Kitchen Floating Corner Shelves

I’m sure you’ve all seen floating shelves before in one variation or another. The one thing a little different about these is I wanted them to be a bit thinner and I needed them to wrap a corner.

I went back and forth on using floating brackets, but I just didn’t feel as comfortable installing them. So I went with the tried-and-true version of creating a cleat with support brackets and wrapping it.

My first try at this was way back at the Plaid House. Yikes! I followed these plans from Shanty 2 Chic. And they came through again with corner shelf plans for this house. The Shanty 2 Chic plans are awesome, so I will just give you the overview of how I modified mine to make them thinner and give them a sleeker look.

To Begin

To make them thinner, I used 2×2 as cleats, 1×3 as the face frame, and 1×8 as the shelf boards.

After you determine your length and shelf spacing, attach the 2×2 cleats to the wall into the studs. This will be the primary support for the shelves.

Next, consider your layout. I planned for the shelf on the right to go all the way to the tile, so the shelf on the left would end 7 1/4″ from the right wall. (Check out the picture below). Therefore, I put my first shelf support for the left shelf ending 7 1/4″ from the right wall. I then spaced out the remaining 2×2 supports, attaching with 2 1/2″ pocket screws.

I then laid down my 1×8 shelf boards, attaching to the cleats and support arms with glue and 1 1/2″ brad nails. To close off the bottom, I used 1/4″ luan plywood, attaching with 3/4″ brad nails and glue. The material decision here depends on what you have available and what species your shelves themselves are. I was using pine, and the 1/4″ pine plywood I could find was not well-finished. I decided to go with the luan because it took the stain well and was a close match to the pine. I cut down the luan on site to perfectly match the measurements of the shelves.

At this point, the height of the shelf is 2 1/2″ (1/4″ plywood, 1 1/2″ for the 2×2 support, and 3/4″ for the shelf board.). Therefore they match up perfectly with the 1×3 face boards, which I attached to the front and ends with glue and 1 1/2″ brad nails.

Everything was stained with golden oak, to mimic the color of the island. You can check out how I constructed the island here. I then applied 2 coats of polyurethane and filled in the brad nail holes with wood putty.