Shelving on kitchen pipe

Submitted by Significant-Towel207 t3_zyath3 in DIY

Hey Reddit - I tried googling for a solution here I’m not the most handy person and need some guidance for this simple task.

I have an unsightly pipe running vertically from floor to ceiling in my apartment kitchen. My idea is to attach some shelving to make use of the space - like maybe put my spices there, a plant to make it look a bit nicer.

I’m looking for advice on how to do this. I know this probably sounds trivially simple but I’m kind of clueless here.

https://imgur.com/a/wsC4CDI

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--Ty-- t1_j24rz68 wrote

That pipe does not appear to be a very strong one (the wall thickness of a pipe tends to increase with its diameter, so narrower pipes are usually also thinner ones).

You can mount a shelf to it, but I'd recommend ONLY storing spices, or maybe a single small plant. Don't try to add a bunch of shelving and store pots and pans and half your kitchen on it.

There's a variety of pipe clamps out there, many of which can be used to hold something against a pipe. The exact design is up to you, the tools you have, and the types of pipe clamps you have access to.

A couple of these generic pipe clamps screwed into a block of wood can act as a decent base for a small shelf, which then gets screwed/glued to the block of wood. You gotta get the sizing of everything just right, though, to get enough clamping pressure.

"Split Ring" or "Split Clamp" pipe clamps are much stronger, but will take a bit more creativity to attach to wood.

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Significant-Towel207 OP t1_j24vasj wrote

Thx for the response! For the base wood block, is that something I’d be able to buy off the shelf at a Home Depot?

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--Ty-- t1_j2541su wrote

Yes and no. You can buy wood at Home Depot, of course, but you'll always have to cut and shape it and work it yourself. That's the "DIY" in "DIY" :P

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BluePortaloo t1_j267tuu wrote

Do you know what the pipe is used for? If it is for gas or even water then I would probably leave it be

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Kesshh t1_j250m7d wrote

How far is the pipe from everything (the cabinet, the wall, the fridge)? Is the pipe plumb? It looks close to the wall at the bottom but quite far at the top. Also, what goes through the pipe? There is a gap between the fridge and the wall, do you do anything with it? Can we see a picture zoomed out so we can see the whole space?

Normally, I wouldn't put weight on a pipe (as in mounting things to it) simply because it wasn't designed for it. But building around it make sense. Its just a matter of where to mount what.

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Significant-Towel207 OP t1_j25c6w4 wrote

I can take measurements when I get back home but here is a zoomed out pic: https://imgur.com/a/ACdTqcl

As you can see there’s a lot of empty space 😅

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Kesshh t1_j25fetn wrote

Interesting. What about building a custom pantry/cabinet from next to the fridge, all the way to the back wall, front out flush with the wall cabinet, the side bottom out to that white box thingy, height to the top of the wall cabinet? The pipe would be within it and you gain some pantry space? Add a countertop to the same level to extend the current countertop.

That way the pipe won't have to support anything.

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c3prd2bb8 t1_j26nr64 wrote

Is there a pic I'm not seeing? I see 1 bad quality pic on the original post. How can you tell where the pipe is located in relation to the top and bottom?

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