My husband is crazy about games, and we wanted a place to store all those board game boxes beside the coffee table in our living room. I’m so proud to share one of the unique and best board game storage solutions.
Board game enthusiasts know the struggle of finding a suitable storage solution for their ever-growing board game collection. Commercial board game shelves can be expensive and may not fit everyone’s aesthetic preferences. That’s where this DIY board game shelf comes in handy. With a little creativity and some basic tools, anyone can create a custom-made shelf that perfectly fits their needs and style. In this article, we will walk you through building our DIY board game shelf where we proudly show off your favorite games. I hope you’ll agree with me that these are the best board game shelves.
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This shelf is a part of this corner glow, and you will see how I built this slat wall part 2. This corner is a part of our media room makeover. Other upgrades in this room include lime washed walls, window bench with storage using IKEA Cabinets
Table of Contents
What is the cheapest material to use for board game shelves?
The cheapest material to use for shelving can vary depending on the specific requirements and context of the shelving project. However, some commonly used inexpensive materials for shelving include particle board, MDF (medium-density fiberboard), plywood, and plastic. These materials are typically less expensive than solid wood, metal, or glass and are readily available at many hardware stores or online retailers. That said, it’s important to keep in mind that the durability and strength of the shelving will depend on the quality and thickness of the material used and the design and construction of the shelving unit itself.
Is it cheaper to build or buy board game storage shelves?
If you have all the tools, building the shelf is cheaper. All the materials are usually available in your local hardware store. Additionally, when you build your own shelf, you can customize it according to your specific needs and the size of your collection. We designed the shelf to fit those bigger boxes of larger games and the smaller games.
How to build a shelf for games?
First, sort through all your board games and separate them based on size. Place them all on the floor and arrange them in a way that you’d like to organize them. I plan on building a shelf where I can display the board games. So I came up with a layout that will fit the large board games and still have space for my smaller ones.
This helps to come up with the dimensions of the shelves.
Materials
Tools
A step-by-step guide to DIY Board game shelf
Plan the shelves:
First, you gotta plan the shelf dimensions. We laid out all our board games on the floor, especially the large boxes. This is a great way to estimate how large the shelves should be. We rearranged them so all the large shelves fall on the left side, which is 2ft wide and devised the plan below. We also ensured there was plenty of room for all the smaller games, on the right, which is 1ft wide.
I didn’t want to build a shelf only to store the board games. I want this to be a focal point in our media room/ game room. We want this to be a great place to display all of our board games in a variety of sizes and have easy access to them on game night.
We got 1-in x 6in x 8ft whose depth will be 5.5in, which fits all our games when faced forward. Now all we have to do is make some cuts and put them together to build this shelf. Depending on your collection and intention, you can easily build a deeper shelf using 1 in x 8-in x 8-ft or even 1-in x 10-in x 8-ft.
Make the cuts:
We decided to keep the length of the shelf to be 8ft, to avoid wastage and extra cuts. So we didn’t have to cut 1-in x 6-in x 8fts for the vertical pieces. Using a miter saw, we only cut the horizontal pieces in between them as per the plan above.
Build the outer frame of board game shelf
As per the plan, the outer frame of the shelf is 3ft wide and 8ft tall. It is separated into 2ft and 1ft shelves. So we placed 1-in x6-in x 3in on top and bottom. To make these joints, we used some corner clamps to keep them in place and screwed in 1-1/2 inch screws from the top and bottom. To hide the screw heads, We counter-sank the screw heads using counter-sinking drill bit and filled these holes with wood filler later.
Add the shelves
We used the corner braces and screws to add the shelves in between. As we were out of corner braces, we used screws in places that were not visible and used corner braces on the exposed side of the shelf. You could use all corner braces if you want.
Add trim
Now to add some details, we wanted to add a chair rail moulding trim on the front. I liked this idea as we can hide all the joints and imperfections. We tried using a nailer, but this trim is too delicate. So we decided to use some wood glue, and it worked perfectly. Just apply wood glue on the back of the moulding, press it in place, and use painter’s tape to hold it in place. Let it dry for at least 4 hours.
This moulding immediately gave a face lift to the shelf. The shelf looked more finished and clean.
Paint
Next step is to paint the shelf. Before painting, fill any nail holes or gaps with wood filler. Sand it and then prime the whole shelf. Now use a cabinet roller kit to paint it. I used the color ‘peppercorn’ from SW to match the lime washed walls. Let it dry overnight. Apply a second coat if needed.
Fix the board game shelf to wall
Lifting and fixing this shelf is a little tricky as we wanted these shelves to touch the ceiling, but they aren’t tall enough to touch the floor. We first marked studs in the ceiling and on the wall. We carefully lifted the shelf and placed some supports to hold the shelf in place. Then we screwed the shelf into the ceiling using 2-inch screws. Then we used about 4 L-brackets under the shelves to attach the shelf to the wall. We placed the brackets in places that aren’t very visible. Then we painted these steel brackets as well to make them completely invisible.
Decorate
Now, it’s time to decorate it! We strategically placed the board games as we had planned earlier, placing some decor items and some faux plants. We added a slat wall next to the shelf to make even prettier. I will cover that in my next blog post.
We now have a solution for your board game storage problems. Not only it stores all the games, but it also uses the wasted space on the wall while making it beautiful. Our whole family can now enjoy modern board games and pick your favorite card game when new people come to visit.
We absolutely love how this turned out. Do let me know in the comments, what you think of this board game storage idea!
Hi!! I'm Gowthami
I am passionate about changing my builder-grade house into a home I love. I love DIY and sharing all my successes and failures in this process and I hope to inspire your next project. Thank you for hanging around!