The no-Beyonce consolation prize is that we finally got the Ikea floating shelves up in the kitchen, and it suddenly feels like we’re turning a corner. We still have a few major things on the list (like painting those cabinets) but the shelves make such a gigantic difference as opposed to the dark cabinetry that used to hang on either side of that window. Here’s how it looked a few weeks ago after we removed the wallpaper.
And here it is from the same POV now, after removing the cabinets, re-hanging the crown molding, patching/priming/painting the walls, trim, and ceilings, upgrading the lighting, and hanging those new shelves of ours. These pictures don’t even do it justice – it’s literally at least twice as bright and feels a lot bigger and more open as well.
When it comes to how we hung them (they’re lack shelves from Ikea), we decided to line the bottom shelf up with the cabinet on the left of the shot above (18″ above the counter) so that they all related to one another. The pre-made sizes allowed for a couple inches of breathing room around the window too, which we liked anyways. We just spaced the height of the second shelf by eye and chose 14″ above the other shelf, which gave us enough room to load up the bottom shelf without things feeling cramped, but also allows a shorty like me to easily reach items on that top shelf.
Diy Floating Shelves For Easy Storage
These longer shelves come with a metal hanging brace and screw, so when you open things up, this is what you’re dealing with.
The metal brace is actually pretty smart. It has a bunch of holes all along it so you can just find a stud (we used a basic stud finder) and screw into at least two of those along the span of the shelf, so you know it’s extra secure. The instructions show a few recommended screw-to-stud placements.
Next I placed the brace along the horizontal area where we wanted to hang the shelf. I just measured in a few inches on each side from our little pencil corner guides since the metal brace doesn’t run as long as the shelves themselves) and I used one screw into the drywall right in the middle, just to hold the brace in place.
Bergshult White, Shelf, 80x30 Cm
That freed up my hands so I could use the stud finder to find the actual studs, and drive two more nice long screws (provided with the shelves) into the studs on that wall, so it was held up really strongly (John aided me by holding the level to be sure it didn’t tweak up or down on a certain side as I went).
There are these little metal plates that you use when you drive the screw into the stud (they’re sort of like washers, they go under the screw and hold the brace even more firmly than a screw alone could), so those three metal rectangles that you see below are where two went into studs (we also added one more with an anchor for even more holding power).
Then you just slide the shelf onto the brace and tighten the three provided screws that go into the three pre-drilled holes in the shelves. At first I did it by hand, all allen-wrench-style. That was for the birds (took a million years)…
Best Diy Floating Shelves
We repeated that process for the higher shelf, and when it came to the little side shelves, those were really easy. We just used heavy duty anchors driven into the pre-selected spots on the wall that aligned with where we wanted to hang each shelf. As opposed to the longer shelves, which are screwed into place pretty firmly in three places each, these can also be popped on and off easily, which is awesome because we’ll temporarily remove these guys when it’s cabinet painting time.
They’ve been really sturdy so far. The stronger the anchor you use, the more stable your shelves will be – and of course if they’re not placed perfectly level into the wall, they might wobble. So be sure to measure at least twice and break out that level for the best result. I think as the room evolves, the items on each shelf will too (for example, I might hang a small framed photo above that stack of plates on the wall, or place something taller on that bottom shelf for some fun color/height).
But for now they’re super functional – I just filled the bottom ones with the stuff we use all the time, and the top ones with items we just love to see. For example, things I might leave out on the counter to be decorative (like a potted plant or a pitcher-turned-vase) along with other items we use a lot that didn’t quite fit onto those bottom shelves (like more plates and mugs).
Lack Ikea Shelf Unit: Black/brown [190.5 X 30.5 X 10.2 Cm]
Here they are from the other angle. Oh man, it’s so much faster to unload the dishwasher again (we seriously missed that perk of open shelving from our last house) and we love that although they flank the window on each side, they don’t really block any light since they’re shiny and white (they bounce light around a lot themselves) and they’re not dark and solid like the old cabinets were.
Update: These longer shelves should each be able to hold 33 lbs according to Ikea if you go into studs (we went into two of them), and so far ours have been really strong no matter how much china we
Put on them. Giant upper cabinets full of dishes are held up the same way (screws into studs) so that definitely helps to ease our mind, along with the fact that we had good luck with the same type of Lack shelves in the dining area of our first house for 4+ years.
Lack Wall Shelf Unit, White, 11 3/4x74 3/4
… and we’re crazy excited to lighten up those upper cabinets and go even deeper/richer with the lower cabinets. We’ve never had a tuxedo kitchen, but we’ve been such huge fans for a long time (just look at how gorgeous this one is). In fact we’re sanding and priming this week, so we hope to have a whole “new” kitchen for 2014!
Was anyone else doing last minute home projects this weekend in anticipation of the holidays? Do you have any big projects planned this week? We seem to have a tradition of doing something big and house-interrupting right in the middle of the Christmas craziness…Remember these bookshelves that live beneath our family photo timeline? (If not, look here) They replaced some awful laminate bookshelves we had had forever. You know the shelves I’m talking about. The ones that are about $40 and bow the second you put anything on them.
If you can’t envision it, think of this, but bigger. We had 2 side by side and they just weren’t doing it for me. I really wish I had a before picture for you. Overall these shelves had served us well for 8 years, but ALL of the shelves were bowing, and one had a hole in the bottom. The color didn’t suit the style of our room and I just couldn’t find a way to salvage them. I knew I wanted new shelves, but I didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for them. They were basically just holding Mike’s old textbooks after all. (Please tell me I’m not the only one with a husband who refuses to get rid of old textbooks!) In lieu of paying a pretty penny for shelves that weren’t exactly what I wanted, I decided to get creative and do a budget friendly version.
How To Make A Lack Shelf Carry 36kg Without External Brackets
Enter Ikea! In my mind I envisioned floating shelves and Ikea’s Lack shelves fit the bill. They come in a few different lengths, but mine are 74 3/4″ long and were $19.99 each (they also come in different colors). Each shelf comes with the mounting bracket, but you have to come up with screws and anchors on your own. Am I the only one annoyed by Ikea’s inability to provide you with all the hardware you need? Despite that, I still LOVE Ikea.
*I found this photo online of what the bracket looks like. The brackets for the long shelves are obviously much longer and have more supports. To make the shelf as secure as possible, I tried to put as many screws into the studs as possible. Everywhere I needed a screw, that didn’t line up with a stud, I used an anchor like…
…this. These anchors are my absolute favorite! They’re seriously strong! Each one is rated for 79 lbs in 1/2″ drywall. I also love them because you can drill them in the wall just like a screw. No pre drilling a hole! The only down side is they do make a pretty decent hole in the wall if you ever need to take them out. Back to the shelves…Each bracket, in addition to putting as many screws into a stud as possible, has 15 screws attached to anchors. (The screws came with the anchors.)
I Want To Cut The 74 Inch Lack Shelf To 60.7 Inches. Is It Possible To Trim The Two Ends By 7 Inches? What's The Length Of The Bracket?
I still wasn’t convinced the
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