Plumbing Pipe Floating Shelves | Simple DIY Project

Get step-by-step instructions to build plumbing pipe floating shelves. This is an easy weekend project to add some modern farmhouse style to your home!

two wooden shelves on plumbing pipe supports styled with green orb, white lantern, basket and bird

I’ve admired the look of iron plumbing pipe floating shelves since I first saw them done on Fixer Upper.

Honestly, I really like the way iron plumbing pipes look when combined with wood for all kinds of furniture projects!

I’m looking at you, Restoration Hardware!

But the price tag for those items is a little out of my range, especially when you can make them yourself so economically.

one wooden shelf with plumbing pipe support and towel bar styled with pumpkins and folded towels

Remodeling Our First Floor Bathroom

In 2016 we did a fairly large shifting of the way we used several spaces in our home.

Our parents are getting older and climbing two flights of stairs to our attic guest suite was getting hard for them to manage.

We live in a traditional-style home with a center foyer flanked by a dining room and living room.

My family isn’t a dining room kind of family so we re-purposed that room for our pool table soon after moving in!

On the other side is a living room space. It’s had many uses while we’ve lived here! We’ve tried it as a sitting room, a game room, an empty room, and a junk room (ugh).

To eliminate the stairs for our guests we decided to turn that living room space into our guest room!

The next step in creating a first-floor guest area was to add a shower to the powder room.

We already had roughed-in plumbing in the powder room!

We contracted the shower job out to a professional. My husband is VERY handy around the house, but he didn’t want to learn how to do tile in such a visible area of our home!

Once the shower was complete, it was time to add some decorative touches.

AnnMarie and I went shopping to look for shelves but never found anything that I liked. Enter my handy hubby!

one wooden shelf with plumbing pipe supports styled with lantern, basket with faux plant, and wooden bird

This was the perfect time to add some iron plumbing pipe floating shelves to our home! So off we went to our local Lowe’s Home Improvements.

How to Build Plumbing Pipe Floating Shelves

man attaching plumbing pipe support for bottom shelf

We looked at a lot of ideas on Pinterest but ended up coming up with something unique for our space.

I liked the idea of the shelves simply lying on top of the iron plumbing pipes.

My husband liked the idea of having a towel bar sort of look under the lowest shelf.

He also wanted the bottom shelf to be attached so it wouldn’t be easily knocked off.

We used a clear spray polyurethane coating to seal and protect the pipes.

Just a quick brag on how clever my husband is…

Do you see that plastic bag taped to the wall? That was to catch any drywall dust from attaching the floor flanges AND to catch a screw or a piece of iron if it happened to fall!

Genius!

Man drilling holes for plumbing pipe supports with plastic bag attached below to catch sawdust.

We had space in our bathroom for three shelves. We could have possibly fit a fourth if we’d spaced them a bit closer together, but I liked having more blank space between each shelf.

three wooden shelves with plumbing pipe supports in a bathroom with marble shower in background

And here’s our finished plumbing pipe floating shelves project!

I love that they’re stylish and functional. Oh, and have I mentioned they’re affordable?

When we have guests coming to town, I swap out some of the decor items on the bottom shelf for folded white towels.

In the fall, I added some fun fall items to give them a different look:

three plumbing pipe shelves styled for fall

What You’ll Need to Build Our Shelves:

Supplies

8 3/4″ black iron floor flanges
4 3/4″ black iron cap fittings
2 3/4″ black iron T-fittings
2 3/4″ 90-degree elbow fittings
4 3/4″ x 8″ black iron nipples
2 3/4″ x 2″ black iron nipples
2 3/4″ x 3″ black iron nipples
1 3/4″ x 24″ black iron pipe
1 2x8x8 board, cut into 3 2-foot-long pieces
wood stain in the color of your choice
spray polyurethane with matte finish
24 2″ rust-proof screws for the floor flanges that attach to the walls
8 3/4″ long screws for the 2 floor flanges that hold the bottom shelf

Tools

Tape Measure
Screwdriver/Drill Combo
Level
Pencil
Brush or cloth to apply stain

Preparing the Materials

Clean off all the iron pieces. They tend to have some grease and other dirt on them. I just used dish soap and water.
Spray the iron fittings with the polyurethane to seal and protect them and let them dry completely.
Stain your wood according to your stain’s directions to achieve the color you want.

The Bottom Shelf and Towel Bar

Once your iron pieces are dry, screw one of the floor flanges and one end cap onto each end of the 4 8″ iron nipples.
Now, screw one floor flange onto the end of each of the 3″ nipples and the base of the T-joint into the other end. The floor flanges will attach to the underside of your bottom shelf.
Screw the remaining two floor flanges into the 2″ nipples. Then screw the other side of the 2″ nipple into the back side of the T-joint (see photo).
Try to attach your flanges to studs in the wall. If both flanges can’t attach to studs, be sure at least one side is. Use drywall anchors for the other side if it isn’t attached to a stud.
Position your first flange and screw it into place. Be sure to position it so that the 3″ pipe with the attached flange is facing upwards.
To attach the corresponding flange, hold it up against the wall so that the 3″ pipe with attached flange is facing upwards. Then place one of your boards on top of the two flanges. Then put your level on the board and adjust the height of the bracket you are holding until the board is level. Mark the holes for the flange with your pencil. Then remove the level and remove the board and screw the second bracket into the wall.

Additional Shelves

Measure where you want the next shelf to go and attach one of the flanges that has an 8″ nipple.
Repeat the process of holding the corresponding flange bracket to the wall and checking to make it level. Then attach it to the wall.
Repeat steps 10 and 11 to hang the third shelf.
Attach one of the elbow joints to the T-joint on the bottom shelf. Attach the 2-foot long pipe to the other elbow joint. Then attach the second elbow joint to the other T-joint and maneuver the pipe into the end of the first elbow joint to create a towel bar.
Attach the bottom shelf to the upward facing flanges using the 3/4″ wood screws.

These iron plumbing pipe floating shelves are one of my favorite DIY projects in our home! I’m planning to put something similar in our attic bathroom soon. What do you think? Have you tried this kind of project before?

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