Small bathroom shelf made of VARIERA shelf insert

I needed a tiny shelf on my bathroom wall but IKEA offered only bigger ones. So I used 3 pieces of the smaller VARIERA shelf insert to make a small bathroom shelf shelf. You can try using other quantities or the bigger one as well.

IKEA items used: 

IKEA Variera insert

VARIERA shelf insert | IKEA.com

Other materials and tools: 

  • Screws with nuts x 2
  • Screws for dowels x 2
  • 2 dowels
  • Screw washers x 4
  • 2 metal corner brackets

Small bathroom shelf instructions:

(Tip: check the pictures, maybe they are helpful enough so you can skip reading this list!)

variera insert
variera insert
small bathroom shelf hack

Put 3 (or less, or more, as you like) pieces of the VARIERA shelf inserts together as instructed by IKEA.


Related: Turn the VARIERA shelf insert into a gorgeous dressing table


On the top level (or the bottom, depending on your viewpoint, check pics), find a decorative hole on both sides that are circle shaped. Fix the corner brackets using screws, nuts and screw washers in these two holes.

Drill two holes in the wall, put the dowels in.

Fix the shelves onto the wall using screws and screw washers. And you’re done.

small bathroom shelf hack
How long and how much did it cost?

Approximately 30 USD for the shelves from IKEA. For the other materials I don’t remember exactly, a few dollars.

What do you like most about the hack?

It looks cool, almost like it was the intended use. By putting the shelves on the wall upside down, the levels have a lip on their edges which prevents objects from accidentally falling off them.

small bathroom shelf hack

The best thing is, my wife also likes it.

What was the hardest part about this hack?

Figuring out how to do it. At first, I wanted to use the holes that were meant to fix the shelf parts together as the decorative holes seemed too narrow. However, I couldn’t keep the parts together. And then, I found bigger circle shaped decorative holes and it was a cinch.

~ by Balázs