Building Wall Shelves
- Basic wall-mounted shelves are the simplest way to add shelves to a room. Most home improvement and hardware stores sell pre-fabricated shelves in a variety of materials, sizes and colors, as well as the standards and brackets that support the shelves. You can also, if desired, use scrap or found wood or other materials to create shelves, using commercially produced standards and brackets for support. To install wall-mounted shelves, use a stud finder to locate your walls studs for positioning, then secure the shelves to the wall using wood screws.
- Floating shelves, or shelves in which the brackets and supports are hidden, usually inside the hollow edge of the shelf, are a popular design choice for homes or offices that have a modern or minimalistic decor. Most floating shelves require careful installation, to ensure that the supports are perfectly straight and placed at exact measurements so that the shelf can slip over the supports. Check the manufacturer's instructions if you are installing store-bought floating shelves; many shelving units have specific weight limits they can support.
- Built-in bookcases can be custom-fit to nearly any area of your home, and can be designed to add both storage space and visual interest to a room. For example, experts at This Old House suggest using a built in bookcase to divide a room in two, surround a window or fit alongside a staircase. Custom-building a built-in bookcase is a more advanced project than simply installing bracketed or floating shelves; however, there are free plans that you can find and adapt to your home's needs.
- The two most important factors in planning a wall shelf involve the choice of material and the weight limit needed. Solid wood makes the strongest and heaviest shelves, while plywoods and fiberboards are lighter and less expensive but cannot support as much weight as solid wood. Short shelves are usually the most dependable for supporting heavy or bulky objects, while long shelves are usually best for smaller or light objects. If you are planning on installing a shelf to support heavy objects, do not drive nails or screws into the wall at an upward angle, which increases the likelihood of "pull out" after the objects are placed on the shelf. Use deeper, wider support brackets for shelves that will bear a lot of weight. These provide added structural strength.
