DIY Faux White Oak Floating Shelf Method + Brackets

Our #haileyhome makeovers keep chugging along and I am so happy to finally share our DIY faux white oak shelves! Real white oak shelves have a beautiful grain and the perfect tones with the price tag to match. I’ve made pine shelves before for our Chicago apartment and wanted to see if I could get pine to pass for white oak. I freaking love this method and how lux and durable these shelves turned out!

The most expensive part of this install was the brackets. I wanted something that was truly flush with the wall and didn’t need a router to hide the bracket, so we went with the ones linked below. A lot of the supply costs seem like a lot, but it’s worth it if you’re planning on making multiple shelves. Especially if you consider that a custom floating shelf can easily put you in the $200+ range. (You can always save costs by going with standard wall brackets too!)

You’ll Need
floating shelf brackets*
common pine board**
pre-stain wood conditioner
white stain
water-based poly coat (satin finish)
80, 120 grit orbital sandpaper
orbital sander
dust mask, rated for small particles
foam brushes
180, 220+ grid sandpaper
nails
scrap wood
drill
painter’s tape
1/2″ drill bit

*Divide the length of your shelf by 16 to calculate the number of brackets you’ll need. Wall studs are typically 16″ apart and you’ll need to install the brackets into those studs.

** You’ll need a minimum of 1.5″ thick for floating brackets, but can go all the way down to 3/4″ if you’re using non-floating shelf brackets. We used ” with the same technique but with shelf brackets for all the bathrooms.

Please excuse the poor quality process pics- I wanted photos to demonstrate what the heck I talk about, but real life meant a lot of this was done at night after work. If any steps don’t make sense, please ask away!

Sand, 80 and Fill
Your pine board will start out pretty beat up. Most 2″ pine boards are actually wall studs, so they’re not smooth or prepped at all. Lots of splinters, marks, stamps. Take your time with your orbital sander and 80 grit sandpaper to remove that top layer. You can use the 80 grit to round out edges as well.

If your piece has small cracks and holes, use a bit of stainable wood filler before sanding so the stain doesn’t pool in those gaps. I tried the classic, mix wood dust with wood glue and found the mixture didn’t take stain as well as the rest of the piece and wish I just paid a bit more to get proper filler.

Raise the Grain
With the board roughly prepped, take a damp cloth and wipe down the board. This will remove the sanding dust and raise the grain of the board so you can get a finer sand. It’s like exfoliating- you scrub the first layer to get a closer shave. 👍

Sand 120, 180
With your orbital sander, working from 120 to 180 grit, go over the board again to remove the raised grain. Your board should feel silky smooth now!

Condition
Do not skip this step! Pine is a softwood, which means it’s nice and cheap for home projects but will absorb stain at different rates. That means blotchy, uneven color. Follow your pre-stain conditioner’s instructions.

Stain
Transformation time! Thoroughly mix your stain and elevate your board off your work surface. I like to hammer a few nails in a scrap piece of wood over a drop cloth for my work station so I can smooth out any drips.

Work in small sections to apply the stain with a brush and work from the middle to the edges to prevent drips. You can use a bristle brush, but I found I had fewer bubbles, no loose bristles, and easier cleanup with foam brushes. After you do the edges, run your brush along the underside to smooth out drips.

Since we’re just aiming to knock back some of the yellow tones in the pine to make it look like white oak and not completely whitewash it, only let the stain sit for about 5 minutes before wiping off the excess. (The photo above is what it looks like before wiping the stain off. It will look like you painted the whole thing white and can’t see the grain, but don’t worry! You will after the wipe down!) The poly coat will bring back the faintest bit of yellow back, so you can always layer a second stain coat if you feel it hasn’t lightened up enough. Follow the instructions for dry time before flipping over to stain the other side.

Dry 24 hrs
Now the hard part. Let your fully stained piece dry for a full 24 hrs before sanding. Perfection in patience! The photo above shows the difference between unstained pine and a dried piece.

Hand Sand 120, 180
After the stain has dried, you might notice that some grain has poked up again. No worries! This time, hand sand your way from 120 to 180 grit sandpaper. Back to silky smooth and ready for the last steps.

Poly Coat 1
Using a foam brush, apply the poly coat with long, continuous strokes in one direction to prevent bubbles and streaks. Just like applying stain, start in the middle and work your way to the edges to cut down on drips.

Dry 24 hrs
Dry time. Do NOT fuss with the coat. Most tiny bubbles will work themselves out while it dries and attempting to keep smoothing it out once it starts drying will mess the finish or make the coating too thick to set properly. Deep breath. This is going to work 👍

Hand Sand 220+
Sanding again? Yup. This helps the poly layers adhere better and gives you a chance to sand off any tiny bubbles.

Poly Coat 2
Ditto poly coat 1. The second coat makes your shelf ready for any kind of wet environment like a bathroom. We’ve had our shelves in our main bathroom for about 6 months and they still look great!

Dry 48 hrs
I know the can of poly says 24 hrs, but I like to build in a little extra cure time just in case. Letting your shelf completely set before installing will make the finish longer lasting.

Install
Level and lay out a piece of painter’s tape on your wall. Mark the center of your studs on the tape and the wall. You can now stick that piece of tape on the side of your shelf to mark your drill holes for the brackets. Carefully drill your holes as straight as possible into your shelf so it won’t slope. Follow the bracket instructions for installing the brackets into the studs. Then slide your shelf on to the brackets!

Alright, enough terrible, late-night phone pics. Thanks, Michael for demonstrating scale!

Miscellaneous Notes

I researched and tested the hell out of this technique and wanted to brain dump some other thoughts that might be helpful:

We’ve only used a 1/2 qt of stain and 1/2 qt poly coat for our 5 ft floating shelf and 4 bathroom shelves.

I used a water-based stain for the easy cleanup and lower off-gassing since the only space I could stain was inside. If you go from an oil-based stain to a water-based poly coat or vice versa, you’ll need extra drying time in between to prevent separating. If you’re curious about the pros and cons of each, why here’s a short and sweet list.

Oil-Based Stain Traits