My cats love to climb, so I decided to build some elevated shelves for them in our living room. Since a cat weighs much less than a stack of books, there was no need for a heavy-duty installation, so I devised a simple, elegant “floating shelf.” It’s also appropriate for ornaments and framed photos, if for some reason you don’t have cats.
Figure A shows the concept. Steel rods are partially embedded in the wooden studs in the wall. Holes are drilled in the back edge of the shelves, and the rods fit into the holes. No supporting brackets are needed.
Figure A
Building the Floating Shelf
At the McMaster-Carr website, I found precut 6″ sections of ¼”-diameter steel rod for $1 each. To encourage the rods to slide smoothly into holes in the shelf, I beveled their ends on a grinding wheel, although this may not be strictly necessary.
I drew a horizontal line on the wall, then went along it with a stud finder. To verify the results, I gripped a carpet needle in pliers and pushed it through the sheetrock at small intervals until I found the precise edges of each stud. Then I used an extra-long drill bit to make holes about 3″ deep in the stud centers. The long bit made it easier to drill at exactly 90°, because I could place a speed square along the bit while drilling.
I hammered the steel rods tightly into the holes, then laid my 1×8 pine shelf on top of the rods, and marked the location of each rod on the underside of the wood. Now the tricky part: drilling precisely. The speed square was essential.
After rounding the front edge with a router, finishing the board with polyurethane, and stapling a strip of carpet to the top, I came to the anxious moment. Would the shelf fit onto the rods? The trick was to turn it at a slight angle to the wall, to engage the rods one at a time (Figure B). A hammer finished the job, and friction with the rods held the shelf securely.
Figure B
Suspended in Space
My cats enjoy their elevated perch (you can see one of them in Figure C, waiting for an additional section to be added), and visitors admire the floating shelf while wondering what could possibly support it. One cautionary note: This technique won’t support a heavy load, and isn’t appropriate for boards wider than 8″.
Figure C
Would you recommend a technique to support a heavy load or appropriate for boards wider than 8″?
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I actually designed and installed a similar design many years ago to serve as a bookshelf; I had quite a few large books and had no problem. Length was about 10 ft by 12″ depth. Don’t remember the shelf thickness, but probably 1×12’s.
Maybe a way to “cheat” to find the location where the rods will meet the board is to mark / color the ends of the rods with a black whiteboard marker or something that will stay wet long enough to transfer the mark to the board.
a way to avoid the precise drilling is to use 3 layers of wood instead of solid wood. make de middle layer as thick as the rods and cut out room for the rods (and that does not need to be accurate)
I made very similar shelves with raw-edge cedar boards – they look great and I’ve had no problem using them as bookshelves.
Love it! Cats will, too. Quite classy :-)
I did something similar for thick shelves (1 1/2) spanning 9 feet. I used 1/2″ threaded rod cut in 9″ lengths, screwed about 3″ into the stud. With four of them over 9 feet, it holds heavy books without a hitch. The shelf is about 9″ deep made from jointed 2×4.
Neat idea, but beware what lurks less than 3″ into your studs. Common practice is that electrical wiring, water pipes and other utilities run through your studs and is not easy to predict where these are. If you drill 3″ into your studs, there is a good chance you could hit one of these hidden items. You may have a nasty surprise meet your drill and a potentially massive problem to solve shortly afterwards.
Some parts of the wall will be less likely than others to contain this hazard but beware. You can see in some of these photos that you need only drill in 1-1.5″ before you could hit a nasty problem.
My cats and I wish to thank you for this simple idea!
I got some floating shelves with the rod support but they wobble when my cat jumps on them .. what should I do?
Another option for making sure your holes connect up precisely would be to install the holes and rods in the shelf at correct intervals, then press the shelf with rods against the wall between the tiny “edge of studs” holes, press enough to make a mark on the wall, and drill right there. Should work without anxiety.
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