You can add easy and affordable storage to any room in your home with a wall mounted shelf or shelving that can be constructed with items that are available at your local hardware or home supply store. A wall mounted shelf is ideal for the laundry room or laundry area, closets, pantries, home office, or even a kid’s bedroom or guest room – basically anywhere you would like to store or display items without investing a great deal of money.
You can install one wall mounted shelf or several to create the look of cascading shelves. For this project, you will need metal standards, pre-fabricated shelves, and adjustable brackets. You can always cut the shelves yourself out of your favorite wood stock; to save even more, choose a cheaper stock of wood and paint, stain, or varnish the wood to your liking before the project begins.
Do-It-Yourself Wall Mounted Shelf System
A common wall mounted shelf arrangement can be made using a pair of twin track metal standards (25 inches long each), three pre-fab or home shopped shelves (10x36), and six adjustable brackets (nine inch). You can also choose to use wood-look laminate or melamine shelves. Follow these steps to obtain an attractive and functional wall mounted shelf system:
- Mark the wall studs. You can use a stud finder or you can do it the old fashioned way by knocking on the wall until you find a place that doesn’t sound “hollow”. Most studs are located around thirty-two inches apart, so once you find one, you can usually measure over and check for the next.
- Drill the “pilot holes”. Position one of your metal standards on the wall in between the marks that you have made for the studs. Mark where the top screw hole for the metal standards will go on the stud. You will then bore an eight-of-an-inch pilot hole on the mark.
- Mount the first metal shelf standard. Position the metal standard in place and attach it to the wall stud using a 2 ½ inch long screw that you screw into the hole you bored in the above step. Do not tighten the screw too much, but make it snug enough so that the metal standard hangs freely and straight. Use your level to make sure that the bottom is straight, bore another pilot hole for the bottom of the metal standard and use a 2 ½ inch long screw to secure the bottom of the standard. Hang the second metal standard in the same fashion. If you plan to use the wall mounted shelf system for heavier items like books, tool, etc., then you might want to center a third metal standard between the two to support the weight.
- Hook your shelf brackets into the standard at the same level on each. Lay a level across the two brackets to ensure that you have everything installed at the same height. If not, redo your work.
- Attach the remainder of the brackets to the standards. Slide your shelves into them and use 1 ¼” wood screws to secure the wall mounted shelf unit.
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