Jaime Costiglio

build - paint - sew

DIY Built-In Playroom Storage Shelves

A place for everything and everything in its place.  Built-in storage shelves are hands down one of the best organizational solutions on the planet.  And these DIY playroom storage shelves I built for Grandma’s beach house are a prime example.  Let’s check it out!

built in storage shelves

Open storage shelves in grandma’s playroom makes for easy access for kids. Contain the toys but make them accessible with storage shelves.

I’ve built A LOT of shelves – bookshelves, open shelving, closet shelves – the list goes on.  And every single time I complete a built in project I always say to myself, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”.  Even the simplest of storage shelves is 100% worth the time, effort and expense so I say go for it!
built in open shelving under tv

Open Storage

For this bonus playroom space at Grandma’s beach house we needed a storage solution for the toys but also a place to house the tv components.  In order to truly appreciate these built-ins you must see the before shot:

playroom before tv on wall
Yikes!!  There’s so much potential in that space it was killing me.  Grandma was faced with The Flat Screen Dilemma – how to hide all the wires without cutting a hole in the wall.  And then where to put the components.  Plus she needed a bit of toy storage for all the grandkids.

Playroom Shelves:

  • contain the toy mess
  • easily accessible
  • provide storage for tv components
open toy storage

I think these simple storage shelves are a great solution for this space.  The toy mess is now contained but still easily accessible for little ones.  And the tv components have a home plus the wires are hidden.

So for this build I used 2 sheets of cabinet grade 3/4″ plywood and 6 – 1x2x8 pine boards to trim out the front.  In total about $150 worth of lumber and hardware.  This room will be painted soon – including the storage shelves – so they will look even more built in after the paint goes up.
playroom storage shelves

Storage Shelves

And because this playroom is part of the original garage the wall actually starts up about 7″ from the floor.  So in order to accommodate the wall rise and baseboard I had to cut out the matching profile from both sides using a jigsaw:

jigsaw back edge of vertical pieces
And then I made sure the bottom shelf rested exactly on top of the baseboard rise to help carry the load and make the shelves look built in.
built in shelves at baseboard
open shelving
Then the whole unit is secured to the wall with four L brackets so no little ones get hurt.
accessible toy storage

Cord Management

In order to hide all those unsightly wires from the TV I used a channel cord cover.  All the wire fit snugly into this cord management invention (which will also be painted the same color as the wall and shelves).
cable box shelf for tv components
One last BEFORE and AFTER for the full effect:
playroom beforeplayroom shelves after

Thanks for joining me for this playroom storage shelf project.  Please leave any questions in the comments below and be sure to follow me on social media for sneak peeks, tools and project inspiration:

SHOP THIS PROJECT:

storage shelves in playroom

playroom storage shelves

built in storage shelves

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