Wall shelves have a variety of uses, and can be very handy ways of adding visual flair to your room. The right wall shelf brackets will add convenience, as well as aesthetic appeal, giving a room a whole different feel. There are a variety of different shelves that you can install, from wall mounted wine shelves, storage, or even display cases. The limitations of what you can create are only restricted by your mind. But for any wall mounted shelf, you’re going to need wall shelf brackets.
Wall shelf brackets are the workhorses of your new shelf. A bracket is used to attach the shelf to the wall, as well as provide support for the tray, no matter what type of item you’ll be using the shelf for. Shelf wall brackets can be made to suit any style, or can also be manufactured with an emphasis on functionality opposed to style. A wall shelf bracket may typically come in wooden, metal, or sometimes even stone designs. The right one for your room, really depends upon the décor and the type of shelf you’ll be installing.
Wooden shelf brackets are best for shelves that are meant to be more stylistic than functional. Wood can’t support as much weight as metal, and wooden brackets can be fragile, depending upon the way they are designed. But wood shelf brackets can come in a variety of colors and styles, and can even become the centerpiece of a room, when used properly. Wooden shelf brackets can be as cheap as $20, but for more elegant antique options, they’ll be much more expensive.
Metal shelf brackets are usually best reserved for workplace shelves, as they usually don’t offer a lot of visual flair. A metal shelf is intended to provide a sturdy space to store a wide variety of items. So it’s no surprise that metal wall shelf brackets offer a lot of weight bearing ability, but not a whole lot of style. As metal brackets don’t require a whole lot of artistic work, they are also quite cheap. Usually falling into the $10-$20 range for brackets that can bear weights in excess of 1,000lbs.
To purchase wall shelf brackets, the best place to go is a home department store. Some of the major ones like Walmart and Target will have a few options, at a fair price. But more specialized stores like Home Depot or Lowes will have the widest variety. Although brackets from these stores will usually be more expensive than a department store’s options. Remember that you’ll need a few tools as well, for installation. The most needed will be a stud finder, cordless drill, and laser level.
The stud finder is essential so that you can determine the right point on the wall to hang your shelf, to provide for maximum stability. The laser level is important, so that you can ensure the shelf is straight. A shelf that won’t hold anything isn’t very useful at all. Cordless drills are essential so that you can drill guide holes for screws, and also so that you can tighten any screws as much as possible on your wall shelf brackets.