Floating shelves - a modern solution

What is a floating shelf?

Let's start by clarifying the concept - what is a floating shelf?

A floating shelf should be defined as a horizontal surface on which you can place items, and where the shelf is attached in such a way that it appears to float. This means that there are no visible devices holding the shelf.

There are many places where the term "floating shelf" is used for a shelf with a minimalist design, but which is supported by brackets, straps, or other methods of hanging the shelf.

But that's not a real floating shelf, because it doesn't look like it's floating on the wall, does it?

The wooden floating shelves you find here on puretime.dk, for example, all have concealed mounting, so you can enjoy the shelf as it was intended and designed.

Floating shelves in different designs

You can find many exciting variations of floating shelves in different stores and from various designers.

• The rectangular model
• The round model
• Other geometric models

The rectangular model

The classic model is square and shaped like a rectangle. This model is ideal if you are looking for a large and regular surface where you can utilize the space.

It comes in different variants and dimensions, which I will discuss later.

The thickness can vary from 10-15 mm all the way up to 40-50 mm.

It is important to consider the thickness in relation to your decor:

If you want the shelf to make a statement in the room, choose a thick floating shelf, which often also appears rustic.

Conversely, a thinner floating shelf will take up less space in the room and appear a bit lighter and more 'floating', which is a good solution if you want a clean look without it becoming too heavy. These considerations apply regardless of the shape of the floating shelf.

Image: Kirkeby - oak floating shelf

The round model

You don't see shelves designed in round shapes all that often, but I actually think it's a very nice and elegant solution that helps break up the straight lines in the Scandinavian design style, which is often quite strict.

At the same time, the round design gives a very special and very organic look, because it is not the traditional choice.

Completely round shelves can be a bit fragile, as they are most often mounted with only one screw, which does not have a very large contact surface on the shelf.

The round shelves with a straight back edge, which you find here in the shop, have the advantage that they have a larger contact surface with the wall and thus sit more securely. In addition, it looks a bit like they are 'floating into the wall'.

The disadvantage of a straight back edge is that you get a little less space on the shelf itself.

Other geometric models

Finally, you will find all the more exotic features, where the design is, for example, square - perhaps even rotated, so the tip faces the wall, 5- or 6-sided variants, or perhaps a corner shelf, which can have both straight and round shapes.

If you choose one of these types, I recommend that you choose a shape that fits into your existing decor.

For example, if you have several exciting, geometric figures in your interior design, then a shelf in a different design will definitely be an option for you.

What materials are floating shelves made of?

There are many different options, and it can be difficult to navigate, but I will try to give an overview.

• Melamine
• Laminate
• Oak
• Other materials

Melamine

In the cheaper end of materials, you find melamine. It is an artificially manufactured plastic-like material, which is cheap to produce, and which you often see as the top layer on a floating shelf made of, for example, chipboard or MDF.

Melamine is widely used in the furniture industry because it is cheap to produce and reasonably durable.

However, it is still one of the least durable products for making floating shelves, and it is not very resistant to, for example, heat and moisture.

Laminate

Laminate is quite similar to melamine, and often it can be difficult to tell the difference, so remember to read the product description if you are looking for a laminate floating shelf.

Laminate is a material consisting of many thin layers of cardboard or paper, which, together with resin, are pressed very hard together at very high temperatures.

As a material, laminate is much more resistant to moisture and heat than melamine, and at the same time it is more flexible, and it can withstand cleaning with cleaning agents to a much greater extent.

Laminate, like melamine, is often used as a product placed on top of a generic wooden board (chipboard, for example) to make the result look more exclusive, and it is popular for its durable properties.

Oak

Many consider solid oak to be the only 'right' choice for a floating shelf.

One of the reasons it is so popular is partly because light oak is simply very beautiful to look at.

Within oak, there are typically two ways to cut the wood:

• Plain sawn - which is the cheapest solution, resulting in a look with great variation and large, clearer growth rings
  
  
• Quarter sawn - which is the more expensive solution, where 'slices' are cut from a quarter log, resulting in a more uniform cut - often with unique medullary rays

You can read much more about the two types in this blog post.

Most oak floating shelves - including those you find here at PureTime - are made from oak planks joined together to form a larger, uniform surface.

The advantage of this is, among other things, a lower cost price - but also that several joined planks are much more durable than one large piece of wood, which is much more exposed.

There are also floating shelves made from one large oak plank. The price for large, wide planks is about 4 times more expensive than narrower planks, and one large plank is more susceptible to moisture. 

At the same time, there is a significantly greater risk that one large plank will warp or perhaps even crack.

You should weigh these risks yourself. The large plank is super beautiful - it just also has some disadvantages.

Image: Egebjerg - round floating shelf in several sizes

Other materials

Beech wood

Although floating shelves in oak are by far the most popular, you can also get shelves in, for example, beech wood.

Beech wood is not as modern at the moment, but it is a type that is almost as durable as oak, and beech also belongs to the light wood types.

Typically, however, you should expect beech wood to become more reddish over time, while treated oak retains its color and glow.

Walnut wood

You can also get shelves in walnut. Walnut wood is naturally dark and has a lot of grain and clear knots.

Walnut is a very dimensionally stable material that retains its shape for many years, and walnut has traditionally been used for, for example, rifle stocks.

At the same time, walnut can be polished to a nearly completely shiny and glossy finish.

Veneer

If you search for floating shelves online, you will come across many products that have a core made of pressed wood scraps and then a layer of, for example, oak veneer on top.

This is an inexpensive way to get a beautiful shelf that is also durable.

Glass

Glass shelves are a bit of a chapter unto themselves. Often, the choice of a glass shelf is due to the fact that one has already decorated their home with other glass items, such as display cabinets or glass tables.

Glass, by its very nature, gives a light and airy impression, where light helps to create a very special look.

However, one should be aware that glass shelves require a lot of maintenance, as both dust and grease are very visible on a glass surface.

Refinements of shelves

A floating shelf is not just a floating shelf.

We have already talked about shape and material, but as with many things, the very special differences and unique elements are found in the small subtleties and distinctive features that each individual shelf can have.

Image: Egebjerg floating shelf - round refinement

Edges

"There's no difference there," you might think. But there is - and it's often where a small stroke of genius can make a big difference.

For example, if you take a regular MDF shelf with laminate or melamine on top, they often come with completely straight edges - which can be cut quickly and cheaply on a machine.

If you look at shelves that are more characterized by craftsmanship, you talk about either a straight edge, as mentioned above, or a rounded edge - also called a natural edge.

If you look at the Strangways floating shelf here at PureTime, you can see what a shelf with a rounded edge looks like.

It has an organic look, often in soft curves, and gives the shelf an authentic look. At the same time, it helps to break up the side edges, which are usually kept straight.

There are also floating shelves with a built-in edge or groove, where you can place photos, pictures, or other decorations so that they can stand upright and adorn the shelf.

Finally, there are also shelves that have side edges and/or a front edge. Here, it is both part of the design and a practical function that prevents things from falling off the shelf.

Of course, there are countless other edges and cutouts that give the shelf a unique expression - it's all about finding exactly the right design for you.

Mounting

As mentioned earlier, one of the essential aspects of a floating shelf is that it can be securely fastened while appearing to 'float'.

Normally, you typically fasten the shelf using a so-called shelf bracket, which is a right-angled wooden bracket where one long side is screwed to the wall and the other long side is screwed to the underside of the shelf.

Another solution for hanging the shelf is to wrap a strap - perhaps made of leather - around the shelf and then screw the strap to the wall. It can also be a dedicated metal holder for the shelf, for example in brass, which is also screwed on.

The most common method for a shelf that is truly meant to appear floating is a hidden bracket or two on the back of the shelf.

Either a hole can be milled out of the back of the shelf, where the screw head fits in - as is the case with the Chiffre shelves - or, typically for larger shelves, a dedicated bracket is used, which is screwed to the wall, and from which a rod protrudes, matching a corresponding hole in the back of the shelf, so that the shelf can be 'slid' into place. 

Often, two brackets are used to support a larger shelf, as solid oak shelves in particular can be quite heavy.

You should ensure that both screws and especially rawlplugs are suitable for the wall you are mounting the shelf on.

There are rawlplugs for ordinary concrete and stone walls, just as there are universal rawlplugs designed to work in most walls (but where they typically cannot bear as much weight as if you used a rawlplug specifically for that type of wall).

Finally, there are special rawlplugs for plasterboard walls and other porous walls, where a different type of rawlplug is needed to provide more grip so that the wall does not crumble.

Image: Floating shelves from PureTime are easy to mount

Manufacturing of wooden shelves

There is a big difference in how wooden shelves are manufactured, especially whether the production takes place in a smaller carpentry business or in a huge factory.

Floating shelves manufactured in a factory are typically cheaper to produce because the entire process is automated - from cutting to sanding and to any varnishing and packaging.

Conversely, it is much more expensive for a small carpenter to produce shelves when they are typically sanded and varnished by hand after cutting. If the result is not good enough, it may need an extra sanding or perhaps be completely discarded.

Solid wood shelves are typically milled out with a CNC router. This is a machine that uses small drills to mill out the shelf.

The limitation of CNC is, among other things, that it is difficult to make sharp edges and very fine patterns, because there is a limit to how small and thin a drill bit can be used - and because the drill rotates and makes round cutouts, which is not ideal if you need a sharp corner.

Conversely, a CNC machine creates really nice, rounded and clean shapes without blurs or dark shadows, and therefore CNC is suitable for making floating shelves.

The other typical solution is laser cutting, which is cheaper to operate and can create very precise patterns and cutouts.

Here, the wood is effectively burned by the laser, and in some cases there will be a slight dark shadow from the cutout because the laser is so hot.

The cuts may also be less clean than in a CNC machine, and typically laser cutting is used for slightly thinner material.

However, the laser is unrivaled when it comes to fine patterns and thin and intricate engravings.

Varnishing of floating shelves

Much depends on the type of wood, but it is often sensible to varnish the shelf. For beech wood, varnishing will typically enhance its slightly reddish color, and for oak, varnishing is primarily done to ensure that the wood does not turn yellowish - and to enhance durability and resistance to moisture and temperature fluctuations.

You can varnish with, for example, soap or oil - but you can also use a wax oil, and there are oils that make it both darker and lighter - and oils that are relatively neutral, which merely have a protective effect.

You may have seen "smoked oak" shelves. It is quite possible that it is indeed oak that has been "smoked," which is primarily a chemical process, but it is quite expensive and extensive to carry out.

Therefore, many shelves have been dyed dark to resemble smoked oak in color - but without undergoing the major (and somewhat environmentally harmful) smoking process.

Price and quality

When all is said and done, you can pretty much expect to get what you pay for. 

If you buy a cheap floating shelf in the local supermarket, they are likely mass-produced in Asia, quite uniform, and may have minor flaws, as quality control is typically difficult to perform 100% on such large productions.

Conversely, a shelf from a small carpenter is typically made with quality in mind.

Here, significantly more time has been spent, and often significantly better materials have been used, and this is reflected in the price.

You can buy a cheap melamine or laminate shelf. You can also find shelves with a veneer top that don't cost much, but if you move into the solid wood shelf department, the price increases - both due to quality and craftsmanship, but also due to the price of wood, which has risen sharply in recent years.

I hope you have been inspired and are better equipped to buy your next floating shelf.

Remember you can also find beautiful wooden hooks and wooden wall clocks here in the shop.