Help With Cheap Wall Shelves

[DaveMMR]

Okay, so I've pretty much gotten back into collecting old consoles and games (mainly stuff I sold the first time around) and find that some cheap wall shelves will reduce the clutter of cartridges, game cases, etc.     

I'm basically trying to do this with a very small budget.   I was buying some 8" deep boards but I didn't like the options for supporting the planks that were available (too fancy, too bulky, too pricey, etc.)   My though then, was to secure 2x2's to the studs and then screw the shelves onto these supports (see picture below).  I figure all shelves below the topmost would have 6 inches of usable space (all that's needed for most - if not all the cartridges, boxes, jewel cases, DVD cases, etc.).   

My question is if this would be secure enough for my purposes.  I'm not figuring all this stuff would be terribly heavy.  Again, I'm trying to keep it simple and cheap but effective and moderately handsome.  Any thoughts/advice/input would be appreciated.

[orchidius]

Of course it's possible to make your own shelves for those purposes! Where you want/can go with them of course depends mainly on your woodworking skills... With what I make from your description there's two main things to consider:

1) Esthetics
As your mockup shows, you'll still see the studs end on the front side of the shelve if you make them as long as the board. Imo that doesn't catogarize under "fairly handsome", and there are many alternatives. Two things pop in my mind right now, but there are many options to consider, just check out a bunch of shelved cabinets and you'll be surprised how many options there are!
* L-profiles (or whatever the official term is...): http://www.hcjoints.be/img/l-profiel.jpg
--------> These things exist in hundreds of variations: the long ones like here, or just short pieces of 1/2" (use two of those in that case), or large narrow ones,... The principal is the same everywhere though: you screw one side to the shelf, and one side to the cabinet in such a manner that the 90° corner is the corner between the shelf and the cabinet.
*Dowel: http://www.nobodybuy.com/2010/03/27/chenmingwooden/400x400_p1101966/supply-wood-dowel-pins.jpg
--------> Mostly, dowels are used to enforce a joint, but they are also used to hold shelves (mostly metal ones). You dril 2 or 3 holes along the line where you want the shelf to be (make sure the holes are a bit smaller then the dowel) and hammer the dowel in half way. That provides enough support for the light weight of the games. Here too there are many variations specifically designed for holding shelves. Some are even a crossover between the L-profile on one side for the support and a dowel on the other side to "connect" to the cabinet.

2) Stability
Just screwing together 4 boards of wood in a rectangle and adding some dowels with loose shelves won't do the trick. You'll end up with a cabinet that might look OK on first sight, but that isn't stable at all (it'll probably rock from left to right easily). This is however easily solved by either adding a panel to the rear or adding a X-support on the rear or just a single diagonal support beam. Fastening the shelves would also be beneficial (like with the L-profiles for example). 

[DaveMMR]

I'll look into those - thanks!

[HaRuMaN]

Use a french cleat!

Like this.

Or this.

[orchidius]

Use a french cleat!

Like this.

Or this.

Great option if you're just going to hang them to the wall indeed! I was just considering a real sized cabinet with shelves and all :p

[garnerb350]

Can this help?

http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Woodworking/Woodworking-Projects/how-to-build-a-wall-shelf