Cloakrooms and utility areas can lack a bit of sparkle – they’re functional spaces that can sometimes feel a bit unloved! However, there’s one simple change that can make a big difference to your interiors. With some simple shelving units, you can really transform a space and bring it back to life. Luckily, learning how to put up a shelf is easy. The hardest bit is deciding where you’d like to put them and curating your perfect ‘shelfie’!
Before you get started, take a moment to read through our DIY safety tips.
What you’ll need:
Materials:
Tools:
- Pencil
- Spirit level
- Measuring tape
- Stud finder
- Dustpan
- Drill (with masonry drill bit)
How to put up a floating shelf
If you’re a beginner to putting up shelves, floating shelves are a brilliant option. These shelves use concealed fixings and appear to be sticking out of the wall, as if by magic. Whether you’re putting up shelves on masonry, dry partition or plasterboard stud walls, the floating shelves we’re using here are suitable for all wall types and are attached by six screw holes, which must be accurately lined up.
With this type of shelf, you don’t need to be a woodwork expert to achieve a professional look. Stylish, sleek and wonderfully easy to fit, simply follow our shelf installation guide.
Step 1: Mark your screw positions
Take your floating shelf bracket and place it on your spirit level. Using a pen, mark the correct distances onto your spirit level, leaving a mark where each screw should sit. Double check your measurements with a tape measure. Now, when you hold your spirit level horizontally, you can see where you need to drill into the wall. Take your floating shelf bracket and place it on your spirit level. Using a pen, mark the correct distances onto your spirit level, leaving a mark where each screw should sit. Now, when you hold your spirit level horizontally, you can see where you need to drill into the wall.
Top tip: When choosing where to position your shelf, it’s important to make sure that you’re not going to be drilling into any wiring or above a plug socket. A stud finder can be a useful tool here.