Wooden Shelf with Lilliput Lane Miniature Cottages

The Lilliput Lane Miniature cottages represent various buildings typically found in the British Isles. They are extremely detailed in their design and appearance. They are all hand made and painted by skilled artists. Though the ones shown in the photograph below don’t have any, you can buy miniature cottages from Lilliput Lane with illuminated doors and windows, music, and moving parts. They also have collections that are ideal for winter scenes and Christmas.

The wooden shelf is close to 30 inches in length so I was able to securely mount it to the wall and into wall studs. The miniature cottages are fairly heavy. Coupled with the fact that we decided to place five cottages onto the shelf I felt it essential that we made sure the wooden shelf was secured to wall studs. We possibly could have gotten away with toggle bolts, if the shelf was narrower, however I would have felt uncomfortable that the shelf could eventually rip out of the drywall.

When mounting a wooden shelf on a wall, besides positioning it at the right height, it is also just as important that it sits level. Consequently I used a two foot long carpenter’s level when determining the right locations for the nails.

Though I could have used a nail finder to locate the wall studs, I was able to successfully find the wall studs by simply tapping on the walls and listening for the distinct thudding sound on the drywall. The unique thudding sound is indicative of a wall stud behind it.

To mitigate damage to the wall, when confirming that the wall studs did indeed exist behind the particular locations on the drywall where I heard the thud sound, I used a 4 penny finish nail that I tapped into the drywall. As I tapped the nail into the drywall I could feel the tip of the nail sink into the wall stud.

I then pulled the nail out with a pair of pliers and nailed in a larger ring nail. A ring nail helps to ensure that the nail won’t pull out of the wall stud. In addition, it has a larger head for mounting the wooden shelf on.

So if you’re looking to add some unique beauty and charm to your home’s walls consider mounting a wooden shelf and adorning it with either miniature cottages or other neat Knick Knacks.