How to Install Floating Shelves the Easy Way

We never really knew how to install floating shelves. It seemed like some kind of wizardry. Like, how are they there, and how do you trust they won’t fall down the second you add any kind of weight to them?

Turns out Google has the answers to any question we have, so we pumped ourselves up with some Cardi B and gave it a go on our big, beasty open shelves in our pantry makeover a few months ago. It was such a fail.

In fairness to us, we did try for the first time on 8-foot long, 12-inch deep shelves, but it was a mess and we couldn’t keep the super long spade drill bit straight, so we kept messing up the holes we drilled for the brackets (and at one point made the drill smoke. Whoops). We basically gave ourselves bicep injuries trying to just shove the wonky shelf onto the brackets anyway, and gave up with a few scuff marks on our wall to remember the whole ordeal by.

In the end, we used regular shelf brackets and we still love them, but here we are, trying floating shelves again in our kitchen and even having the audacity to tell others how to do it, too. Spoiler: this time it worked, they look amazing and we love them.

Disclaimer: We partnered with UltraShelf for this project, but we truly think these shelves are genius. If you do want to give UltraShelf a try, use our code – shoemakesnew25 – for 25% off your order!

How to install floating shelves (the easy way)

So I’m not sure about you all, but math is my achilles heel. I’ve been slowly getting better with the more DIYs we do, accounting for all the little things, the uneven walls and weird angles, but it still takes me probably double the time of anyone else (especially longer than Alex, who actually started college as a math major).

As a quick explanation on how to install floating shelves if you didn’t already know, basically there’s a bracket on the wall, going into the studs, that has little poles sticking out. Those poles correspond to holes in the back of the shelf, and the shelf slips over them to hold it all in place.

Where we went wrong last time – aside from not being able to drill straight – is that the brackets we bought were individual brackets, so we had to be really, really accurate with measurements so the holes and the brackets lined up perfectly.

The UltraShelf system made it so much easier, and in our opinion is the perfect mix of a custom product and DIY. It comes with one big bracket that goes along your wall and it has dozens of little holes built into the bracket so pretty much anywhere you’ve got a stud, you’re going to be able to add a screw.

Note: UltraShelf also sells a little drilling jig for about $10 if you’d rather go the full DIY route. You add the jig to the back of your wood, and it helps keep the drill straight as you make the holes. I cannot even tell you the look on my face when I saw this existed AFTER our pantry project.

The shelf is cut to custom measurements (ours were 32.35” to exactly fit between the end of the wall and our kitchen window) and there are already holes in the back of the wood to slide over the bracket.

Installation of our two shelves took literally about 20 minutes, and we got it all done in a baby nap time, which is a real parent win.

Our shelves are Maple with the Natural finish but there are lots of different stain options to match your vibe (and if you’re thinking about making an order, our code shoemakesnew25 will get you 25% off!)

Attach your bracket to the wall

Alright, enough messing around about our failure, time to forge ahead. To add the UltraShelf bracket to the wall, we measured the distance between the very edge of the shelf and where the bracket started, which was about 6 inches (though measure yours yourself because the shelves are custom so yours may be different). Then, we measured from the edge of our window trim inward six inches so we knew where to have the bracket start.

We marked where the studs were (here’s our favorite stud finder) and, while holding the bracket in place, marked on the hole that overlapped with a stud. We drilled the holes (one at the top and bottom of the bracket) and held the bracket back up in place to add the screws that came with the system.

The biggest key is making sure your bracket is level, so make sure to check that before you add your screw in the whole way.

For us, there was only one stud in that area that the bracket covered, which honestly I was a little worried about, but it’s holding a lot of weight and it’s been about a week now without sagging at all.

Slide your shelf on

That’s it, that’s the instruction. Just slide the shelf on and you’re done! Check out our post on kitchen shelf decor if you need ideas on what to add, but even just having a few of your regularly used dishes out on display makes a kitchen look more homely, I think.

Taking down the upper cabinets in this corner of our kitchen made such a big difference in letting light in, and even though we lost a little storage space in doing that, we gained double in our DIY kitchen island, so I felt okay about it. It’s still a work in progress (like needing to fix the ceiling molding), but these shelves truly make me happy every time I walk in the kitchen, and I think our drill is happy to have stayed healthy this time around, too.

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