My house is a split level and in typical split level homes the upstairs has the main living quarters including a long hallway that ends with bedrooms. When we moved in I wasn't sure how to decorate it because the bedroom door on the left side of the hall was flush with the end of the hallway. This made it impossible to put a piece of furniture or really anything there because then you wouldn't be able to access the bedroom. So I put a body mirror and a floor vase and called it a day...well technically I called it three years... tomato, tomatoe whatever.
So thanks to the inspiration from these two lovely blogging ladies ( Jennifer at https://www.thecraftpatchblog.com/ and Christina at https://christinasadventures.com/) I set out to measure and modify their plans to fit my space.
Here's a list of used materials:
(2) 2x2x8 's
(2) 1x3x8 's
10# 2 1/2 inch wood screws
finishing nails
level
measuring tape
hammer
Drill
saw
Stain of your choice
First things first, I measured the depth and the width of my hallway. Since the door trim is flush with the wall I didn't want the picture ledges to come out further than the door jam. I don't want anyone to get caught on it as they are going in/out.
This factor limited my depth of ledge. I chose to use a 2x2. Something to note about this depth of ledge is that you cant stack picture frames unless you use very thin frames. So my picture ledge wont be the typical picture ledge, not ideal but I'm working with what I have. After measuring, I cut my wood down to size and then stained the parts of the wood that would be seen. I used my miter saw (a Christmas present from my Dad cause he is the best!) to cut my 2x2 and 1x3 to 35 1/2 inches. The typical hallway is 3 feet wide and ours is too. I already had on hand Minwax wood finish in Dark Walnut so I chose to use that. I am really fond of that stain on pine and have used it throughout my house on different projects so I already knew Id like the look.
After that the project went pretty quick. We measured the location of the studs and then pre-drilled holes into our ledge and then using a level we screwed our ledges to the wall/studs. The second step was to place the 1x3 flush with the bottom of the 2x2 and nail them in to create the "lip". I used finishing nails that you can barely see unless close up. You could always cover them with wood filler and stain them to match but I just don't care enough.
I loved how they turned out and I cant wait to order some prints from our recent photoshoot to place on the ledge! Ill be on the lookout for thin frames first so leave some recommendations in the comments below if you know of a retailer to check out.
Here's a wide shot of the finished project. Turned out pretty nice for a quick and easy mini project!
