Simple And Stylish Shelving Ideas You Can DIY Using Dollar Tree Essentials

Dollar Tree is a firm favorite among budget-friendly DIYers. And while it might not be the first choice when it comes to materials for furniture projects, don't write off this retailer when picking up supplies. Dollar Tree has some excellent items you can use to create your own shelving. Best of all, these products are often cheaper than materials from your local hardware store. 

To get your creative juices flowing, we've rounded up a wide range of simple shelving ideas you can DIY using their wares. There is something to suit everyone's tastes, whether your style leans glamorous, rustic, or somewhere in between. Some of the projects wow on the décor front, while others can help with pantry or closet storage, craft room organization, or corralling items on a countertop or vanity. 

We focused on DIYs that make use of Dollar Tree essentials; products you can find in almost any Dollar Tree or similar large dollar store. Not all products shown will be in stock at every store, so we've included some alternative product ideas as well. Once your shelves are installed, you can also start decorating them with these interior designer-recommended Dollar Tree décor finds or these underrated Dollar Tree items. So, without further ado, here are some of the best DIY Dollar Tree shelving ideas. 

Dollar Tree actually sells some ready-made shelves, like the Decorative Wall Shelves, Small Decorative Hanging Wall Shelves, and Large Decorative Hanging Wall Shelves. You can use the latter two options for this easy DIY. Instead of just installing one hanging shelf, attach them together to make a multi-level hanging unit. This is done by tying the ropes together to join them. Before you snip off any extra lengths of string, make sure the shelves are level. You can get creative with their configurations, too. Just make sure whatever mounting hooks you use have a weight limit that is high enough to hold the shelves and their contents.

If the Dollar Tree hanging wall shelves don't quite fit your space, you can make your own version instead. In this video, the creator uses the Crafter's Square MDF Wood Plank Boards for the shelf part, drilling holes, staining the plank, and adding lengths of rope to make a personalized hanging shelf. Dollar Tree has a few wood plank sizes to choose from, or you can even repurpose a chopping board, like the Cooking Concepts Bamboo Cutting Board. This is a great project idea if you want to be able to customize some budget-friendly hanging shelves since you can choose the size, the stain, and the string type.

We've written about a few genius ways to use a wire Dollar Tree shelf riser to maximize storage. Here's one more! You can make a wall-mounted towel rack using a few Essentials White Wire Cabinet Shelves and zip ties. This project is especially useful if you have a cramped bathroom but some empty wall space; the rack can free up storage room in your cabinets for other bathroom necessities. This project is easy to put together using zip ties to attach the shelf risers, then pushing the legs up at an angle so you have a spot to place rolled towels.

A handful of crates and two wooden signs can be transformed into a tabletop organizer shelf. Start with choosing your side pieces; pick tall wooden planks or signs like the Crafter's Square Hanging Wood Plank. Due to the different products available between stores, you'll want to then choose crates that fit the wood plank, rather than the other way around. A few of the Crafter's Square Rectangular Wooden Crates will work with the previous plank. Stain or paint the planks to your liking, then put the shelf together with heavy-duty staples and glue. You can use this organizer for pens and pencils, craft supplies, or as a coffee and tea station.

Build a glamorous mirror shelf that's perfect for a vanity with this project idea. The creator built this project using a wood board from the hardware store, attached together with wood glue, then decorated with plain square Dollar Tree mirrors (like the square version of the Luminessence Glass Mirror Candleholders). Using real wood planks makes a nicer-looking shelf, but as this video mentions, you can also fashion a similar-looking project with only Dollar Tree items. Make a comparable desk-top shelf with a Crafter's Square Hanging Wood Plank, your choice of wood crates from Dollar Tree, and small mirrors.

With the right wood pieces, you can fashion a no-cut Dollar Tree shelf that's perfect for displaying décor and other small items. While we couldn't find the exact wood pieces from this video on the Dollar Tree website, you might be able to find them at your local store. Or, use similar-sized pieces, like the Crafter's Square Wood Plank Hangers and the Crafter's Square MDF Wood Squares, which will fit within the width of those planks. Building this project pretty much comes down to finding planks or signs that fit together. 

The base of this countertop shelf starts with four simple paper towel holders, like the Cooking Concepts Wire Paper Towel Holders, zip-tied together to create a frame. This type of basic paper towel holder should be available at pretty much any Dollar Tree. Just make sure to grab ones with a flat middle post, which provides a surface for your shelf. In this video, the creator uses plaques joined together to create a shelf. You can also use MDF planks, display boards, or wood coasters, depending on what you find at your local store. A layer of metallic contact paper over top of your chosen shelf makes the tray look dazzling.

If you want a two-tiered decorative shelf, this is the project to follow. It uses a shelf riser (the Essentials White Wire Cabinet Shelf) to create levels. A wire basket on the top and bottom keeps items contained. Your local Dollar Tree may have a few options; use the Essentials Gold Wire Trays if you want a metallic look like in this video, or the Essentials Wire Storage Trays for a matte finish. Zip ties and hot glue hold this project together. You can leave it as-is, or use foam board covered in contact paper to add a more decorative surface.

This video shows a creative way to repurpose filing trays and turn them into floating shelves. The lip of the Dollar Tree letter tray helps to conceal the nail or screws that mount them to the wall. The Assorted Jot Iridescent Letter Tray is a similar filing tray listed on the Dollar Tree website, just without the marble effect. To get a similar look to the project in this video, you can cover this tray in contact paper before installing it. This hack is really one of the cheapest ways to create floating shelves!

One of our favorite DIY materials from Dollar Tree is their small wooden crates. It's hard to find an equivalent elsewhere, especially for the price, and they're adorably rustic. This video shows one way you can put a few crates together. Create your layout, then mount them on the wall. You can use each flat surface as shelving, in the crates and along the top. The size is ideal for storing and displaying your favorite perfumes, and of course, for small décor items too, like candles and faux flowers.

If you're not feeling creative, you don't need to fashion Dollar Tree crates into a layout. You can attach them to the wall as-is and use them as decorative rustic shelving that's charmingly playful (and perfect for kids' rooms). Of course, you can also paint or stain the crates before mounting them on the wall. Whether you're using them in a kid's room or another area of the house, you can follow the lead of this video. They place a line of hot glue along the front of the crate shelf, creating a small lip so toys and décor items won't slip off.

This DIY project uses two items you can find at most dollar stores: Wood crates and wooden rulers. It combines the two to make an adorable mini trinket shelf. Take a wood tray with flat sides, like the Crafter's Square Wooden Trays. The flat sides allow you to join a few trays together into your chosen layout, and also makes it possible to sit the finished unit on a desk, if you don't want to wall-mount it. Then, cut pieces of wooden rulers to size to make shelves inside. Since this project is assembled with wood glue and thin pieces of wood, it's only suitable for lightweight knickknacks.

This video shows a creative way to make a dupe of a much more expensive shelf, using just a few Dollar Tree products. It uses a Crafter's Square MDF Wood Plank Boards as the shelf part, takes some strips of faux leather to make the decorative straps, and gold metal thumb tacks for a slightly industrial finish. You can use any fabric type for the side straps, picking from different colors and patterns to suit your style (and what's in stock at your local Dollar Tree store).

Add utility and organization to a closet or pantry with this simple but very useful DIY. It's not the most stylish-looking, but it provides space for you to separate items. It uses just a few cheap Dollar Tree products: Two Essentials Black Plastic Broom Handles, a couple of hooks (use S-hooks to hang this project from a rail, and wall hooks to attach it to a wall), and some Dollar Tree baskets. Use baskets like the Essentials Plastic Woven-Looking Storage Baskets, which have openings for you to thread the zip ties through (which you can also get at Dollar Tree). 

There are a few ways to repurpose hula hoops around the home and garden. Here's one creative project idea that involves getting a few planks of wood from the hardware store and cutting them to size. But its standout feature is hula hoops, which you can find at pretty much every Dollar Tree. Besides being cheap, the Dollar Tree ones also have a black finish underneath the colorful stickers. The finished project is a modern-looking shelf that guests won't be able to tell is made using a Dollar Tree essential.

You can hide the eyesore of wire shelving on a budget using Dollar Tree materials. Best of all, this project is renter-friendly too. It uses cheap and lightweight foam board, like the Readi-Board White Foam Board, fashioned together with hot glue to make a shelf cover. You can beautify the shelf cover with your choice of contact paper to make it more decorative. Dollar Tree sells a range of self-adhesive shelf liners that you can use as contact paper, like the QC Con-Tact Pine Self-Adhesive Shelf Liner, which is the ideal option if you want a wood-like finish.

This desktop organizer shelf is made entirely of gold wire baskets, giving it a chic look that will suit glam home styles. By choosing a different finish (like black) you can create a modern farmhouse or industrial look. You may need to do a bit of measuring with the baskets available at your local store to see if you can find options that fit in this layout. One convenient aspect of using wire baskets is that this is another DIY you can put together using zip ties — it's very easy to attach the baskets together this way. 

It's hard not to love simple wood pallet projects, especially if you like the charming rustic touch that pallets offer. Dollar Tree lets you make one of these projects on a smaller scale with its adorable Crafter's Square Wood Pallets, mini wood pieces that look like pallets. This video shows one way to put these mini pallets together to create a wall-mounted décor shelf that's perfect for farmhouse-style homes. Put your own spin on the project with paint or wood stain, by adding shelves, or adjusting the placement. 

If you're looking to make a modern Dollar Tree DIY, it's hard to go wrong with the brand's Hexagon Mirrors. They come in black and white and something about their minimalist design lends itself well to contemporary home styles. This project creates modern stacked countertop shelves that you can use for displaying décor, plants, etc. The flat sides means they're stackable and you can place a few together to make a shelving unit. Consider keeping the mirror on the back piece if you want your shelves to lean more glam.

Dollar Tree offers a selection of trays, both in the craft section as wooden trays, and in the kitchen section as serving trays. Choose your favorite option and turn it into a decorative shelf, using the tray as an eye-catching backing. You can get creative with your shelf pieces. This video uses a wooden toy and Dollar Tree's TikTok-famous Tumbling Tower Game (a popular material for rustic Dollar Tree DIYs) to make the shelves. But you can use any other wood pieces from your local store that fit, like MDF squares, plaques, or coasters.

The Sterilite White Storage Mini Crates from Dollar Tree are ultra-useful in their own right, but you can make them stylish as well with this DIY project. These crates stack together easily to create a cube shelving unit. They don't look the most visually appealing though, so to cover up the plastic, you can build a three-sided wooden frame around the outside of the unit. It's essentially a frame of timber planks that just fits over the sides. Even if you have to buy some lumber to create the sides, this is still a very affordable shelving unit idea.

This craft storage unit is another project idea that uses the versatile Sterilite White Storage Mini Crates. The finished shelving unit is ideal for lightweight materials, like the balls of yarn shown in this video. You can get creative with your layout with these square modular crates, and then attach them securely together using zip ties. You can stand the finished unit on the floor or mount it to the wall, depending on your space.

Sometimes, it can be hard to find a shelving unit for really tight spaces. You can make your own with this DIY shelving idea that uses Dollar Tree essentials like picture frames, foam board, contact paper (or other decorative paper you can place in the frames), and the previously mentioned Tumbling Tower Game blocks. You can adapt this idea to your space, choosing a frame size that fits where you want the shelving unit. Just keep in mind that the finished project can't bear a lot of weight (it's made of picture frames, after all!).