nice and smooth.

Give the whole thing a second coat of paint to cover that wood filler and any spots you might’ve missed before.

Attach to the wall

I used satin paint which is usually easier to keep clean and scuff-free, so I didn’t worry about giving it a coat of polycrylic, but you could add a coat if you’re worried about it. Because I didn’t do that step, I went right to adding it to the wall.

The great thing about ledges like this is that you can add the screws in anywhere you want because it’s going to be covered by books or artwork or whatever it is you’re displaying, so you can almost always get it into at least one stud.

For me, the shelves went between baby girl’s bedroom door and her closet door and there were luckily two studs right in the middle, so I used two screws in each shelf to secure it to the wall.

And there you have it! Now you’ve got a set of adorable DIY scalloped bookshelves for your nursery or playroom.

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