Cover Wire Shelving – A Cheap and Easy Fix

Learn how to cover wire shelves with a simple dollar tree trick.

Wire shelving is an economical way to add storage to a closet or in our case, a pantry. I loved all of the room we have in our small pantry closet but the wire shelves were not ideal for storing food. Oftentimes items would fall down between the wire shelves and it drove me crazy! I finally found a cheap way to create wire shelf covers.

Our pantry was a decent size and the wire shelves were in good shape. I just needed a solution to give each shelf a smooth hard surface.

I saw several great ways to cover wire shelves online but most of them were expensive. After trying a few different shelving liners, I realized that they were too thin to create the nice solid smooth finish I wanted. I had a better idea…

How to Cover Wire Shelving

1. Measure First

Take the time to measure your shelving. Remember the rule: measure twice, cut once. I wanted my wire shelf cover to match the size of the shelving, but you can make it a little deeper and have an overhang if you would like.

2. Pick up your Supplies

I headed to the Dollar Tree and grabbed several pieces of white foam board. Yes, the kind you use for a school science project. It was cheap, tough, and smooth. I also knew it would be easy to replace if it got stained or damaged. These were the perfect size for the project and they were easy to handle.

I also used an exacto knife to cut the foam board (be sure to protect your surfaces!)

3. Cut your Foam Board:

After measuring my shelves, I used an Exacto knife and got to work. I cut the boards to the correct width and depth. Next, I made sure to cut out little nooks for the bolts along the wall so the board would fill in every inch. This step only took about 10 minutes, it was quick and easy!

Enjoy your Newly Covered Wire Shelving

I think this improvement was a great, cheap solution to our annoying wire-shelving. I would highly recommend giving it a try! I’m so happy that I did this quick DIY. Our pantry hasn’t looked better and the shelves are so much easier to use. Items slide off the shelves easily and the foam board is holding up really well.

Next: Get that Pantry Organized!

Once you have your nice shelving covers done you might be feeling motivated to organize your pantry. You can see how we maximized our pantry space when I organized our closet pantry. See the post HERE

I hope you found this post helpful.