If you're short on storage space, consider floating shelves, which offer a departure from wall art. Floating shelves are easy to install in your kitchen, living room, or office, and they keep everyday essentials within reach and offer plenty of surface area for displaying decorative items.
With the ideas below, you can easily combine storage and style by hanging floating shelves throughout your home.
Floating shelves for your kitchen corner
Patrick Villar
Make the most of that tiny bit of empty space between your cabinets and the wall by hanging a modest shelf to display your most-used cookbooks, decorative items, storage containers, and more. This floating shelf idea will add visual interest to your kitchen corner and help keep your countertops clutter-free.
Pantry shelf
Kim Cornelison
Awkward sloping corners in your pantry or kitchen can be made functional by adding custom floating shelf ideas. Keep glassware and food storage containers with food transfers from your pantry on hand so they are always accessible when needed.
Corner shelf
Adam Albright
If you have a bit of wall space left over at the end of your upper cabinets, don't let it go to waste: Install three short floating shelves that jut out from the cabinets to house some of your most beautiful items. A set of pink glass vases, a vintage tea kettle, and an assortment of green plants combine to create a beautiful and functional area in this kitchen.
Bathroom Floating Shelves
Adam Albright
Bathrooms often lack space for free-standing shelving units or other storage furniture. Floating shelves are a smart alternative that increase bathroom storage space and take up no floor space. To store practical items, from makeup brushes to towels, as well as room for art and decorative items, hang open shelves in empty wall space above the toilet or near the vanity.
Long floating shelf
Annie Schlechter
You can decorate the white brick walls of your living room or study by filling them with wooden shelves. Besides books, use it as an opportunity to display family photos and unique, memorable decorative items.
Stylish kitchen shelves
Robert Peterson
Sure, the kitchen is primarily a functional workspace, but it should also incorporate a sense of style. Install two floating shelves on a blank backsplash wall to display select items, like memorable cookbooks or painted ceramics that can double as storage. Install a wall sconce just above the top shelves to spotlight the space at night.
Floating Closet Shelves
Julie Sofer
Organize your own closet by strategically placing an acrylic floating shelf on one of your walls, using risers as needed to keep your handbags neatly organized. Not only will this display create a boutique feel every time you enter your space, it will also keep your bags looking their best.
Shelving for small laundry rooms
Finding storage space in a small laundry room isn't always an easy task. In most cases, it's up to you to create the space, but fortunately, there's an easy solution: hanging floating shelves. As you can see in the photos of this sunroom-turned-laundry-room conversion, two shelves for supplies were added above the washer and dryer. A third shelf is installed directly above the washer to provide space for folding freshly washed clothes and linens.
Built-in bookshelf
Krisada Panichgul
By using floating shelves in an already recessed space, you can recreate the look of a custom built-in bookshelf at a low cost, leaving you with plenty of room to organize books, framed art, houseplants, and more on various shelves.
Floating Kitchen Shelves
Dane Tashima
In the kitchen, ditch upper cabinets and install open shelves instead for a minimalist aesthetic. Store only what you need on each shelf to keep the room from looking cluttered. Placing plates, glasses, and baking dishes on shelves is one of the best ways to streamline space.
Shelf on desk
Max Kimby
A drop-down secretary's desk is a clever way to hide visual clutter, especially if your home office is in a shared living space. While it will give you some storage space, you can instantly create more by hanging some floating shelves just above it. Place your frequently picked up books on top of it, so you don't have to open your desk every time you want to turn a page.
Contrasting Floating Shelves
Edmund Burr
Brighten up your plain white kitchen walls with striking dark wood block shelves. Cutting boards, landscape paintings and plain white ceramic tableware give the space a simple and elegant feel.
Crafting station shelves
Edmund Burr
Hang a pegboard over a small desk and install some floating shelves above it to store simple crafts and gift wrapping. Place pretty containers with materials, along with succulents and artwork to inspire your next project.
Built-in floating shelf
Krisada Panichgul
Fit alcoves, niches and bays with floating shelves that cover the entire recess to create the look of a built-in bookcase. When choosing shelves, consider proportions: large, deep recesses require thicker shelves, while shallow, narrow niches are best served with thinner wooden, metal or glass shelves.
Living Room Decoration
Edmund Burr
Liven up an empty corner of your living room or family room with some wooden shelves – a hassle-free, inexpensive way to display books, art, antiques, and other decorative items.
How to Install a Floating Shelf
Dane Tashima
Floating shelves provide storage and display space without pesky brackets or posts that get in the way of your look. To install properly, you must first attach the hidden brackets to the wall, then slide the shelf into the brackets and secure with screws. To keep your shelves secure, it's best to mount them to a wall stud.
Functional Storage
Edmund Burr
Place a variety of glasses, mugs and pitchers on an open shelf to easily pour water, coffee or wine. Choose a spot near the fridge, wet bar or coffee station to set it up.
Craft Storage
Better Homes & Gardens
Avid crafters know that it can be hard to find enough space to store their supplies. Create ample space by hanging two long floating shelves above a desk or table in the room where you do most of your crafting. Line them with matching baskets and clear jars to keep your materials organized and easy to find.
Floating Shelf Ideas
Ann Vanderweil Wilde
Floating shelves give you plenty of options for accessorizing. They can be used alone, in groups or stacked. No matter how you hang them, you'll have space to display more items and can easily swap out artwork and decor. For narrower versions of our floating shelves, try our Picture Ledge, which has a small raised lip on the front to stop artwork sliding off.
Floating Kitchen Shelf
Greg Scheidemann
Floating shelves not only add storage to your kitchen, they keep things where you need them most. In this breakfast area, open shelves keep everyday dishes close at hand, while coffee mugs, cereal bowls and small plates are easy to reach.
Floating shelves in the bedroom
Marty Baldwin
In the bedroom, floating shelves allow you to keep essentials close at hand while preventing clutter on other surfaces like nightstands and dressers. They're especially useful in small bedrooms where storage space is limited. You can even hang shelves in place of traditional nightstands to make a small space look neater.
Floating storage shelves
James Nathan Schroeder
A well-placed floating shelf can make life easier in almost any room. Place it within reach of your desk chair or somewhere you can access it while standing. While storage cabinets or very deep shelves can create clutter by allowing items at the front to hide items at the back, a floating shelf lets you see and access what you need in an instant.
Where to hang floating shelves
Edmund Burr
Hang floating shelves at various heights to draw attention from floor to ceiling and throughout the room. Here, a simple shelf subtly mimics the lines and shape of the mantle beam while beautifully filling the empty space below. Various displays of collectibles and abstract artwork give the shelves personality.
Floating Shelves for Office Storage
Dana Gallagher
A sturdy desk and cushioned chair make for a functional office, but adding floating shelves will help you get work done more efficiently. In this artist's workstation, open shelves hold books, artwork, and other items that inspire creativity. For extra organization, mount baskets and organizers on the shelves to hold office supplies and documents.
Floating shelf in window
Stacey Branford
Expand your storage and display capabilities by installing two floating shelves above a kitchen window. Paint or finish them to match the adjacent cabinets, and the shelves will retreat, allowing the backlit display to take center stage. Use the shelves to hold decorative items, or free up cabinet space for frequently-used dishes.
Floating Shelf Media Center
Emily Followill
Use floating shelves to create a media center customized to your entertainment needs and equipment. Start by making a list of what you want to display and store on the shelves. Measure the height and depth of all your objects to choose appropriately sized shelves and space them accordingly. Use wall anchors appropriate for the weight so they won't tip over and damage your expensive equipment.
Floating Corner Shelf
Emily Followill
Surround a corner of your kitchen with floating shelves to free up space for storage. Unlike closed cabinets, open shelves provide ample storage for pantry essentials and dishes while keeping your kitchen from feeling top-heavy. Choose shelves with beveled edges, decorative details and crown molding forms to elevate your space.
Kitchen storage shelves
Edward Golich
Floating shelves are perfect for showcasing pantry essentials and kitchen décor. Use them to store beautiful glass jars of spices, rice, flour, sugar, coffee beans, and tea bags. Incorporate kitchen-related artwork, cookbooks, and beautiful tableware to create a stylish and functional display.