We had a fairly large empty spot on one of our walls, and weren’t quite sure what to put there… so we made some Tetris inspired shelves.
We’ve seen quite a few different sets of Tetris shelves online this past year – we even pinned some to our Pinterest and Tumblr pages, promising that we would add them to our DIY geek decor to-do list. Well, we finally got around to actually making some!
There are lots of online tutorials for how to make Tetris shelves. Most of the ones we found were a little more time-consuming complicated than what we wanted to do (we like to keep things pretty simple around here). By all means, if you plan to sell yours or gift them, you probably want to miter, dovetail, bevel, etc etc, but yeah… we skipped all that. Plus we don’t really have the necessary equipment for that kind of work.
For ours, we started with some 1/2″ plywood that we had in the garage. A sheet of it is just over ten bucks at Home Depot. We drew a grid on it, to be able to easily draw our Tetris shapes out. You know the ones. Making a grid like this means you don’t have to measure your individual cuts (just count out the squares). Our grid squares were each 4″ x 4″.
After drawing your shapes, cut them out with a jigsaw. If you don’t have a jigsaw, get one. They’re $30, and will become your favorite thing.
So far, so good. Now you need to cut out the pieces for the sides. We started with the 1×4 rectangle shelf, since it only needs four sides (easiest). The other shelves need more. Since we do not have mitered sides, we had to add 1/2″ to some of the pieces, in order for everything to fit.
Basically it’s like a really simple puzzle to get the rest of the sides together, with some pieces the same length as the base, and some 1/2″ longer. We plan on making a few more of these shelves, and if we do we’ll update this post with specific cut lists if anyone is interested and hates math.
We assembled everything using woodglue and regular finishing nails.
Once they were all put together, we used wood filler up the seams and on the edges, to give a more smooth look for painting.
We did have some uneven edges, so went in with a sander and fixed everything.
That’s really it. Stain, paint, whatever you want to do now. We painted them white, then added a pop of color to the insides with cheapo $0.69 craft paint.
Here it is with a LEGO R2D2, for scale. The size is totally up to you, for the space you’re putting them in.
For more context, they’re on the wall perpendicular to our 8-bit fireplace, above our new DIY Legend of Zelda pillow. It’s actually on the same wall as our DIY built-in bookcase (our first project!).
We’re debating if we should leave the shelves bare, or use them as display shelves. Here they are with stuff:
Those are the Star Wars Metal Model Kits from ThinkGeek on the bottom shelf. Which we love (plus they were fun to put together!). The vintagey robot on the yellow shelf is this awesome guy. And yes, he winds up and walks.
We’re pretty happy with how they came out. What do you think? Would you leave them empty, or put little objects in them?
David says
January 21, 2014 at 9:03 amlike it!
Usagi says
January 21, 2014 at 9:46 amThose are awesome. I would totally put objects in them.
Shelley says
January 21, 2014 at 10:16 amSo cute!
Yvonne Takane says
January 21, 2014 at 11:04 amVery cute, and I would totally put your figurines and collectibles in them. Form + function = win!
Deb n Cats says
January 21, 2014 at 11:51 amwell, if I had the wall space, I would anchor them to the studs and make them wide and deep enough for cats to jump up on and lie down in. I never really liked Tetris but I think my girls would love something like that.
ournerdhome says
January 24, 2014 at 4:45 pmGreat idea! Our cat would love that too. Especially if I threw a plastic bag in for him to lay on, haha.
Lisa Black says
January 23, 2014 at 5:55 pmAwesome! They look great with the metal figures in them too! ^____^
ournerdhome says
January 24, 2014 at 4:44 pmOkay, the consensus definitely seems to be to put stuff on the shelves, so our little Star Wars metal guys are staying! And maybe some smaller books and whatnot. Thank you all for the feedback and comments! 🙂
HirokoLe says
January 24, 2014 at 10:48 pmI like it. How did you attach them to wall?
ournerdhome says
January 24, 2014 at 10:58 pmWhoops! Forgot to include that in the description. We used sawtooth hangers (like this), nailed into the back with short nails. The shelves are so light, that a few heavy-duty Command Strips should also work.
B says
January 25, 2014 at 3:22 pmI love this! What a fantastic idea!
Grace Del Rosario says
March 10, 2014 at 8:17 amMy daughter saw these the images and she asked me if I can also create one for her. Her plan is to place all of Disney princesses collections there. Thanks for this wonderful idea
Sydney says
May 11, 2014 at 11:51 amOH MY GOSH, just stumbled across this blog and this is one of my favourite things I’ve seen on the Internet! I need these in every room.
Sydney
Sydneymakesthings.blogspot.co.uk
Tony says
May 31, 2014 at 9:22 amWhat are the names of the colors you used in the shelves?
ournerdhome says
June 2, 2014 at 2:47 pmLemon Ice and Teal from the Craft Essentials line of acrylic paints and Wedgewood Green and Lavender from the Apple Barrel line.
When there is a sale on 2 oz. bottles of acrylic paints at Jo-Ann or Michaels, Kat and I go a little crazy trying to choose from the endless array of color!
Jon Morin says
August 18, 2014 at 11:12 pmNice. Looking to make some for my wife, not sure what design to use. But I’m more of a simpler is better guy, too.
Helen says
October 26, 2014 at 9:37 pmThis is awesome!
K.T says
August 19, 2016 at 3:55 pmDepressing. I see this all over Pinterest and there are still no exact measurements. Haven’t been in the 2 years I’ve been waiting.
ournerdhome says
August 19, 2016 at 4:25 pmHey K.T! Which measurements are you looking for? We did ours by drawing a grid of 4″x4″ squares on 1/2″ plywood. Then we cut the Tetris shapes out by counting the grid squares to match the Tetris shape (for example, the base piece to the “L” Tetris shape is 3 squares on the long edge, 2 squares on the short edge). Then since our wood was 1/2″ thick, we added 1/2″ to the side pieces, so that it would all fit.
Our wall space we made the shelves for is small, so the 4″ grids worked for us, but other people have told us that they did 6×6 or 8×8 inch grids and really liked the results (others also used thicker plywood, and adjusted their side measurements accordingly) – just depends on how big your wall is! We might eventually make more of these, but so far our original set is still going strong. 🙂