Custom Floating Shelves, Four Ways to Build Them
Solid-Wood Floating Shelves
A solid shelf is a thick slab, often glued up from narrower boards, with holes bored deep into the back edge. Those holes slide over steel rods welded to a flat plate, and the plate is screwed into the studs. Nothing shows once the shelf is on. The catch is wood movement. Wood shrinks and swells most across the growth rings and about half as much in the other direction. A wide flat-sawn slab can cup as the dry air pulls moisture out of it. Rift-sawn or quartersawn boards, glued up with the grain alternating, stay flatter. The entertainment centers page covers how far wood moves in St. George air and why the slab should sit in the house before it's finished and hung.
Hollow-Box Shelves on a Cleat
A hollow-box shelf is a thin-skinned box, open at the back, made from veneered plywood or MDF, with a solid edge glued to the front. A wood cleat the size of the opening is screwed to the studs, the box slides over it, and a few screws from underneath lock it in place. Hollow shelves are light, can be any thickness and length, and can hide an LED channel and its wiring inside. They're a good fit for painted walls and long runs. They are weaker at the front edge than a solid slab, so they suit books and decor better than stacks of stoneware.
Kitchen Open Shelving
Open shelves in a kitchen carry more weight than shelves anywhere else in the house. A stack of dinner plates and a row of glasses add up fast. Use solid or heavy-gauge brackets, keep each shelf deep enough for your largest plate, and set the bottom shelf high enough above the counter to clear the coffee maker. Keep wood shelves away from the cooktop. The clearance from a cooking surface to anything combustible is covered on the custom range hoods page. Ask for a catalyzed finish, since kitchen shelves get grease and steam that a wipe-on oil won't stand up to. Matching the shelf species to the cabinet doors ties the wall together.
Corner and Wraparound Shelves
A shelf that turns a corner is supported on two walls, which makes it stiffer than a straight run of the same size. The joint is the hard part. A mitered corner shows end grain on neither face. A butt joint is simpler, but one shelf's end grain shows. Wraparound shelves also run around a window, frame a bar nook or step around a fireplace chimney. Both walls have to be checked for square before the shelves are cut. A gap of even ⅛ in. shows on a mitered joint.
Why St. George homeowners call St. George Cabinet Makers
- Estimates are free, and you're under no obligation to hire
- Measured on site and drawn before you commit
- Written price with species, finish and hardware listed
- One local cabinet maker per request, not a call list
- You pay nothing for the referral itself
Floating Shelf Loads, Studs and Brackets
A floating shelf hangs off the wall with nothing under it, so the bracket and the studs do all the work. According to the Sagulator shelf calculator, a fully loaded bookshelf weighs 20 to 40 lb per running foot, which puts a 3-ft shelf at 60 to 120 lb. As a rule of thumb, wood shelves also sag about 50% more over time than they do on day one. A shelf that looks level when it's installed can droop a year later.
Studs aren't always 16 in. apart. Under the 2021 IRC, 2x4 studs in many walls may sit up to 24 in. on center. A 3-ft shelf may catch only one or two of them, so it's worth knowing where yours are before the shelf length is set. When a wall is open during a remodel, wood blocking between the studs gives the bracket solid backing anywhere along its length. Drywall anchors don't belong under a loaded floating shelf. Ask the maker what load the bracket is rated for and how many studs it will hit.
Floating Shelves, Open Cabinets or Uppers
Floating shelves usually cost less than a run of upper cabinets and make a small kitchen or bath feel bigger. They also put everything on display, and dust settles on whatever sits there. That's fine for dishes used every day and for decor, less fine for things that sit untouched for months. Open-front cabinets with a back and sides keep the look of open storage but protect the ends of a stack and give the shelves support at both ends, so they can carry more. Upper cabinets with doors hide everything. A good compromise in a kitchen is one or two floating shelves where the backsplash looks best, with closed uppers on the rest of the wall. In a living room, floating shelves suit a short wall where built-in bookshelves would crowd the space.
What a Floating Shelf Quote Should List
A written quote from the maker should show:
- each shelf's length, depth and thickness, and its height above the floor or counter;
- species or paint color, edge profile and finish;
- solid or hollow build, and the bracket type, rod length or cleat size;
- which studs each shelf will fasten into, or where blocking is added;
- any LED lighting, its driver location and who wires it;
- installation and touch-up of the wall.
Floating shelves often go up next to cabinetry. In a bar nook, wet bar cabinets pair well with a shelf or two above for glasses.