Need floating shelves ideas? I’ve got you covered! Here’s the full scoop on this trend, along with how to make it your own.
Floating shelves are super popular at the moment—and this open-concept trend is only growing with time!
From the kitchen to the living room to every closet in between, floating shelves can be used in just about any space. Best of all, this trend is really easy to follow with simple designs, easy installation, and creative ways to make this style your own.
I’ll be the first to say it: I love floating shelves. They’re a great way to use vertical space in a room as a strategic storage solution. They are also a cheap way to fill your space with personality, which I am allllll about!
In this post, I’m sharing gorgeous DIY floating shelves ideas along with styling inspiration eye candy for you to (visually) devour. So sit back, relax, and let’s take a look at how designers created these inspiring floating shelves.
Basic Tools and Supplies for DIY Floating Shelf Projects
We’ve collected the BEST DIY floating shelf ideas for ideas and inspiration…but first, you’ll likely need to take a trip to your local Home Depot or home improvement store to grab at least some of these basic tools, power tools, and supplies:
- pieces of wood (type/size will vary depending on your project)
- circular saw
- stud finder
- wood filler
- wood glue
- Kreg Jig/pocket hole jig
- pocket hole screws
- drill driver and drill bits
- nail gun
- paint/painter’s tape/paintbrush
- drywall anchors
- sandpaper (various grit sandpaper…lower numbers for very rough wood, and higher grit for finishing)
8 DIY Floating Shelves Ideas
These floating shelves ideas can fit any design style, from modern industrial to eclectic bohemian. Use them to display your prized ceramic collection, show off your impressive library, corral wayward toys, or take a practical route and use them to quickly access your most-used items.
What’s the best way to add floating shelves to your home? Well, it depends on the space! So let’s check out a variety of ideas that can work for small spaces, your storage space, and even huge empty walls that are just begging for some attention (and storage).
1. Minimalist Floating Shelf
This quick project is all about style.
I absolutely love this minimalist wood floating shelf from Angela Marie Made. It’s incredibly easy to accomplish with the right shelf and the perfect mid-tone stain.
The paired gold mirror is super current and looks wonderfully balanced with the white florals.
2. Farmhouse Style Floating Shelves
The open-shelf kitchen trend is more popular than ever! And you can use these stunning farmhouse-style floating shelves to display your most beautiful (or most used) kitchen items.
These thick wood blocks are great for heavy appliances. And the color-coordinated dishware in this example from Make-it Love-it is just TOO good!
3. L-Shaped Shelving
Awkward corner space? No problem! Make the most out of your vertical wall space with some L-shaped floating shelves like A Beautiful Mess did in their home.
Use this space to display your favorite potted plants, conversation-starting books, or family photos that make you say, “awww!”.
4. Wall-to-Wall DIY Floating Shelves
I LOVE wall-to-wall shelving. And in my opinion, we just don’t see it enough!
These thick planks can hold a ton, making them great for organizing and long-term storage.
Some people prefer hidden storage that is neatly tucked out of the way. Other people, however, need to see their things! Otherwise, they’ll totally forget where everything is.
These wall-to-wall floating shelves from Shrimp Salad Circus are the perfect solution.
The color-coded books help give structure to a busy area, making it look stylized, not cluttered. And the open baskets below provide another perfect example of a “throw-and-go” storage solution.
5. Floating Corner Shelves
This corner is a tricky one to style. It’s too small for furniture, but too big to go to waste.
Plot twist! This is actually the ideal spot for some floating corner shelves.
Check out these corner shelves from 4 Men 1 Lady—they’re a cute and functional way to add some style and a little extra storage to your space, all in an under-utilized corner of your home. I can see these working wonderfully in a small bathroom!
6. DIY Floating Nightstand
These floating nightstands were one of the perfect finishing touches for Zoe’s master bedroom. They’re also easy and inexpensive to install. In other words, they’re a win-win!
This paired-down design from Pine and Poplar looks minimal and tranquil, perfect for a quiet space designed for a good night’s sleep.
7. Heavy Duty DIY Floating Shelves
These heavy-duty shelves built by Yellow Brick Home look totally industrial, perfect for storing camping supplies, heavy equipment, and long-term storage bins.
Install some in your home workshop, garage, laundry room, or mudroom for the ultimate storage system.
8. Floating Closet Shelf DIY
Without shelving, a traditional closet doesn’t offer us much. A single rod just doesn’t cut it for holding all of your essentials.
But with a few floating shelves and a little bit of elbow grease, you can create an ultra-functional closet space.
I love how this closet by Casa Watkins Living was designed with plenty of space to hold your items and enough room below the shelving for a few laundry hampers.
With some 2×4 pine boards and a sheet of plywood (or two), you can this DIY floating shelf idea for the perfect laundry, hallway, or linen closet!
And, I’ve got you covered if you’re looking for more unique laundry storage ideas, or other closet organizing ideas!
11 Ideas for Styling & Using Floating Shelves
Ok, you’ve built your beautiful floating shelves and are ready to put them to use…but now what?
How are you going to make them both fab and functional? How are you going to show off your personality without going overboard?
Here are a few fun ways to use and style your dream floating shelves:
Stellar (& Stylish) Small Bathroom Storage
In our DIY master bathroom renovation, we recaptured what had previously been a small shower enclosure to create a linen closet.
It didn’t have much space, so we created inexpensive wall shelves that wrapped around the corners to create 3-sided shelves.
The shelves along the back wall are deeper, and create the best place to store towels and storage bins.
The smaller pieces of shelving on the sides are shallow, but they are the best place to keep items like extra toothbrushes, candles, and pretty storage containers for items like razors, toothpaste, etc.
Perfect your Floating Shelf Style
This design from The Beauty Revival is a great example of style and them without looking overdone.
The shelves are balanced with eclectic yet cohesive items. Matching tones of browns, whites, and creams showcase a simple color scheme that is made special through variety and texture.
As a result, these floating shelves look perfectly stylized, with each item organically belonging.
Plus, these shelves make for a smart plant stand idea too!
Make a Cool Feature Wall
This feature wall from Design to Build Blog is ultra simple yet so effective.
The black accent immediately draws your eye, making it the perfect spot to display your favorite artwork.
You could also use this technique with different colors to add more style and joy to your space. Can you imagine this style with a bright magenta or cyan? Unreal.
Style with Books
Books…they really pile up, right?
Whether you’re well-read or simply using books as a design feature, floating shelves can be a great spot to display your collection.
I love displaying books because they draw people in as they peek at the titles and flip through the pages.
These floating shelves from Shoe Makes New include color-coded books for an artful twist—how’s that for a marriage of style and practicality?
Display Dishes on Floating Shelves
Calling all ceramic fiends! This is your chance to show off your grand collection.
This display of color-coordinating dishes from Blushing Boho Design is super pretty. I am a big fan of open shelving in kitchens because it’s a smart way to add personality to a space that you spend every day in.
Well-used spaces like kitchens are also prime candidates for open-concept storage for functionality and ease of use. Just grab a dish and go!
Showcase Collections
Super proud of your stamps collection? Have action figures you’ve never let go of? Here’s a good idea…
Display them loud and proud on some gorgeous new shelves in your home office or other living space.
You can use these shelves to display children’s art, academic achievements, or sports trophies like Sawdust Sisters did in her son’s room—you name it!
Create Stylish Storage
I really like the idea of using floating shelves as stylish storage. These bathroom shelves from Driven by Decor are super cute and functional.
Open concepts like this are great for guests who won’t have to go peeking into cupboards to find a towel.
It also provides a good incentive for you to put away your things nicely because the storage is so open.
Use for Ultra-Cute Toy Organization
Open storage is great for child-centered spaces because it allows children to see all of their toys and personal items so that they remember they have them and, therefore, can play with them!
Rain on a Tin Roof provides a perfect example in this playroom.
Floating shelves also help children to take accountability for their space and help tidy up. They can easily plop their toys on the lower shelves and in the baskets underneath.
Hot tip – Put keepsakes, lesser-used toys, and games that need adult supervision on the top shelves!
Need more toy storage tips? Read my post on 23 Terrific Toy Storage Ideas.
Decorate for the Seasons
Floating shelves are also a great way to get you in the festive spirit and spread holiday cheer throughout the year.
Decorate your beautiful shelves for the holidays, easily swapping out decor based on the season.
This is a great spot for continual change as it does a lot to affect the mood of a room.
Try adding your favorite holiday trinkets and adorable craft fair finds to your open shelves and experience just how much joy they can provide – like Tater Tots and Jello did in their kitchen!
Use Floating Shelf for Desk
Using a floating shelf as a desk is a super creative idea with chic, minimal results.
This wide-open shelf is ultra-functional, with tons of space for work, arts and crafts, and any other project you come up with.
I love this simple design from Within the Grove; it looks clean, polished, and truly modern.
Make Awesomeness of Awkward Space
In my own kitchen, we were going to end up with this awkward, kind of useless corner of wall space, and no matter how we tried, we couldn’t really alter the plan to improve the layout. So, we made use of a simple way to turn awkward into awesome…a shelf project!
Now, this wasn’t a DIY project. We purchased the wood shelves from the company that manufactured our cabinets so that the wood tones in the space would match. But we were able to purchase shelves the perfect size to make this blank wall useful (and attractive).
And with that, we’ve explored 19 exciting DIY floating shelves ideas. I hope that these projects give you the design inspo you need to add some floating shelves to your home.
Whether you use them for storage, style, or to show off an impressive collection, floating shelves are a useful design feature you won’t regret installing.
On the hunt for more simple home improvement ideas, and DIY home decorating inspiration? Be sure to check out these articles, too!
Pin these floating wall shelf ideas for later! And if you decide to try one, leave a comment on the pin! That helps others know whether they want to try it, too!
Pssst…before you go, I sure would love to hang out with you again really soon! Sign up now and get a FREE copy of “Builder-Grade To Beautiful: 10 Totally Transformative Home Decorating Solutions, All Under $100!” Click here to enter your email or on the image below. Your copy will be sent right away!
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