DIY Custom Floating Shelf

Nothing is cleaner than a simple floating shelf. The problem is, however, attaching a shelf to the wall with no support underneath (i.e. the floating part) inherently will make it difficult to bear any load. This especially applies to most of the pre-fab floating shelf kits, which are basically thin MDF boxes that sag with any sort of weight. And unless you don't care about exact placement of the shelf (which you do), chances are you won't be lucky enough to have more than one mounting hole fall on a stud.

After trying multiple different cheap floating shelf kits, Becki and I got fed up and decided to design and build our own. After all, the concept of a floating shelf is pretty straight forward: it consists of a mounting bracket and shelf/cover that slides over the bracket. This is a design we made up that works for us, but if you know of any easier way, feel free to tell us in the comments!

Our living room shelves were built with this method. There's simply no prefab option that would span the length we needed, not to mention be as sturdy.

Step 1: Planning

Decide how wide you want your shelf and how deep. Remember that you can customize these measurements all you want because you're building it yourself. We've gone up to 16" deep and 12' 10" wide (along the back wall of our living room)! Just don't go too deep as it may compromise stability. Also, find out where your studs are and screw into as many as possible. This is what will really make your shelf sturdier than the prefab ones.

We often use Adobe Illustrator to make scale mock ups for laying out art, shelves, and cabinets. This isn't a proper drafting program, but it works and we know how to use it! The mockup below was used to plan out our living room back wall. The skinny rectangles are the shelves, the squares are the X-ray light boxes, and the green lines mark stud locations. Everything is exactly to scale and you can use the measure tool in Illustrator to get actual measurements. Note that I used a scale of 1 millimetre = 1 inch in Illustrator, since there is a limit on how big your art board can be.

Step 2: Materials

Building materials:

-1x3" lumber (see step 3 below)

-1/4" spruce or birch plywood

-Metal corner brackets (optional)

-1/2" wood screws

-2 1/2" or 3" wood screws

-Carpenter's glue

Tools:

-Impact driver

-Counter sink bit

-Chop saw

-Table saw (or circular saw)

-Level

-Stud finder (or a hammer and nail if you're old school)

Finishing materials:

-Multiple grits of sand paper

-Hand sander (optional)

-Belt sander (optional)

-Tack cloths

-Wood primer

-Paint

Step 3: Build the frame and bracket

Our shelves use 1x3" lumber for the wall bracket and the frame of the box. Keep in mind that you can use any size lumber you want for a thicker or thinner shelf; we just decided on 1x3 because it had that "chunky-but-not-too-chunky" look and is thick enough to provide a stable attachment to the wall. Be very particular when choosing lumber so you don't get twisted or warped pieces.
Here's a photo of the wall bracket and frame (note how they fit perfectly together):


The mounting bracket is a comb-shaped frame (see marker number 1 in the photo above). The "teeth" of the comb are supports that are placed every 16" or so (marker 2). The shelf surfaces will only be covered in 1/4" plywood so you need the supports close enough to keep that a solid, sturdy surface. Before attaching the supports to the bracket, figure out exactly where you want your shelf on the wall and where the studs are in relation to that. Mark their location on the strip of wood and the locations on the wall for when it comes time to mount the bracket. Make sure your bracket's supports ("teeth of your comb") don't fall on the stud locations since you need to screw into them.
The supports are attached by two wood screws through the back of the body of the bracket. I marked where the supports would go, held them in place with a wood clamp and predrilled pilot holes so the wood didn't split when I screwed into them lengthwise. I also installed a 90 degree corner bracket at the base of each support with 1/2" wood screws (marker 3). This is probably overkill but I figured it might add a bit to the overall stability of the shelf.
I cut the longest 1x3s of the bracket and frame the same width. In doing this, I had to in-set the two outer most supports the width of a 1x3 (.75") on each side so that everything would still fit together (marker 4).
Once the bracket is made, you need to create a matching "U" shaped frame to fit over it (marker 5). Depending on how wide your shelf is, you may need to throw a support in the frame every now and then just so the plywood covering doesn't sag when you're building it. On a 4' wide shelf, I only used one extra support in the centre.
Precise measurements are key throughout this entire step as you want your shelf/bracket to be square and you need the frame to fit perfectly over the bracket.
For really wide shelves, if you can't find building materials long enough, you may need to splice two brackets and frames together and fill the seam with wood filler.

Step 4: Cover the frame with plywood

Once you have the frame and bracket built, and are sure they fit perfectly together, you can cover the frame with plywood. When choosing plywood, the wood grain with standard spruce plywood will raise when you paint it, giving the finished product some wood texture. This may or may not be what you're going for. Birch or maple plywood, when painted, will stay perfectly smooth.

Rip strips of plywood down on a table saw or with a circular saw (table saw recommended for clean, square cuts) and glue them to the frame. Wood glue and clamps will work, or you can use wood glue and screws - you just need to fill the screw holes with wood filler after.

Once the frame is covered and dry, ensure it fits over the bracket. The fit will be tight, so don't put it on all the way yet or you might not get it off! If you have access to a planer or belt sander, you can take a bit off the top of the bracket if the fit is a bit too tight, but keep in mind you want it snug to keep the shelf securely attached to the wall.



Step 5: Hang the bracket

You should already have all your stud locations marked on the bracket as well as the wall. Start by drilling pilot holes through the bracket to prevent wood splitting and then pre-screw all the screws into the bracket. Drive them into the bracket just far enough to hold securely but not so they're popping out of the back. I put two screws in each stud, one on top of the other.

Figure out the height you want the shelf to be and screw the upper far left or far right screw into the first stud, tight enough to hold the whole bracket in place on the wall with level on top but loose enough to still make fine adjustments. A friend is helpful in this step. Level the bracket and then drive in the screw on the opposite corner of the bracket. The bracket should now just be held up by a screw on each side. Check level again. Once you're certain on placement/level, drive the rest of the screws into the studs. The bracket should now be very sturdy.


Step 6: Fill and sand

Directing your attention back to the shelf/cover, it's still looking pretty haggard. Fill any imperfections in the plywood joints with sandable wood filler. Depending on how precise your plywood cuts were, you may need to sand down any high points along the edges of the shelf where the plywood pieces butt at 90 degrees. A belt sander can quickly accomplish this, but be careful because you can easily sand through the thin plywood. Sand the entire shelf through three or four grits of sand paper (I think I used 80, 150, and 220) to get a nice smooth surface. Clean off the saw dust with a tack cloth. Your shelf now should feel like a seamless block of wood.

Step 7: Prime and paint

You can use the mounted bracket as a handy holder for painting the frame by partially sliding it onto the bracket. This way you can paint all sides of the shelf in one go. Don't put it on all the way yet, because you might have trouble getting it off if it's a snug fit.


I used a foam roller to apply all paint. The first coat of paint should be a wood primer. Once primed, make sure all your seams are properly filled. You may have missed some areas that need a touch up. After your shelves are primed, you can paint a few coats of your favourite colour/finish. May I recommend black, grey, or white in a matte finish? (Yeah, that's pretty much all that's in our house now.) For long term durability you can opt for cabinet paint, but keep in mind that it dings easily until it's fully cured. There may also be a limited colour palette and finish options with the cabinet paints.

Step 8: Mount the shelf on the bracket

The final step is to slide your finished shelf all the way over the mounting bracket. You may need to use a hammer and a tapping block (i.e. a piece of wood) to get the shelf on the bracket all the way, but BE CAREFUL not to mar the finish. If it doesn't go on, make sure you're not trying to force it on crooked. Tapping a bit on each end and alternating sides will help it go on square with the wall. Also, if your frame just plain doesn't fit and you hammer it on, you run the risk of opening up the glued plywood joints. This is why precise measurements are important throughout the project and you checked for fit at each step!


Step 9: Admire

Take a picture of your finished work and show us in the comments below or Tweet us! We'd love to see how it worked for you!