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Floating Shelf Brackets for Open Kitchen Shelving

Did you all see my kitchen overhaul a few weeks ago?  We took it from drab to fab, but were still walking on floating shelf brackets for our open kitchen shelving, as well as some great shelves to go with them.

I wasn’t originally planning to write a whole blog post on these bad boys – but let me tell you.  I AM AMAZED.  My husband and I are DIYers and have updated so much of our home, so we truly love great design when we see it, so I had to share.

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floating shelves in kitchen

Floating Shelf Brackets

Alright so – floating shelf brackets are a bit lame, right?  I know I know – sometimes I have to share things that are practical and will make you thrilled in the long run, instead of the fun and exciting finds.

When we were redoing our kitchen we knew we wanted two floating shelves (more on why later) – but honestly we have had horrible luck with lesser costing floating shelves, and I knew these were going up for function not just decor.

floating shelf in kitchen

I did a ton of research and ultimately landed on the shelves and brackets that I will share below – they are stunning, and lived up the hype.

Overhauling our kitchen was a super budget friendly project from start to finish, but I knew that shelves and brackets were not the place to skimp.  (kind of like how I stressed to make sure you get a good quality paint for your cabinets).

floating kitchen shelves

To check out the rest of our kitchen Reno be sure to check out this post – it was a week long project for only a couple hundred dollars, and the end outcome was better than I could have wished for!

Why did we do Open Kitchen Shelving?

I have gotten the big question of why so many times in the past few weeks.  I know that typically the goal in a kitchen is more storage.  And our kitchen isn’t huge so I do agree with that.  BUT – I also think that sometime you can get creative to create a better space.

installing floating shelf brackets

Our home was built in the 1980’s and is by no means super open, so I am always doing what I can do make things as open and airy as I can.

The cupboard that we took down closed off the sight line and so much light that came in over the kitchen window, so removing it made the whole kitchen feel brighter and more open.

floating shelf brackets and solid wood shelves

I have also found that having the glasses and coffee cups (IE the only things we regularly used from that cabinet) on open shelving is actually much more convenient.  I don’t do clutter, and did have to find a place for a few traveler mug type items, but over all we really didn’t lose much storage.

I LOVE the overall look and am sure we will forever add some kind of open shelving to our kitchens from here on out.

floating kitchen shelves

Ultra Shelf – Floating Shelf Brackets and Shelves

We ultimately after lots of research went with Ultra Shelf for our shelves and brackets.  We originally planned to make our own shelves, but it felt like a bit of a big job for something that would be seen so often.

One of the reasons I liked Ultra shelf was that they had the option for solid wood shelves – like I went with, but also thicker shelves that are not solid wood, so will save you some money.

 That isn’t as big of a deal with a small space like I did, but when you get to longer shelves, or even things like a mantle that starts to truly matter!

floating shelves in Kitchen

The floating shelf brackets come in several lengths up to 7o inches long – the good news is that your shelf length can/should be slightly longer than the bracket, so if you don’t see the exact size you are looking for don’t panic.

You can also choose your rod length – Again this is all really nice incase you are making your own, or have your own shelves.  Ultra shelf carries the drill bits and everything you need to make your own solid wood shelf compatible with the shelves if that is what you choose to do.

Floating kitchen shelving

We did two solid wood white oak shelves with clear coat.  Both at 24 inches long and 8 inches deep.  The shelves are each 1.75 inches high, and I think they have look great at that length – not too tall where they look nubby but deep enough to look high end and expensive.

open kitchen shelves with coffee cups

Watch a Video of us Hanging the Shelves

Hanging The Brackets

What you will need:  The brackets, shelves, and screws that came from Ultra Shelf

Drill

Stud Finder

Level

The way that these shelves are designed allow for you to hit a stud no matter where you are on the wall for the most part.  We personally found our height for our shelves and found where the studs were on the wall.  We were lucky enough to be able to get into the stud on both sides of the bracket.

Each bracket comes with 4 screws so we put one in on the top, and one on the bottom of the shelf bracket into the stud.  Trust me you will notice when you screw it in that it is going NOWHERE.

floating kitchen shelves and floating shelf brackets

Make sure before you do all of this that you have your bracket really level  – no matter how sturdy your shelves are you aren’t keeping anything on if its at a slope haha.

Once you get this finished you simply slide the shelf onto the bracket.  There are two large hollowed out holes in the back side of the bracket and you sort of shimmy it back until it is in place.

open kitchen shelving

Styling Your Shelving

Make sure when you order your shelves you know what you plan to use them for so you know how deep to get the shelves.  I knew for a fact that I would be displaying my cups and coffee cups on the shelves and wanted to be able to place them 2 deep on the shelves.

Coffee cups  |  Short Glasses  |  Tall Glasses 

floating kitchen shelves

I personally  – as stated didn’t plan to use these for decor, so I think in some ways the rules of shelf decor kind of go out the window.  BUT if you are using them decoratively remember to vary the height on each shelf, stick to odd numbers, and mix your textures.

I always suggest sticking to a pretty similar color pallet if you are adding a lot so that you don’t make things too busy.  I have a blog post here on decorating shelving that is super helpful if you are planning to decorate yours!

white kitchen with wood shelves

Overall – like I said before, these are one of those items that both my husband and myself were VERY impressed by from the moment we received them.  You can tell there is thought and craftsmanship that goes into each order and you will ultimately have open shelving that is every bit as sturdy as your cabinets.

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If you have questions on installing floating shelf brackets and open kitchen shelving be sure to leave me a DM on Instagram, or leave me a comment below, and for trouble shooting the video will be really helpful!  If you’re looking for great items to style your shelves, head to my Amazon Storefront.

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floating shelf brackets and open kitchen shelving
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