Up-cycle Wood Frame into Wall Shelf & Light

I had these two old canvas printed photo frames that’s been lying around for a long time. As we were not displaying them anymore, I wanted to re-purpose them into something nicer. Hence for this project, I am going to up-cycle those two wood frame into a wall shelf and wall Light. Its an easy peasy project that you can whip up in a day.

Materials used

1 x 4 pine wood – 12″ length each
Any Canvas wood frame
Paint of your choice
Saw tooth hanger or wall hang kit
LED filament bulb
Light hanging cord kit

Tools used

Jig saw
Pliers
Power drill
Hole saw
Sanding block
Paint brush + Painter’s tape

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Step – 1 – Clean up the frame

Get your pliers out and first get rid of the wrapped canvas. To remove those staples, try to dig it with screw driver and once it pops out a little, pluck it out with pliers. I removed as many as I could and left some that were too stubborn to remove. Since its gonna be on the rear side, there wont be any problem as long as its in flush level.

Caution: Be careful while you apply force to remove the canvas, it could break the frame or might pull out some wood piece. I did break and pull out big chunk of wood but luckily was able to glue it back seamlessly. 🙂

Step – 2 – Cut the shelf

Cut the horizontal shelf pieces. I wanted my shelf to be a little wider than the width of the frame. But you can also maintain the shelf width just to seat within the frame. One of these shelves is going to have a light. So, measure out the diameter of the bulb holder and cut a hole at the center of the wood shelf piece. I do not know how, but I made a mistake of drilling a bigger hole even though I measured it properly.:( Anyways, its all in the game. Somehow I was able to use the same shelf piece just with a little dab of hot glue to seat the holder.

Step – 3 – Sand and Paint

This is an important step. Hey, whats the point if you dont personalize it to your style. Sand the wood frame & the shelf with 120 grit and wipe with tack cloth. Then, either stain or paint to your taste. I am using the combination of white, gold and wood. Paint the light holder kit too if you want.

Step – 4 – Assemble and Mount

Use 1-1/2″ wood screws to attach the wood shelf to the wall frame leaving 3.5″ from bottom. Then all that is left to do is attach saw tooth hanger and mount on the wall.