Weekend DIY

This weekend was dedicated to a DIY equipment storage project.

I use a 2×4 IKEA EXPEDIT shelf for my primary record storage. When turned on its side, it’s also a sturdy, level place to store stereo equipment. I use it for my turntable, amplifier and record cleaning equipment.

Up to this point, I’ve stored my turntable power supply unit and phono stage on a shelf roughly 15″ above my amplifier. I’ve never been very comfortable with this setup though, as I don’t particularly like having any equipment situated above my amp and turntable.

Last week, my girlfriend and I were talking about possible solutions. Unfortunately, we’re out of wall space and have no more room to put another 2×2 EXPEDIT shelf beside the current 2×4 one. She suggested we try to build some shelving that would fit inside one of the EXPEDIT’s storage boxes. The inside dimensions of each shelf/box are 13″ wide, 13″ tall and about 15″ deep.

After doing a bit of planning, we went to Home Depot and picked up a large piece of black MDF board that is 5/8″ thick, 15″ deep and over 60″ long. (My EXPEDIT is black/brown and the black is the closest we could find to match it. No matter though, you’d need to be looking carefully to notice a difference. Once completed, the shelving is entirely inside the EXPEDIT box anyway.)

We then had one of the staff cut us two pieces 13″ across and 14.5″ deep (for two shelves) and four pieces 4″ tall and 14″ deep. (Note: the legs/stands need to sit a little behind the shelves because the ends of this MDF board are rounded. To make everything look clean, the shelf should hang about half-an-inch in front of the legs/stands.) This provided us with the pieces for two shelves with two support legs each.

When we got home, we measured out drill holes along the sides of the two primary shelves and along the tops of each of the support legs. We decided to go with four screws on each side to ensure stability and strength. Aesthetically it might be preferable to use only two screws on each side but, as the shelves are entirely contained inside the EXPEDIT box, you can’t see them anyway.

I should also note here that it’s absolutely essential that everything is measured correctly. If you’re off on your measurements, you’re likely to end up with shelves that aren’t level. Thankfully, I had my girlfriend, who’s much handier when it comes to this sort of thing, to help me.

With the hole drilling completed, we used 8×1.25″ particle board screws to secure the shelves to the legs. Voila! We now have two identical shelves.

To ensure that the shelves don’t move around inside the EXPEDIT box, I attached four rubber feet (two on each side) along the bottom of each the shelves’ legs.

Finally, I used some black craft paint to touch up any dings or marks accumulated during cutting, transport, drilling, etc.

After waiting a few hours to dry, it was time to put the new shelves in.

Once you put the two shelves in, one stacked on top of the other, you actually have three shelves inside the EXPEDIT box. Each shelf I built is about 4 and 5/8″ tall, including the height of the leg/stand and the thickness of the shelf. This leaves just under 4″ of clearance from the upper shelf to the top of the inside of the EXPEDIT box.

There you have it, then. Three stable, secure shelves inside an EXPEDIT box. For now, I placed my phono stage and turntable power supply unit on the bottom two shelves and used the top shelf for record sleeves. When I eventually get a headphone amp, I will put it on the top shelf.

As you can see from the wide shot below, the new shelving integrates beautifully and inconspicuously into the EXPEDIT.

Not too shabby for a little DIY project that costs a total of about $20.