How to Build a Glass Storage Shelf
This shelf was designed by my friend Geno, and of course, because he is a nice guy, he doesn’t mind if other people copy his idea. Depening on how much glass you insert into the tubes, the shelf can get pretty heavy – it CAN be hung on the wall, as long as you find the studs (aren’t we all looking for studs?). Since I live in a rental house, I opted to just place my shelves (I have 4) onto a piece of furniture, like a wooden bench, a cabinet of a bookshelf. Here is a picture of one the shelves:
There are several “versions” of the Geno-shelf, the “Deluxe”, the “Economy”, and two versions inbetween. The Deluxe version has 2 inch (inner diameter) PVC pipe pieces ziptied to a 1/2 sheet of pegboard (Home Depot or Lowes), and the back is reinforced with two 3/4 inch x 1.5 inch strips of wood that are screwed to the pegboard from the front.
Here is a close-up of how the PVC pipe is attached to the pegboard:
The PVC pipe was cut to the width of the space between to holes, but you can cut it wider and just feed the ziptie through the closest holes on the right and left of the pipe. Cutting the pipe is the most cumbersome part of building the shelf, so, if you don’t have a pipe-cutter, or a husband with one, wear your sexiest outfit when you got to the hardware store….
The back of the board looks like this:
The wooden frame is not essential for the glass shelf, it will stand fairly straight by itself, just with a little “hang-through”. The closer the PVC pipes are tied together, the straighter the shelf will stand (the shelf on the right has no frame…):
If you don’t have access to PVC pipe, or not the funds, you can make an economy version just with a pegboard and zipties
Each loop is attached to a ziptie pulled between two holes:
This version of the shelf has the least strength, but it is also lighter and might be hung on a wall. It would definitely benefit from some kind of wooden frame – I had it on a file cabinet, “just as is”, and you can see how far it’s bending:
I hope that these pictures will help you build your own “library of colors”….good luck with it.