My 11-year-old asked for a “nerd shelf” back in the summer. A nerd shelf is, apparently, a shelf (or shelves) for storing all your nerdy collectibles and treasures. So I gave her an old and very small bookshelf of mine. It worked for a while, but she quickly grew out of it. So while she went to visit her Dad for the holidays, I came up with an idea for a new nerd shelf … one that fit right next to her computer in our dining room (I keep it there so she’s nearby when she’s using it). There’s a corner right there, and I’ve seen cool bookshelves that fit into corners. And then I thought … what if it was themed to her interests? And that’s when I came up with the idea of making an R2-D2 nerd shelf.
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How We Made the R2-D2 Nerd Shelf
Four days before Christmas, we went to Lowe’s and came home with a single 4′ x 8′ sheet of hardwood plywood. From this, and a spare 2×4, some wood screws, some paint, and a cool LED light rope, we made this R2-D2 nerd shelf. I designed it, Greg built it, and together we painted it. The whole thing cost under $100. We gave it to Alexa this morning for Christmas and she loves it.
Here are some in progress photos:
The base shelf.
Front of the shelf with the panel put on, before we painted it all white.
Preparing to paint the silver on the “dome” area.
Drilling holes for the light rope to thread through.
If anyone wants the cutting plans for it, you can get them in my free resource library (Design #3) (get a password at the bottom of the page)! It’s a custom design, but given that we did it right before Christmas, it’s not terribly difficult to do either.
October 2016 Update: This shelf is the bomb. Every kid and Star Wars fan who comes to our house is amazed by it. We keep the LED lights on most of the time, and R2-D2 just sits in the corner, cheerful and content to display all of Alexa’s little bits and bobs. It was time and money well spent!
Like this DIY project? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest DIY board!
how did you do the light sequence and the sound, where do you get a sound chip for R2D2? I would love to do one for my grandson.
This is so cool! I better not show my husband though or he will want to build a man/nerd cave around it!
Thank you!
WOW to bad my son didn’t live closer . he would build this In a heart beat for my grandson. Thank you for sharing
This is fantastic! My husband would go nuts if I made one of these for him. What a perfect nerdy way to display all of your Star Wars collectibles! Thanks for sharing your tutorial with us at Merry Monday this week!
I do not have your skills but I’ve always like R2 D2
This is awesome, my boys would love it! I found you via Wow US Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style.
Thank you!!
Now that turned out really cool. Great idea. Found you on Bloggers Pit Stop.
Oh my, I know a few boys in my family that would absolutely love this. So clever! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
I need to make this for my husband! It’s incredible in every way! Thank you so much for sharing this with us at Funtastic Friday 😀 Pinned
This is such a unique and creative project! Thank you for linking up at The Blogger’s Pit Stop Link Party. I’m sharing your link on social media.
Carol (“Mimi”) from Home with Mimi
coolest thing ever! i know many a child and grown man who would love this.
b
Thank you!!