Dreaming of a luxurious soak in your tub – bath or hot – then you need this DIY bath shelf / hot tub shelf to complete the fantasy. Room for wine, snacks, iPad or accoutrements, this $0 build keeps everything close at hand (and dry).
I made this with two uses in mind…
- I wanted to be able to bring my iPad outside to watch a movie while soaking in the hot tub and
- I’d like to be able to do the same while taking a long, luxurious bath
Who am I kidding – the luxurious bath never happens – but maybe you have kids that don’t suddenly come up with things to talk to you about and/or need help with every time you set foot in the tub.
Regardless, this simple (scrap wood) corner bath shelf / hot tub shelf works perfectly should the opportunity for either scenario arise.
Better still – I made it as part of my “no spend July” so all of the materials were repurposed from other projects I’d dismantled and scrap wood.
#Shellyforthewin
I haven’t provided measurements for this because chances are your bath or hot tub are going to be different than mine. Instead I’m sharing the concept and a few photos to show you how easy it is, so you can customize one for your home.
When building your own bath shelf / hot tub shelf, you’ll need to determine your finished size. Mine ended up being 14″, but I could have added another board to give myself even more space.
I lined up some scrap pressure treated wood and used wood glue and pocket screws to hold the boards together. I went with pressure treated over regular lumber because of the bubbling from the hot tub – there’s a fine mist in the air that I didn’t want to rot the hot tub shelf too quickly.
Once the boards for my bath shelf were together, I marked out a triangle and cut it to size with my mitre saw. I marked a line about ½” inside of my cut lines to determine where the braces would sit.
I attached the braces by drilling up through the underside into the shelf portion of the triangle – it will give you a cleaner finish – and then attaching them to each other with additional wood screws.
The hot tub shelf / bath shelf got a thorough sanding from 60 grit to 220 grit and then I finished it with an ‘aging wood’ finish and a poly sealer.
That’s it! Simple really – but perfect for what I’d hoped to use it for.
It sits over the corner of your hot tub (or bath tub) and the braces give it enough back-weight so that it doesn’t tip and tumble in. The shelf portion is large enough to fit your iPad, a glass of wine (or sweet tea), and a speaker. If there is more than one of you in the hot tub (although more power to you if there’s more than one in your bathtub wink, wink) then you have room for a small charcuterie board and a couple of glasses of wine.
That made me giggle – have you seen “Hot Tub Time Machine”? Where the guy spills all of the ingredients from his sandwich into the hot tub and continues to bathe with the tomatoes and lettuce floating around him. lol
This hot tub shelf will prevent you becoming part of a stew. lol
I thought about adding a lip to the front, just to make sure my iPad didn’t slip off, but when you are in the tub (hot or bath) you are generally sitting lower than where the bath shelf would be; I was concerned that reaching for your drink and bumping even a tiny lip would cause me to spill into the tub.
Maybe that’s just me.
If there’s a way to spill, I generally find it.
I have our hot tub cooled to 85°F (29° C) so it’s refreshing on these humid summer days, but not so cold that your nuts or nipples invert back into your body. lol
When you’re finished with your luxurious soak, just lift the bath shelf / hot tub shelf off and tuck it to the side until next time.
Easy build. Serves a (double) purpose. $0 = #Shellyforthewin
Have a great one!
