Hanging Decorative Wall Shelves
June 26, 2011 Leave a Comment
Taming clutter has never been easier than today, with a huge variety of decorative and practical wall shelving available to you. Displaying your treasures, making the most of space, showing the world your unique style can be achieved the moment you and visitors enter a room at home!
Options can be easily found both online and in stores, there is no need to be confused about where to buy these lovely decorative shelves, cupboards, and units. Modern construction techniques have made their use an easy option for sheer beauty, and displaying your treasures.
Your choices of materials used in their fabrication range from natural wood, glass, plastic and particle board, and all of them look wonderful as they ‘float’ on your wall. Nor are they limited to a straight, traditional unit! There are corner shelves, that draw the eye, increasing the impression of size in your room; shelves that are curved, designed to not sit up against the wall, but look as though it were floating on air unsupported. A very attractive option is a shelving unit, comprised of several ledges, with vertical posts to add visual appeal and stability. The unit the following link leads to is particularly attractive, using an asymmetrical “stepping” system that I myself find very appealing.
Home depot has a wide selection, ranging in price from around $15 to $50 a unit, excluding the mounting hardware. Try their online site to get an idea of the options available to you:
After you’ve made your selection of shelving to use, installation is fairly straightforward.
What you will need:
Decorative shelf
Tape measure
Anchor s / Molly’s (screw devices that have a sheath that sits inside your wall, protecting
The drywall from crumbling under the weight of the shelves )
Choose anchors that will support up to 90 pounds, including weight of shelf
Drill
Screws
Level
There is a nice, short video on youtube.com, if you’d prefer a visual step by step, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-wVbSg91wU&NR=1
INSTALLING YOUR DECORATIVE SHELVING
1) Determine where you want the shelves to be on your wall. Standard
height of a decorative shelf is around head high. Mark a place on your wall for the first bracket, install it using the instructions that came with it, and then use your level to determine the placement of its partner bracket, and install that one. When the
bubble of air in the glass window of your level is in the center of the device, or between the lines, your shelf is level.
2) Drill the drywall anchors into the wall, where you’ve marked.
3) Hold the shelf against the brackets, and insert the screws into the anchor.
4) Place shelf, arrange your items
Be sure to “click around a bit before you select your shelves. Get ideas from decorators, design experts, and carpenters to get a nice picture of the different styles, placements, and uses you can employ shelves for. Check these few out:
Touch of Class – A home like no other
Pottery Barn – This major supplier of home décor and hardware has a wide selection, is cost conscious, and their website shows many different examples of uses:
http://www.potterybarn.com/shop/accessories-decor/accessories-ledges-shelves/?cm_type=lnav
Bed Bath and Beyond – They have VERY attractive fireplace mantles, as well as functional shelving that can be used in every room of your home.
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/stylePage.asp?RN=190
There is another consideration for YOU, when considering your wall décor options, ledges.
These are basically shelves with a very shallow depth, and which are intended to support minimal weight. Purely decorative, they are a wonderful way to display photos, certificates and other small, lightweight objects.
Have fun considering your options, and for ease of project completion, focus your attention on those decorative shelves, shelving units, and ledges that come in a KIT. They are usually more cost effective (cheaper) and the headache of being sure you have all the hardware you will need is eliminated !