Simple CD Rack Shelves Made Out of Old Wooden Ladders

This simple wood working project is a great way to recycle an old vintage wood ladder and turn it into some shelving that is perfect for restoring CD’s and DVD’s. You could also use it to store small boxes and even books than are not too large.

You should expect to invest about 3 hours of your weekend to this simple DIY project. Overall you should be able to make one CD shelf for about $50 or less. This simple do working project is a great way to us up some left over materials you may have cluttering up the garage or basement! 

To Make a CD Shelf out of an Old Wooden Ladder You Will Need:

1 Old Wood Ladder
1X4’s or 1X6’s Cut to size
Wood Screws
Wood Glue
Sand Paper
Primer
Paint
Paint Brushes
Power Drill
Wall Anchors and Screws

OK, so the first step is to measure the steps or rungs of your old wooden ladder. Measure form the inside left to the inside right.

Now, you need to decide how deep you want your shelving to be. I like to go at least 6 inches deep, but you can decide that for yourself.

Have your 1X6 boards cut into pieces that fit snuggly inside of your ladder. They will be resting on the wooden rungs or steps.

Pre drill a hole through the 1X6 pieces. You want one hole near the left end and one pre drilled hole near the right end.

Attach one board to each rung.

While you are doing this you need to make sure the board does not stick out so far from the back that you can not attach the wooden ladder shelving to the wall. So, I recommend letting the majority of the wood 1X6” shelf stick out the front of the leader.

Ok, so now you need to pre drill one hole through the top left and top right of the ladder. You will use these to install your ladder shelving on the wall a hold it in place. You could also create this simple shelving unit out of a ladder than fold open if you have the floor space for it.

Now, basically your wooden ladder CD shelf is finished.

To create a cohesive looks though I like to sand the entire ladder and apply a coat of primer.

You can now add some paint as well.

If you are lucky enough to have some old scrap wood laying around to make the shelving pieces out of you might could even stain the whole piece.