How to Make Farmhouse Shelf Brackets Out of Metal

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Welcome back, friends! Today’s post is special because we get to share our first YouTube tutorial! Scroll down a little further to see our DIY Farmhouse Shelf Brackets video.

Learn how to make these farmhouse style shelf metal brackets

Jason and I recently made a Ballard Designs inspired shutter shelf and needed metal shelf brackets to complete the project. We couldn’t find anything like our inspiration picture in the store.

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Etsy has similar farmhouse shelf brackets that are made from 1/4′” thick steel flat bar but they’re at least $12.00 per set of shelf brackets plus shipping. So, to improvise, we made our own industrial farmhouse metal shelf brackets from 1/8″ thick steel flat bar from Lowes. The final cost for materials comes out to around a $1.00 per bracket! It pays to improvise, right?

If you’re looking for farmhouse style brackets and rustic wood shelves that are already made, you can purchase them on Amazon by clicking this link or the picture below.

Here’s a quick rundown of the materials you’ll need to make your own metal shelf brackets:

(Affiliate links included for your crafting convenience.)

table vise or a couple of bar clamps that you slide onto 1/2″ galvanized pipe

Hammer

Dremel Rotary Tool

A drill with a drill bit slightly larger than the screws you plan to use

Spray paint primer for metal

Spray paint for metal in flat black

The metal used for this project is 1″ wide by 1/8″ thick so it’s easy to bend. This makes for a simple and inexpensive DIY project. We bought ours at Lowes and the item number is #44119. The shelves we used on our shutter shelf are made from a 1″ x 6″ board.

Just click on the video below to see the full tutorial:

I finished the brackets off by wiping them clean and giving them a coat of metal spray primer and a couple coats of flat black spray paint also made for metal.

These industrial farmhouse metal shelf brackets are the perfect solution for open shelving. Now, all you need is the wood for the shelf, and you’ve completed a simple DIY!

Click here to see the tutorial on our Ballard Designs Inspired Shutter Shelf.

Are you looking for a heftier type of farmhouse shelf brackets? Due to interest in the Fixer Upper style brackets we made for our cottage guest shed, we’ve opened an Etsy shop so we can sell the brackets seen in the picture below. Click on the picture below to go to the shop. We also do custom orders!

Farmhouse shelf brackets above the coffee bar in the cottage guest shed

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13 Comments

  1. What would you suggest if the shelves are 12feet and will only be holding books?

  2. NO WAY! I THINK I ORDERED MY BRACKETS FROM THE ETSY SHOP. NEW FOLLOWER BECAUSE MY SISTER’S NAME IS TRICIA (JUST TRICIA) AND SPELLED THE SAME WAY! I’M IN HEALTHCARE TOO AND WORK FULL TIME. I CAN’T REMEMBER HOW I FOUND YOU..ON YEAY…DIY SALVAGE I THINK.
    HAPPY SATURDAY! I’M OUTSIDE DENVER, CO

    1. Thank you for following along! So many coincidences! There’re not many “just Tricias” that spell our name the right way. 😉 My mom named me after president Nixon’s daughter.

  3. This was a great tutorial video. I greatly admired your brackets so it’s nice to see how you made them. It looks like it might take a lot of male muscle but other than that it looks really doable. Thank you.

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