DIY Vinyl LP Record Album Floating Wall Shelves

Here's a simple and inexpensive shelving idea for displaying your LP 12" records! These come out and go in easily, and the shelf only needs to be cut down to the size you need. It's made out of vinyl so it is already white (or whichever color you choose) and will be super easy to keep clean.

Here's the finished product:

The two floating record shelves you see in this picture are approximately 88" long. The vinyl comes in 8' sections.

What you'll need for one 8' shelf:

• 1 White Vinyl Lattice U Cap (Item #94468 at Lowe's)
• 4 #8 x 0.5-in Flat-Head Zinc-Plated Screws (100/pack) (Item #57224 at Lowe's)
• 8 #8 x 7/16-in Zinc-Plated Standard Flat Washers (36/pack) (Item #58122 at Lowe's)
• 4 0.5-in x 2-in Zinc-Plated Flat Braces (4/pack) (Item #315712 at Lowe's) 
• Screws for mounting to the wall (we used drywall screws we had already)

Cut U cap with a jigsaw or something similar, if needed.

U cap lattice moulding.

This groove accommodates records perfectly.

 Looking at the back of your U cap, stack 2 washers together and then add a brace, and screw all 3 into the cap with a #8 x 0.5 flat head screw, making sure the screw does not protrude into the U cap channel. Repeat this process at equal distances along the length of the U cap. This goes U cap - 2 washers - flat head screw.

Hardware.

Back of the U cap shelf, 2 washers, 1 brace, 1 screw.

Grab a level and mount your shelves on the wall. Use the top hole on the brace and attach to the wall using drywall screws (or whatever you have). It's best to begin in the center of your shelf and work your way towards the ends, maintaining level as you go.

Records will slide in from either side (again, make sure none of those little flat head screws poked through) or you can place them into the groove.

Total cost for two 8' vinyl "vinyl" shelves was only $22!

$5 Whole Office Cord Management and Organization!

In the process of re-doing our home office, I decided it was high time we get the cords off the floor.

We have to wrangle 2 full sized computers with monitors, keyboards, a 5.1 surround sound speaker system, laptops that come and go, a router, a network drive, a mobile airave and probably a few other random things I'm forgetting. Long story short, it's a mess and we have a terrible infestation of wire gnomes, to boot.

There's lots of options out there for cable management but it can get pricey and I don't really want to just wrap up my cables into bundles. Zip ties are great but not so much when you need to cut 15 or 20 of them off just to remove or add something. So I used my brains and hit the hardware store and came up with this very cheap, very easy, very tidy way of hiding all your office cables.

This is before. You'll notice the cords just hanging out all over the place. It's awful in that corner that you can't see in this picture.

Now here's the opposite side of the room, same PC and monitor, but no cords!

Get out your drills, ladies (and the boys, too). I got what I needed from Home Depot. Here's all you're going to need:

• Genova Products 3/4 in. CPVC CTS Tube Straps (5-Pack)
• Everbilt #8 x 5/8 in. Zinc-Plated Flat-Head Phillips Wood Screws (12-Pack)   

I bought 3 packs of tube straps and 2 packs of screws, totaling 15 straps and 24 screws. Under $5 to take care of the whole office.

 I put a strap and a single screw about every 12 inches. YMMV!

Click for closeup

Click for closeup

The screws are self-tapping and drill right in. Leave one out so you can pull down on the semi-flexible strap and shove cords in there. This is so easy and so cheap! $4.46 cents to do my whole office and I've got a whole package of plastic straps I haven't even used yet.

I'm One of Those Women...

Somewhere along the way having an organized bathroom closet became not only on my invisible list of must-haves, but also a source of genuine pride.

The rebellious teenager in all black is rolling over in her Marilyn Manson shirt!

Anyway, organization is general is a big thing for me. I feel like I have control over things. I love knowing where things are.

Not much else in the Cape is as put-together as my bathroom closet, though.

Yup, even a first aid container.

If you're married to my husband, you know a thing or two about that.

Dollar Tree is a life saver for containers. Every color, lids or no lids. Oh, and I love my labeler, too. It's a Brother PT-1880.