Have you ever wished you had a comprehensive guide to installing floating shelves? This is all the information you need to build floating shelves using hardware for floating shelves. In addition, I’ll go over information on different kinds of kitchen shelf brackets, kinds of wood to use for wood shelves, how deep to build kitchen shelves, and more! It turns out that the solution to some of the most uncomfortable spots is to build DIY floating shelves. In addition to being attractive and providing proper storage, floating bookshelves are simple to construct and install. They are, in every aspect, an enormous success.
Let’s use the example of a room where the chimney runs up through it, creating this somewhat awkward nook.
Following some creativity, we made the decision to fill the nook with floating shelves AND a desk, and it is now unquestionably one of the room’s highlights. This example demonstrates how a room issue can unexpectedly become a design focal point.
Supplies We Used
- Plywood
- One-by-two pine boards
- Stud locater
- Circular or table saw
- Circular saw guides are helpful yet optional. These two are typically utilized for do-it-yourself tasks such as these:
- Guide to Kreg Rip cuts
- The Kreg accu-cut manual
- Brad nailer 2: straight edge or level brad nails
- Stain or paint
How to Make Your Own Floating Shelves
Step 1: The first step is to measure the space where your DIY floating shelves will hang. The 33″ by 15″ nook that we were working with.
Step 2: You can now cut your support pieces after you have your measurements. We chose to use some old 1″ x 6″ pine boards that we had lying around from a previous bed frame to construct the side and back support parts. Using our table saw, we ripped the boards to a uniform width of 1 1/2 inches apiece. However, to save yourself some work, I suggest purchasing 1 x 2s (as indicated in the supplies needed) to use as your support pieces.
In any case, you must ensure that your support pieces are the proper length. We used a circular saw to cut ours to length. We had to take individual measurements for every shelf because the nook had some anomalies. Every piece of side support ranged in size from 13 3/4″ to 14 1/4″ and every piece of back support from 32 1/2″ to 33 1/4″.
We used painter’s tape to mark the location of each shelf on the wall and labeled each support component correspondingly because the wall measurements we were working with were not uniform. We always say, “Measure twice, cut once.” Labeling every component allowed us to cut the material for every shelf at once.
Step 3: At this point, you can begin installing your support components. Put your level and stud finder to use for that. Using a stud finder, we located the studs and then installed the side and back support pieces on the wall using a brad nailer and 2″ brad nails. Ensure that every support component is level before fastening it to the wall. We knew that hastening our shelves to the studs would be sufficient stability because they wouldn’t hold anything heavy. However, you should use stronger nails or screws and be sure to strike the studs if your shelves are going to be longer or support heavier items.
We positioned the upper shelves apart and placed the desk supports at desk height.
Step 4: The plywood for the shelves can now be cut. Again, due to the uneven walls, each of our shelves had a diminutive different size—fun, fun—so before we began cutting, we measured each one carefully. We cut the plywood using our circular saw and straight edge.
Step 5: Affix the plywood shelves to the previously put support components. Using our nailer, we nailed the plywood shelves onto the support sections using 1″ nails.
Step 6: You will install something broader than your side and support back pieces for the front support pieces, which also serve a dual purpose by giving the shelves a more robust and finished look. This is so the other support pieces and the edge of the plywood are fully covered and hidden). We ripped the pine boards to a width of 1 7/8″. But if you’ve used 1″ x 2″ wood for your support pieces, you could probably use a 1″ x 3″ material for the front piece, depending on the thickness of the plywood that you used.
Step 7: After installing each shelf, use Spackle to seal the nail holes and quickly sand everything. Caulk any spaces where your shelves and walls meet after sanding and cleaning up all the dust. It’s time to paint your shelves when the caulk has dried. We painted ours the same hues as the room’s walls.