Floating shelves appear floating through the use of internal brackets. Tthere are typically two main types: 

What You Need to Know Before You Install Floating Shelves

1. Plan To Install Your Shelf Directly into Wall Studs

There are some sites that will tell you it's okay to install floating shelves without hitting the studs. That is possible, but I highly recommend you don't do this. 

Without studs you'll need to rely on additional shelf support such as drywall anchors or toggle bolts to hold up the weight of the shelf. This also requires you to drill bigger holes and take a leap of faith that the wall plugs are sized right or that the bolts open properly and don't hit anything behind the walls like wiring or the studs. Without drilling to the studs, there is more chance for sagging and your heavy duty shelf might not be able to hold a lot of weight. And if you can't display your pretty dish ware or pottery, what's the point of installing a shelf in the first place?

Reduce your risk by locating your studs. Ideally, you'll want the location of your shelf to span at least two wall studs. 

2. Reinforce Your Wall or Studs If Needed

Even if you are attaching your floating shelves to wall studs, you can have more peace of mind by reinforcing your wall or the wall studs themselves. Construction of the wall can impact its ability to hold up your floating shelf. It's important to know what your wall material is made of and if you have hollow walls.

In our situation, our basement kitchen wall had metal studs. Unfortunately, metal studs are more flexible and cannot hold as much weight as wood studs. We made the decision to open up the drywall and reinforce the metal studs with wood studs, before we installed the floating shelf.



Metal studs are typically used in basement framing. We confirmed our studs were metal when we were installing the suspension rail for our IKEA cabinetry. Luckily, as we knew we were going to install a tile backsplash beneath the floating shelf, we had a chance to open up the wall anywhere below the shelf line and not have to worry about having a perfect drywall patch after.

Here you can see how we've screwed in a wood stud perpendicular to the metal stud. The wood stud extends beyond the top of the cutout by about 4". The bottom of the shelf will be installed along that horizontal line and into the reinforced metal stud.



In this photo, you can see the drywall patches. It was an extra step but proactively reinforcing the studs was a good decision that likely saved us a lot of frustration down the road.

Add Blocking To Your Walls 

Another option to reinforce your walls is to install blocking in between the studs. This provides Here's an example of how we put plywood blocking in between the studs of our fireplace frame:


We installed this additional support as we knew we were going into hang a flat screen TV above the fireplace. With blocking, you can screw into the plywood or the wood studs. You don't need to be as precise with the location of your screws - the blocking provides a large, solid surface that you can screw anywhere into.

Similarly, if you are planning for floating shelves in a kitchen and are renovating down to the studs, take the time to put in some blocking. It will make hanging those shelves so much easier!

3. Mark Your Studs

It goes without saying but you should drill into as many studs as possible. This more studs you hit, the more weight your shelf can hold. Studs are spaced 16" apart on center. Once you find one stud, you can identify where the others fall along the wall.



One of the first things you want to do is draw a level line at the height you want your shelf. Then make stud marks along this line. As we installed our tile backsplash over the reinforced metal studs, we kept track of where the studs were (marked by the green tape). Once we decided where the floating shelf would go, we transposed the stud position onto the face of the cleat.



We carried that marking onto the underside of the cleat. Since the cleat is typically very thick, it's easier to match up the stud mark on the wall with a mark on the underside, as opposed to the face of the cleat.

4. Use Pilot Holes Where You Can

For heavy duty floating shelves, you might need to drill large screw holes. Make your job easier by drilling pilot holes into your cleat and into the wall. Follow these simple steps to make sure you get your screw positions just right.

• Once you have your stud locations marked on your cleat, drill pilot holes at each marking
• Take the cleat and put it in position on the wall. Make sure your cleat is level. Still using your smaller bit, drill through the pilot hole just enough to poke into the drywall. Do this at every pilot hole. 
• Remove the cleat and use your drill to slightly ream out the holes you've marked on the wall

Now install the cleat. Take your proper sized wood screw and drill it slowly through the cleat. Ensure the screw catches the pilot hole in the drywall and then fully drill the screw in.  With pilot holes, you ensure that your final screws go in straight, that your cleat is level and hasn't moved, and there is less likelihood that your wood cleat will split.

5. Level And Support Your Shelves Properly 

Once your shelf is installed, you need to support and level it properly while the glue sets. When you have two floating shelves against each other, you'll want to ensure they are level from back to front. You can use clamps to do this. If you want to give the appearance of a single long shelf, you can also fill the seam with wood filler.
Another tip for levelling your floating shelf is to cut your supports slightly short. Then use shims or cardboard to slowly bring the shelf level. It's easier to do this than to try and cut your supports at exactly the right size.