DIY Patio Shelves

Last year I graduated college and have since lived in a small apartment with a really small patio. Now, I don't have all the money in the world, but I still think even the smallest of spaces needs a little TLC. So I wanted to turn my bland, tiny patio into a bountiful garden and decided cheap, durable DIY shelves were the way to go! I began researching how I could make my own shelves and stumbled upon the ever-purposeful PVC pipe. A few things I considered before I began my adventure: I had to make sure the shelves would give enough room for my plants to grow so I had to buy long enough pipes that I could later cut. I went to Home Depot and thus began my quest for my own patio shelves. 

I had the option to buy pre-cut PVC pipes, but found that it was cheaper to buy a large PVC pipe and had an employee cut it into equal parts. Same for the pieces of wood, I found a large piece and had an employee saw it into four equal parts. I came home with the following:

 

• 15 1 in. x 2 ft. PVC pipes (cut from 3 10 ft. PVC pipes) = $9.66
• 4 11&1/2 in. x 2 ft. pieces of plywood (larger piece cut into 4 equal sections) = $2.98
• PVC pipe cutters = $12.98
• 4 PVC elbows = $2.32
• 12 PVC Tees = $7.56
• measuring tape = used my own

TOTAL COST = $35.50

 This is what I decided:

Shelf Length PVC pipes cut to 18 in. --- Shelf Width PVC pipes cut to 11 1/2 in.

Use the elbow pipes for the base. Alternate connecting the tee pipes lengthwise and widthwise. This helps makes the frame more stable. As for the height of your shelves, it's up to you to decide how much room you want to leave for your plants or anything else you might want to store on these surprisingly stable shelves!