I Suck at Drawing

4:40 PM

With the dry bar project being pretty close to wrapping up, it seems like a good time for my attention to shift to something else. How about that empty loft with the sweet new wood flooring upstairs? Sounds good to me. So you may remember earlier this year, ok Jauaray, that I mentioned we wanted to do those pipe shelves in the loft. If you have no idea what I'm talking about just look at these that I've rounded up from the internets.
 
 
Ok, first off, CB2 doesn't sell pipe shelves but these shelves were ones we really liked early on so we're using them as a price comparison. Now on to some pipe-y shelf goodness. Clockwise from top left; The Hip Soirée, DIY Diva (oh my dang!), Kristin Eldridge Photography, and lastly (but the first ones I ever saw) The Brick House.
Ok, so from my pipe shelf research we've decided that drilling a hole so the pipe can go through the shelves is the way to go, cleaning your pipes is a must, and we will be painting the pipes so they look a little nicer. But even before we could get to that I needed to plan out our configuration. Oh, and Matt found that roll of painters tape that was missing since we finished the floors up here. This was my first layout attempt. Not really to scale or anything, more like a feeling.
 
 
I liked it, but after a while it looked too much like a grid. I really like how some of the shelves are taller or shorter on some of my examples. So I moved my second shelf a little higher and the re-spaced the lower three shelves. Oh, and we both liked the idea of leaving a large opening in the center for art or something.
 
 
I also marked out approximately how far the shelves would come out from the wall. The's not much room between the shelves and the hearth, but I hate that pile of bricks so much, so maybe it won't be there someday. Also, pay no attention to that long piece of tape that goes past the others, I was thinking of extending that shelf to house our tv components but I scrapped that idea.
 
 

After a quick texty mcmessage to Matt for approval I started sketching it out on paper. Looking at it now, I've realized I left some out. Meh, whatevs. This is basically where I figured out how far apart I wanted the shelves to be while keeping the whole unit slightly shorter than the ceiling. Oh, math!

 
And because no sketch is complete without a different angle, I drew one of the brackets from the side. This helps so you can count each and every fitting and pipe you'll need.
 
 

Oh, and because the fittings will add roughly 2" to your pipe length you will absolutely go crazy trying to add this all up in your head. All the drawings in the world won't save you.

 

 

So off to Home Depot I went! I set myself up in their pluming isle and started putting a bracket together. Yes, in the store. And yes, I did get some looks and even a "what are you doing?" type question. After about 10 minutes I had this put together. The best thing about this is that I could measure the height of the entire thing to make sure it would fit, which it will.

 

 

Oh, and I figured out that my side view drawing was all wrong. I left out one whole shelf. Once I got my drawing sorted out I counted up all the components and wrote down all the prices.

 

 

Hopefully each bracket will be under $100 after taxes are added in. Oh, and then the's the whole lumber thing. So, is there somewhere that you can get black pipe cheaper than Home Depot?

 

 

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5 comments

  1. Nikki...I'm so jealous of you and your never-ending drive. Your projects are always so grandiose and wonderful. It's a little irritating. Wink...

    Oh, and thanks for including me!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think Lowe's might carry black iron instead of black steel (different? cheaper?

    Is there a particular reason that you haven't just taken down the outdated shelf over the fireplace and painted the bricks white or black yet? Simple cheap update, no? Are you hoping a magical fireplace fairy is going to come take the bricks away while you sleep? You are, aren't you?



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The mantle is just there until we replace it. Maybe there's a gingerbread house that could use it. And it's not the brick fireplace that I hate so much, just the hearth (the part on the floor) that I don't like, and that's just because of the elevation change between it and the floor.

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  3. Love the idea of pipe shelves! I'm so glad to be following you, your blog is great!

    Katie
    www.funhomethings.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. There is an online source for galvanized plumbing parts that even with shipping is cheaper than the big box stores. Here's a link. http://www.ronshomeandhardware.com/Pipe-Fittings-Galvanized-Black-s/887.htm I didn't know about it when I built a wall to wall desk for my sewing room from a hollow core door and used pipe for the legs. I was surprised to learn that a plumbing supply place in our town sold the pipe cheaper than Lowe's or HD.

    ReplyDelete

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