Mason Jar Shelf Wall
One of my favorite features in our off grid homestead cabin is our Mason Jar shelf wall. At the time of erecting it, I had no idea how much I would love it, and I’m so glad that we decided to go for it!
Until we build steps for the front door area, we enter the house/cabin through the basement/workshop area. The steps come up into our kitchen/dining area. While building, we needed to decide how to close off that wall to the steps, both for safety and function.
Looking for Ideas
We pondered several options, like a rebar railing, which we installed up in our loft. It looks great, but I didn’t really want that for this area.
At some point, an idea began to form in my head. A jar wall! That is scary enough, but the fact that Pinterest had no examples for me should have warned me. It didn’t.
I scoured Pinterest for ANY examples of mason jar shelf deals. I collected ideas, pinned images, but just was not satisfied with what I was finding.
So… I presented my idea of a wall of mason jars to Andrew. He didn’t hate it, at least not out loud, and he was game to give it a try.
AdBlog Post continues below, but you can see the detail on the YouTube channel.
Mason Jar Shelf Wall
We just took the idea of a half wall over the stairs instead of a railing. Many people have done this. I wanted it open, not closed in, to let light shine through the lovely mason jars!
Andrew went to work, did a lot of calculating, and measuring.
Putting it Together
We chose poplar for the shelving. This is because Greg cuts down trees for a living and happened to have poplar already milled.
Our wall is nine feet long. It goes between a post on one end and the wall on the other.
Andrew screwed the boards directly into the post/wall with 4’ screws, at a diagonal. If we’d had a pocket screw tool we’d have used that. He sunk the screws into the wood on the bottom, and you cannot see them. But for good measure, he filled the holes with wood filler to cover them.
Mason Jar Shelf for Half Gallon and Quart Jars
We wanted shelving for the half gallon mason jars. I use these to store many of my dry goods.
The space between our shelves is 9.5’. That gives enough room, but not excess, for removing and putting back the jars. It’s perfect for us!
Since we have space for 88 jars, and I only own around 45, I use quart jars on the other shelves for now. I am slowly adding to my jar collection. I like quarts for some things anyway, like dried herbs for tea.
Finishing the Mason Jar Shelf
We sanded until smooth, then applied Minwax Early American stain. We finished with Minwax PolyAcrylic in Satin.
To keep the jars from falling out the backside, Andrew installed 1/2’ rebar on the back. He made holes in the post and wall, and slightly bent the rebar to fit into the holes.
There are center supports for strength. Before they were installed, we drilled a hole for the rebar, and threaded it through.
Our mason jar shelf is very sturdy, functional, and I love it!
I store grains, beans, nuts, herbs, trail mix, and flours.
Visible Jars
My mason jars are visible, so we remember to eat what’s inside.
I use plastic lids on some of my mason jars. Some jars, I have just used the original lid/ring system. I like the plastic lids for ease of use.
You can get the plastic lids with this link
I hope you were inspired!
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
