DIY Brass Ornamental Gallery Rail for Cabinets | Thrifty Decor Chick

DIY “brass” gallery/tipping rail for a shelf (for approach much less!).

I’ve liked the look of those delicate brass gallery rails for years! They’re normally put in alongside the entrance of shallow cabinets as a fairly ornamental accent, and so they stop objects from sliding off the shelf. 

I like something brass, particularly an exquisite little element like these posts and rails. I knew I wished to include them into our basement kitchenette, however the true brass choices will not be low cost! 

Since these had been so cheap (I spent lower than $80 on the tile), I splurged on the sticky tile setting mats I like a lot  for the set up:

They make the tile set up a lot simpler and faster, with a lot much less mess! They do price greater than mortar although, so that you pay for the comfort. 

After the tile was up, grouted and caulked alongside the counter tops, I put in a protracted however shallow shelf proper on high of the tile backsplash:

I used poplar wooden for this challenge understanding my plan to drill into it. I normally use pine, however pine is softer and extra vulnerable to splitting. 

They solely take three items of wooden, however for my newest model I solely used two — the again piece (that I hooked up to the wall) and the underside piece. 

I priced out the brass posts and rails for my lengthy shelf (it is practically 9 toes lengthy) and the entire was going to be $200! I am all for splurging, however I stored hesitating to organize them…figuring I might make one thing related for approach cheaper. 

To make this DIY model work, I wanted to have the ability to drill a gap straight by means of the wooden pegs. I attempted it out simply holding one and drilling into it, however I could not get the outlet fairly straight sufficient. 

So as an alternative, I made slightly holder/jig for my little males. 🙂 I nailed a number of scrap items of wooden tightly round one so it match comfortable in there: 

The peak of the outlet must be constant on the entire pegs, so the rail is stage throughout the completed shelf. I marked the identical spot on every one and used a 1/4 inch drill bit to create the holes: 

As soon as the little males had been all completed, I made certain the holes had been a constant top:

The one on the left was my check piece, and I did not find yourself utilizing that one. 

As a result of these are wooden, I did a lightweight sanding of the pegs earlier than the ultimate coat so the wooden grain can be much less pronounced. It undoubtedly helped to make them look extra like strong metallic. 

After cleansing the metallic rods, I sprayed these as effectively:

I believe spraying these took longer than putting in the entire dang factor. Spray slightly, dry, flip. Spray slightly, dry, flip. 😂 I like to recommend simply holding them and spraying half at a time. 

When the whole lot was dry, I took the whole lot right down to the basement to determine my spacing. I had seven pegs, and two of these had been positioned on the ends. So I had 5 to house out equally in between. 

I used a small drill bit to make a gap within the backside of every peg:

Take some care to not break up the wooden as you go. The important thing to doing that’s going slooooow as you drill and beginning with smaller bits and dealing as much as bigger ones if wanted. 

I used that very same small bit to place my preliminary holes into the ledge, after which adopted up with a barely bigger one: 

For this challenge, I’d err on making the outlet loads massive on your screw so it would not crack your wooden as you put in the pegs.

I put in the screws from beneath the ledge, into the underside of every peg. 

Once more, be affected person and go sluggish as you connect the poles. I did not have any points in any respect with the shelf or pegs splitting as a result of I took my time and drilled holes first.

I held up every metallic rod to see the place I wanted to trim them down, after which used the metallic blade on my oscillating instrument to chop them. It solely took a number of seconds to get about midway by means of the rod, then I snapped the surplus off. 

As soon as they’re all put in, the rails aren’t going anyplace! It’s extremely safe and can maintain up effectively to the frames and boards I’ve on this skinny shelf:

You might additionally use wooden dowel rods for the rails, however they will not be fairly as sturdy, particularly when you’ve got greater than a meals or so between the posts. 

We LOVE it! We had buddies over this week and I obtained so many compliments on my cute DIY tipping rail. 🙂

It took slightly work, however I saved greater than $180 doing this alone. The three rods had been $12 and the wooden pegs had been $4:

In case you rise up realllll shut, you’ll be able to inform the “brass” posts are wooden, however it could take some inspection. Until you are an skilled on brass gallery rails, I do not assume anybody would assume a factor about them being wooden anyway. 😉 

Just some extra initiatives to complete up and share in right here, after which I am going to do the complete tour of this house:

It was SO definitely worth the time creating my very own model of this gallery rail challenge! Now I am pondering of the place else I can add these round the home. I simply love the little ornamental element.