How to Build Floating Shelves

We had a space above one of our side counters where we would store odds and ends and had even hung a board to display our kid’s art. One might say it looked a wee bit cluttered. Enter a desire for floating shelves and a will to try to build something new. There were some great skills tested on this one including drilling super straight holes, using a router perfectly down the center of a board, and even some finishing tips and tricks. There are some great pre-made options, but a solid wood (no veneer) shelf is beautiful.

The Design Process

Attaching Your Shelf to the Wall. There are a number of ways to attach a floating shelf — we opted for T-Bar style brackets that fit into a stud and the shelf. If your shelves are thicker, you could attach your shelf with a french cleat and nail strip like our Fireplace Mantel Project. In fact, the fireplace mantel design would make a great chunky floating shelf.

Size of Your Shelf. Length: this was easy, stretch most of the available space we even separation on both sides (no need to match the weird wall angles). Depth: As this was above a counter we didn’t want to hit it so wanted a slightly narrow depth. In the end, our white oak boards were 2×4’s and we glued two together. Width: We wanted it thicker than a typical 1-by lumber (0.75 inches) so found some closer to 2 inches in width.

Tools

• Miter saw
• Try-Square, Magnetic Torpedo Level, and 48-inch Long level
• Stud Finder: I broke down and bought this stud finder during this project
• Drill bits (I needed to buy a 9/16ths drill bit)
• Plunge router with edge and mortise guide and 3/4-inch straight router bit
• Wood Glue
• Quick clamps, self-standing clamps, and F-clamps (never enough clamps)
• Orbital Sander and Hand Planer
• Basics: pencil, blue tape, tape measure
• General Finishes High-Performance Topcoat Flat

The Build – Solid Wood

1. Inspect and Prep your Wood

Although I spend a lot of time selecting boards at the store, there are still some elements you’ll need to clean up at home. Before cutting to length, make sure there’s a nice square reference point. Keep track of your pieces as the color generally matches better with pieces from the same board. Also, I like to lay out the pieces to see if I can get some good grain matching and identify areas that I need to hide (along a glue seam or against the wall).

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2. Cut, Glue, and Sand

With your project well planned out, it’s time to start cutting. Cut to length using a Miter saw for square cuts. You can leave a little extra length if you want to trim after gluing. I try to get it as near to length as possible. Time to glue! Apply a liberal amount of Wood Glue to cover the board and spread – I use a super sophisticated solution… my finger. It’s fun to get messy. Don’t get carried away and glue all boards. I opted for putting the two shelves in the same clamp setup as I don’t have nearly enough clamps. Use some cross-braces and clamps to keep the boards flat and level. I blue tape these so they don’t get too stuck to the boards. Wipe any glue seepage. Once dry, a small Hand Planer will help knock down excess glue and save on your Sanding time and disks.

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3. Determine Stud Spacing and Transfer Markings

In our weird little space, the stud spacing was different for the top and bottom shelves. This project prompted me to get a multi-LED Stud Finder – wish I would have done this sooner in life. We used blue tape to mark studs initially as it saves on the damage to the wall. For these brackets, it’s important to locate the center of the stud.

Transfer the center stud mark to your shelves. This is easier with two people. We held the shelves up and transferred the stud center locations to the back of the shelves. We also marked the orientation on the back of the shelf (up and left). We also blue-taped a small section on the top front of each shelf.

4. Install Wall Brackets

Using a long level, we drew a level line between the stud markings. This gave us the point to drill big holes in our walls – six of them! Using the appropriate drill bit and noting the depth of the post-mount, we drilled. It’s really important that these are straight! I debated about buying drill guides or testing my skills. In the end, I built a simple drill-box jig that worked swimmingly on this project. It’s size-specific to the drill bit, so you’ll need two if you go this route.

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Each stud wall anchor also has two screws to attach to the drywall. We marked the screw attachment locations for the t-bars and installed using large drywall anchors (our kit didn’t come with anchors). Before screwing to the drywall, make sure the anchor is level. One of the T-bars goes into the stud and the other goes into the shelf (see image above – skinny into the wall and hefty into the shelf). There are two bolts to attach the longer bar to the wall piece and two adjustment screws for angles. The bars need to be level horizontally (large level) and vertically (small level).

TIP: Keep one bracket off the wall for the next steps.

5. Drill Big Holes in Your Shelves

It’s time to drill big holes in your beautiful wood and they need to be straight and in the center of the board. Mark the center of the board – there are lots of tricks but the easiest for me is to use my Try-Square (love this thing!) and measure. I then used a punch for aligning my bit.

As I don’t have a drill guide or drill press, I built a jig to guide my pilot hole and followed with a square to get the final depth. My drill bit had a notch on it that was the perfect depth that I used as my depth guide. I also used a 9/16ths brad point drill bit as the end shank has a point which is helpful to starting out straight.

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6. Carve out Bracket Area to Mount Flush

The brackets we used were approximately 3/4 x 4 inches and 9/16ths deep. We marked two inches from the center of each drilled hole.

I used my plunge router with this edge and mortise guide and 3/4-inch straight router bit. I took multiple passes taking a wee bit of material each time and cleaning it out. I went slightly past each two-inch mark to make sure the brack fit. I used the drill bit to clean out the shelf bracket holes that filled with wood shavings and test-fit the bracket to ensure the bracket fit. For me, this was the easiest solution. Alternatively, you could make very careful cuts with a Forstner bit and use a chisel to clean it up.

This is a great time to test the fit on the wall and make any adjustments.

7. Final Sand and Finishing

Time to sand to 220-grit and finish. We wanted a really natural look on the shelves and not much shine. I’m really happy with how the General Finishes High-Performance Topcoat Flat turned out. I took 800-grit sandpaper to the shelves between topcoats.

TIP: Some wood, like white oak, will burr and feel rough if not pre-treated properly. Prior to staining or applying a protective coat, wipe the wood with a damp cloth. This will cause the wood fibers to “stand up”. Sand those down with a 220 or finer grit and you’ll get a smooth finish.

8. Install and Admire Your Floating Shelves

Between topcoats, I touched up the wall to cover up stray pencil marks, scratches from the stud finder, and whatever needed cleaned up. Now time to install the shelves. Line up the brackets with the holes and evenly press your shelf into place. I had to give it a couple of good hits to get into place. That’s it! This was a really fun project for me as I picked up a few new skills. Easy-peasy-ish.

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