When it comes to DIY, we’re not all blessed with an abundance of skills. Some Women think it’s strictly a man’s job, and some men would agree, before failing miserably and hiring a professional to sort out the hole in the wall they have just created.
When it comes to shelving however, it’s really not that difficult – thanks to this simple, step-by-step guide absolutely anyone can pop up a few floating shelves on a Saturday morning and be enjoying the extra storage space by lunchtime.
What you’ll need:
- Floating Shelves (very important – don’t forget these!)
- Brackets
- Retractable Tape Measure
- Electronic Wire & Pipe Detector
- Spirit Level
- Drill
- Fittings (50mm screws and plastic Rawlplugs for concrete or brick, 40mm screws for wood and 65mm metal plasterboard anchors for, unsurprisingly, plasterboard)
- Screwdriver (plus a hammer if using Rawlplugs)
How to Do It:
- Using the electronic detector, double check there are no pipes or cables hidden behind the wall where you want to hang the shelves – the last thing you want is to start drilling straight into a water pipe!
- Hold the first row of brackets again the wall and use a spirit measure to ensure that they are level. When you’ve got them perfect, use a pencil to mark the fixing holes onto the wall.
- Drill holes into the wall where you’ve made the marks and screw the brackets into place.
- Slide the shelf onto the brackets and use the spirit level to double check that it’s perfectly straight. If not, you might need to unscrew the brackets are reposition them, so it’s best to be totally certain the first time round to avoid peppering your wall with unnecessary and unsightly holes.
- Once you’ve got the shelf just so, screw it onto the brackets using the pre-drilled holes that will be on the underside of your floating shelves.
- Now decide where you want the next shelf to be and repeat the above steps – as a guide, keeping a 30cm distance between each shelf as a minimum to ensure that most standard-sized books will fit.
That’s it – just 5 simple steps to stylish floating shelves, whatever your level of DIY skill! Why not stagger your shelves across the wall for a modern and contemporary look? You can also paint each one a contrasting colour, buy some stencils and decorate the edges or simply leave them plain and let the stylish storage boxes or colour-coordinated books you place on them do the talking.
Do you have any more ideas for unique floating shelving?
Estelle Page writes for Rapid Racking, a UK based online retailer specialising in a variety of storage solutions including shelving units for home, office and warehouse use.
