Scavenger Chic

Maryland Flag Shelves, or maybe it’s a Headboard

• By Joan
• January 31, 2019
• 3 Comments

Welcome back.   Today I have an easy build for you, a set of shelves  with a handpainted backdrop of your favorite logo, team or flag.  I know I’m a day late from my normal posting but I have a good excuse which I’ll share with you all next week.

This set of shelves began from the remains of entirely different project I had made last year, a Maryland flag headboard for my youngest son, Nathan’s, dorm room.

This is not Nathan’s actual dorm.  By the time we were ready to take a picture it was full of junk.  When we started it pretty much looked just like this except without the raised bed and when we  arrived we had no plans to raise the bed but by the time we unloaded the car with the office chair and the cushy lounge chair the only place to go was up.

Can you see the big hole in the headboard at the end of the bed?  That was exactly what his bed looked like, but instead of being flush against the wall, his bed stuck out a foot because the vent was over a couple more feet. 

Do you see a project like I do?  He needed a shelf for stuff you’d want next to you in bed, tissues, phone, water, and that hole on the bed could easily be plugged up to keep the pillow from falling thru.

So Nathan went to school and I got busy in the workshop.  I don’t have all the pictures because this project was so specialized I wasn’t going to share, but who knows, maybe someone else has the same kind of pillow eating bunk bed.

The flag was created from 1/2 inch plywood measuring 21″ x 40″.  This background is the Maryland flag because Nathan is at the University of Maryland, but feel free to choose any logo, flag or college emblem.  Enlarge or stretch to your desired size and print out.  Since this will print out on multiple pages, trim and tape back together again.

I prepainted the squares yellow and white so I’m just handpainting the black and red parts of the flag.

Use carbon paper or scribble pencil all over the back to transfer the design to the plywood.  Center the flag, tape in place then go over the lines with pen to transfer your design.

Follow the transferred lines to paint in all the detail. If you used chalk paint, use wax to finish and make a smooth finish.

This is a side view of the headboard.  Everything is glued and nailed together.  The right slanted piece is the flag.  The left slanted piece is the top shelf and the two pieces of pallet wood are spaced just far enough to fit over the existing bed but cut short enough to fit within the vertical pieces of the bed.

The top shelf also just fits inside the vertical pieces on the bed and that is why it’s cut shorter than the flag.

This is the top of the headboard.  Not only would it hold the tissues, alarm clock, phone, glass of water…but do you notice the bowl?  That was an add on when #3 son asks, how do I keep the chapstick from rolling off?

It really did fit and worked perfectly but somehow nobody bothered to take a picture of the headboard in place.

So, after the first year in the dorm Nathan moved on to an apartment right outside of school.  The apartment was  prefurnished with normal headboards and full size beds.  There was no need for a twin sized, hide the hole flag headboard equipped with a chapstick holder.

The headboard has been sitting around since the end of the spring semester last May, but it was about to be reimagined.  I had a new vision, shelves for the new apartment.  

I originally thought I’d use the flag intact as the backing for a set of shelves but then on a whim I decided to cut the flag in half and have two skinnier shelves.

So now I had 3 options for the shelves.  The full backing was now off the table since I already sliced the flag in half.

First up, 2 long skinny shelves.

Second, cut the flag in quarters and have 4 individual shelves.

Third, use just 3/4 of the flag backing and have somewhat smaller shelves.

I sent all three options to Nathan and he chose option 1, the two long skinny shelves.

Next choice was whether the shelves would be 6, 8 or 10 inches wide.  Eventually decided on 8 inches, this would allow the shelves to hold some books, probably not textbooks, and tons of other stuff.  The actual shelf width will be closer to 7″ keeping in mind the width of the flag and an 8″ board is really only 7 1/2″.

For this project I did need to buy 2, 8 foot , 1x8s and 2 OOK 200 Pound French Cleats  for hanging.  I also used a little scrap wood.

The 8 foot 1×8 was enough for 2 ends and the 4 longer lengths.  The other 2 ends were cut from scrap wood.

Sand all the edges.

Glue and nail the boxes together.  Don’t insert the flag just yet.

Last decision was whether to paint the shelf, black, white, red or wood stain.  As you can see black won that vote.

I’ve inserted a piece of pallet wood to give the box more strength and this is what will be used for hanging.  It’s glued and nailed to both the top and sides.

Insert the flag backing.  This was a super tight fit so I only needed a couple nails on each side to tack it into place.

You would think I’d be done but the black paint was still a little rough.  Many times when  you paint or varnish plain wood you’ll notice that the fibers of the wood become stiff.  It’s very easy to sand the fibers down but you’ll need another coat of paint.  The first coat of black paint was acting as a primer.

This is the back of the shelf with the OOK French Cleat .  It actually cost more than the wood but it is reusable and will hold up to 200 lbs.  It’s also really easy to use and install.

I’m delivering the shelves this week  so hopefully I’ll get some updated pictures when they get installed.

Have a great weekend, stay inspired.

Related posts:

Dismantling a Pallet and Maryland Flag Pallet Wood Shadow Box, Dad’s Shoes on Display Pallet Wood and Skulls for Halloween Easy Pallet Wood Outdoor Side Table