What in the world is a floating shelf?
Well… As defined by that fountain of knowledge, Wikipedia, “A floating shelf is a form of shelf with its wall fixings hidden within the shelf board, with no visible supporting brackets. They look quite a bit (ok, exactly) like this:
Floating Shelves Kitchen Remodel
Pretty simple concept, but a bit tricky to design, build, and install unless you have the right hardware and tools. Fortunately for all of us, Sheppard Brackets has envisioned, designed, and manufactured high-quality and heavy-duty steel floating shelf brackets to ease your mind a bit. Let’s talk a bit about the process of building and/or installing a floating shelf.
Beautifully routered and drilled floating shelf
Floating Shelf Needs
In order to create a beautiful piece of decorative wall furniture and conversation starter you will need to consider three things: the shelf, the wall, and a strong floating shelf bracket.
The first of those ingredients for a beautiful and strong floating shelf is the shelf itself (possibly to hold the Elf on the Shelf). If you are a DIY kind of person, and have the tools and patience, you can actually build your floating shelf. One of the ways you could do this is to use a solid piece of material, like a beautiful piece of 2” thick walnut, alder, or oak, sand and finish it according to your desire, and then prepare it so that the floating shelf bracket can recess into it and disappear - thus creating the floating effect. To make this job easier (seriously… they have made it super easy), Sheppard Brackets has also designed and manufactured drilling jigs and router templates for every width, depth, and thickness of floating shelf you can create. Here are some images of a solid wood floating shelf that has been prepared for mounting using Sheppard Brackets tooling and shelf hardware.
Floating Shelf Router and Drill Jigs and Templates and Sheppard Brackets Floating Shelf Bracket
Stud finder for the not-so-superhuman
Look Harder… Floating Shelf Anchors
The second, and less-considered ingredient is the wall on which you would like to mount that beautiful slab of lumber. Obviously, the straighter the wall the better. But what we are looking for is a bit deeper… look beyond what you can see… beyond the drywall. The more studs you can anchor your bracket (we will get to this ingredient shortly, have patience) into the better and stronger your shelf will be. Depending on the width of your shelf, you may only be able to hit one stud (studs are typically spaced every 16 or 24 inches). But the more the merrier. Make sure that as you plan to install your floating shelf that you mark out where the studs are. You can use a fancy stud finder or, if you are superhuman, you can use your fist and your ear and locate the studs too. Mark the location of the studs with a light pencil and then move on to the third, and most important part of the process.
Heavy Duty Sheppard Brackets Floating Shelf Bracket - Mount Anywhere
Floating Shelf Bracket
That would be the floating shelf bracket. Once you have selected and prepared the most beautiful shelf you could ever imagine, you had better not muck it up with some cheap-o bracket, or one that limits the number of studs you can hit. Or one that limits where on the wall you can mount it based on where the studs are. This is where Sheppard Brackets’ original EZ mount, studlock system comes into play. Just take a quick gander at this here bracket and you will see how versatile it is. It can literally be mounted anywhere on your wall that is wide enough to hold it. And it is able to be secured to every single stud that it crosses – without ever having to drill any more holes into the steel backplate.
Finished Floating Shelf
It is seriously a beautiful thing when those 3 ingredients come together and create something beautiful and long-lasting. To see a video or two on how to prepare a floating shelf for mounting and how to mount a floating shelf using a Sheppard Brackets floating shelf bracket, check out the videos on the FAQ page. If you still would like some help, feel free to email us too.