I repurposed and upcycled the bed slats off my son’s old bed. We’d tried several times to repair the bed without much success. The frame was split and warped. It was time for it to go to the dump.

I wasn’t comfortable with this, as I ordinarily rescue stuff from the dump rather than put it there! So I hung onto the bed slats to make myself feel better. It didn’t take long for me to think of a way of upcycling them.

(There is a printable how-to card for this craft at the end of the post.)

DIY Bed Slat Shelves

I’ve repurposed my son’s old IKEA Hemnes day bed slats into a unique set of DIY shelves. These lovely shelves are not very wide, so they are handy for narrow spaces. I’ve added a few hanging hooks to the base of the shelves to give them an extra surprise bit of functionality.

I also decorated them with some vintage road maps to make them more exciting and to match my decor.

I use the DIY shelves purely as decor to display my mini succulent collection. They make great plant shelves, but I think a set would be handy in the kitchen. The shelves are just the right size for sauces and spices. The hooks would be great for tea towels and pot holders.

Another set of these bed slat shelves would also be handy for the craft room. I could put all my cans of spray paints and sample pots on the narrow ledges.

Luckily, there were many wooden slats on his Hemnes bed, so I have enough to make a couple more of these shelves.

If you don’t have an old bed to upcycle and repurpose, you could still make one of these handy shelving systems with similar-sized wooden battens.

It is a very easy upcycle; the only power tools used were a drill and a power file. And the power file is optional!

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What You Need

• Eight bed slats (or equivalent-sized wooden battens) were 65mm wide, 850mm long and 18mm thick. The upcycled bed slats needn’t be those exact dimensions, but they are near enough.
• 12 x 4mm x 30mm screws
• 12 x 4mm x 40 mm screws
• Wood glue
• Cordless drill with 4mm wood drill bit
• Philips screw head for the drill
• Three coat hooks of your choice and screws
• Ruler or tape measure

For Decoration

• Black chalk paint and wax sealer
• Old black-and-white maps
• Mod Podge
• Scissors
• Paint and glue brushes

How To Make the Bed Slat Shelves

Step 1: The Hemnes bed slats have little black plastic stoppers on each end; remove these by simply pulling them out with your hands or a pair of pliers.

Then lay your slats on the ground and arrange them into a square frame. Then work out where you would like your shelves to be; I had three shelves.

Step 2: Use a power file (or hand file) to round off the corners and edges of each wooden slat.

Step 3: Paint each wooden slat with chalk paint. When the chalk paint is dry, apply the wood wax to seal it.

Step 4: I decoupaged the front of three wood slats with an old road map. I cut the road map to size and then stuck it to the front of the slats using Mod Podge. Then I applied a top coat of Mod Podge to act as a protective varnish.

Assembling the Upcycle Bed Slat Shelves

Step 5: Lay two black bed slats down, then screw two map slats into them—one across the bottom and the other across the top. You will end up with a square frame.

I used the smaller screws, screwing from the back to the front. I used wood glue and two screws on each end of the bed slats.

Step 6: Then screw and glue the other map slat across the bottom of the shelving frame.

Step 7: The remaining 3-bed slats will be the shelves. Use a ruler and crayon to mark where you want them. I had one directly on top of the bottom maps and then the other two spaced out above them.

To attach the shelves, use the longer screws. Screw from the back of the frame through to the shelves. This time the wooden slats are placed perpendicular to the edge to make a small shelf.

Step 8: Screw the three coat hooks equally spaced to the bottom map bed slat.

Step 9: The upcycled bed slat shelves are ready to hang on the wall. I screwed two angle brackets to the wall to do this and placed the frame on top. There was a hole to screw the shelve units to brackets to stop them from slipping off.

DIY Plant Shelves

These upcycled bed slat shelves are the perfect size for my mini succulents and cactus plants, so I turned them into plant shelves. I can also use them to showcase my DIY fake succulents.

The shelf wall organizer is both handy and space-saving at the same time. The narrow wood slat shelves don’t protrude too far from the wall. They would be great in places with limited space, such as bathroom storage and hallways.

The hooks are a handy little addition too.

My mushroom painted denim pockets add an extra fun element to these bed slat shelves.

I’m always looking for new ways to display plants in my home. I’ve made space-saving upcycled plant shelves from wood slices before.

You might also like to check out my repurposed chair shelf and upcycled drawer wall unit. If you are looking for more ideas to upcycle, check out this A to Z of upcycling resources.