How to: DIY Minimalist Wire Mesh Shelf

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I feel like I am always low on storage and organizational pieces, especially ones that look great in my home. This week, we decided to try and combat some of the piles we have going on and came up with these stylish, but practical, DIY wire mesh shelves! 

Materials:

• Wire remesh sheet (you can make two shelves from one piece)
• Spray paint
• Angle grinder or hack saw and file
• Scrap wood – 2X4
• Wire feed welder (optional: contact points could be wired together with some thin gauge wire and pliers if welding is not an option)

Instructions:

1. Decide on the shape and size of your shelf. Wire mesh rebar comes in sheets of 6″ squares, 7 x 14 units. We decided to try to get 2 shelves from one sheet of the wire mesh rebar, so we essentially cut ours in half and got 2 pieces, each 7 X 7 units. We used an angle grinder (with a cut off wheel installed), but these cuts could also be done with a hack saw.
Note: For the house-shaped shelf, the top end will have exposed leads instead of closed squares.

2. We decided we wanted our shelves to be 2 units deep, 3 units high, and 3 units wide. Using an angle grinder, we cut off 2 unit squares in each corner to allow for folding into a box-shape.
Note: See diagram for cuts made on house-shaped shelf.

3. Lay the mesh on level ground and place a scrap 2X4 across each bend point. Standing on the 2X4, bend the outside flaps of mesh upward until they meet up in the middle, forming a box-shape.

4. We used a basic wire feed welder to weld each of the contact points and corners of the shelves together. If welding is not an option for you, some simple thin gauge wire and a pair of pliers could be used to wire the corners together.

5. Once your welds or wiring are complete, use an angle grinder with a grinding wheel to grind down any burrs left from cuts and welds. This can also be done with a simple file and some elbow grease.

6. Give your shelves a couple coats of spray paint or leave them in the unfinished steel state and spray them with some clear coat for rust prevention. 

We opted for a simple square shelf that could double as a basket or hanging shelving piece – we love having those options! Then we did a more modern and playful house shape.

We chose colors that were Scandinavian-inspired to seamlessly fit into our home decor! I love the lavender and sage, they are subtle and perfectly pretty! I feel a little more organized now, I have a basket to store toys, books, throws, pillows and other items. But, I also some fun shelving alternatives for displaying plants or other decorative items!

We made ours a little larger than most so they could contain a little more than most. Because, I’m not gonna lie, we have a lot of stuff!