Turn Underutilized Kitchen Space Into Practical Storage With A Simple DIY Project

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Why is kitchen space in such demand? It seems we are always looking for a place to put kitchen gadgets and gear — as long as it's not the counter. Adding more cabinets is a big task, as is installing and anchoring a kitchen island (assuming there is even room for one). Neither of those seem practical for a DIYer solution. But what if you could turn underutilized wall space into handy storage? 

Enter: Floating shelves that are attached to your existing cabinets. This very doable DIY will turn underutilized wall space into a practical storage area, organized much like open kitchen shelving, but without at all changing the structure of your cabinets. 

Of course, floating shelves do not actually float. They are shelves that have no visible exterior support. There is some great hardware for hanging floating shelves and you can even make your own DIY cleats to help you make it happen. And installing a floating shelf is surprisingly easy. Two prime areas to consider for floating shelving is at the end of a run of upper cabinets; the other space would be between two upper cabinets, perhaps over a sink. Let's go over the fast and easy approaches to get this done.

If your upper cabinets are not captured between two walls, one end of the bank of cabinets will be a perfect place for floating shelves. One easy way to get this done is to first mount cleats to the end of the cabinet and the wall at the same level. But before you do that, make your shelf (or shelves) from two pieces of 3/4-inch-thick plywood or MDF sandwiched together. 

To make shelves similar to those shown in the video above, the top piece of the sandwich needs to be 3/4-inch longer and wider than the bottom of the sandwich. Uppers are 12-inches deep, so the upper layer of your shelf would be 3/4" x 12' x 16," and the bottom layer would be 3/4" x 11" x 15". Glue the two shelf components together with two edges aligned flush, leaving a 3/4-inch by 3/4-inch notch or rabbet along the other two back edges of the sandwich. The shelf is now 1-1/2' thick. 

Now, make the cleats. For each shelf you will need one cleat 3/4" x 3/4" x 11" and another 3/4" x 3/4" x 16" Make them from the same material you made the shelves. Mount the cleats level to one another, one cleat on the cabinet and the other mounted to the wall. Use nails or screws to attach the cleats to the wall. Now place the shelf onto the cleats with the notch engaging the cleats, hiding them from view. Secure the shelf in place, by gluing it to the cleats or driving screws from the inside of the cabinet into the edge of shelf. Paint or finish the shelves any way you wish.

A shelf floating between two cabinets looks great. Even more so if it is not mounted to the cabinets. The best way to mount this sort of floating shelf is to use hardware designed just for this task. And the good news is that there are a bunch of options to choose from. 

Before we get to the hardware, though, let's talk about the design of the shelf itself. The upper cabinets they will be about 12-inches deep, give or take. To look proportional the shelf should be about 9-inches deep at the most. The space between the ends of the shelves and cabinets is up to you, but a minimum space of about three inches is a good place to start. Again, considering pleasing proportions, the shelf should be at least 1-1/2' thick for a couple of reasons: First, to give it visual weight, so it does not look like a flimsy little thing floating there. And second, most hardware for mounting floating shelves is designed with thicker shelves in mind. Two pieces of MDF sandwiched together will give you the thickness you need. 

Get some hardware, like the Antrader Set of 4 Floating Shelf Brackets, and drill four holes for the supports across the length of the back edge of your shelf, as directed in the hardware instructions. Then slide a bracket into the hole and draw a line around the rectangular mounting plate. Use a chisel to chop a recess for the mounting plate (super easy to do in MDF). Mount the brackets to the wall, as explained in the hardware directions, and float your shelf!