DIY Elegant Light-Up Corner Shelves On A Budget With Dollar Tree Items

Nearly every room in every home has corners. If you scanned your rooms, you'd probably find at least one of these dead spaces in your home you should take advantage of. Triangular corner shelves are a smart way to carve more storage out of your living space. If they're a bling-tacular set of light-up shelves you made yourself, even better. Making them for pennies with Dollar Tree finds earns these shelves an upgrade from "better" to "best."

The endlessly imaginative crafter behind the YouTube channel Yoduvh Essentials did just this with a haul of Dollar Tree supplies. They made a trio of corner shelves that sit on top of each other; this combo doesn't immediately bring shelving to mind, but our YouTuber showed us that not only was it possible, it was also beautiful. The triangular cuts from thin chalkboards are fronted with silvery picture frames, accented with glittering faux-jewels, and illuminated by puck lights. When they install all three together, the ensemble looks like one unified and elegant shelf.

To copy Yoduvh Essentials' design, you'll need two Jot Frameless Chalkboards, three 8-by-10 frames in silver, four packs of Crafter's Square DIY Wood Dice, a pack of silver adhesive jewel strips, and three remote-controlled puck lights from Dollar Tree. From other sources, pick up a roll of silver contact paper, silver spray paint, some small adhesive plastic silver gems, and a pack of 1-inch metal corner braces with wood screws. From your tool bench, grab a drill with a drill and a screwdriver bit, a saw, and some wood glue. If you have a nail gun, you may need that, too.

Before beginning, note that our crafter discovered part way through the build that their frames were heavier than the cut pieces of chalkboard, making the shelves not sit the way they'd planned. Their finished project was stunning; still, they went as far as to recommend a heavier board for the base of the shelves. You can sub the chalkboard for Dollar Tree cutting boards, many crafters' go-to for anything from making stylish bookholders to creating extra kitchen storage.

From your boards, measure and cut four right triangles from the corners for your shelf pieces and top of the "unit." Trace the triangles onto the contact paper, cut out the shapes, and apply them to one side of each shelf. Remove the backs and glass from the picture frames, and screw two corner braces angle-side down about 1.5 inches from each bottom corner. Place the frame and braces on top of each shelf piece, and screw them on. The tips of the screws may poke through both the frame and the shelf; you can hide the imperfections on the frames with plastic gems. Also, add jeweled trim along the exposed cut edge of the shelf.

Measure your corner, and mark where each shelf will go; when hung, the shelf of each section should look like it's connected to the one(s) above and/or below it. With a level, mark horizontal lines where your shelves will sit on each wall of the corner. Spray paint the wooden dice silver. Screw two dice flush with and beneath each line where the shelves will sit. For each side angle of the shelf, attach the dice about 2 inches from where its edge will be and the other about 2 inches from the corner of the wall. Top the dice with glue, and set the shelves in place. 

Repeat these steps for each shelf, including for the piece that caps off the very top shelf. If needed, secure each die with a nail or two from your gun. Install the lowest shelf first, and be sure to line up each shelf so that its base sits slightly beneath the top of the frame connected to the shelf below it. Add puck lights to the underside of all but the lowest shelf. Arrange your display-worthy items on the shelves, and let there be light!