Let’s take some shelfies — you know, instead of selfies.
We didn’t have Beyoncé to photobomb them, but we finally installed the Ikea floating shelves in the kitchen and the room instantly feels brighter and more open. There are still a few big tasks left — like painting the cabinets — but swapping out the old dark upper cabinets for white shelves made a huge visual difference.
Here’s how the space looked a few weeks ago after removing the wallpaper and before we made any updates.
And here’s the same view now: we removed the cabinets, re-installed crown molding, patched and painted walls, trim, and ceilings, upgraded the lighting, and hung the new shelves. The photos don’t fully capture it, but the room is noticeably brighter and feels larger and more inviting.
We chose Ikea’s LACK shelves and aligned the bottom long shelf with the left cabinet height — about 18″ above the counter — so the shelving related visually to the remaining cabinetry. The stock shelf lengths left a couple of inches of space around the window, which we liked. For spacing, we eyeballed the second shelf and set it 14″ above the bottom shelf. That distance allows you to stack dishes on the bottom shelf without feeling cramped, while keeping the top shelf reachable for shorter people.
To hang them, we held the bottom shelf in place and made sure it was level…
…then marked the top corners on each side and drew a guideline across the top to indicate placement.
The long LACK shelves include a metal hanging brace and screws. When you open the packaging you’ll see the long metal rail that mounts to the wall.
The metal brace is well designed with multiple holes along its length so you can secure it into studs in several places. We used a stud finder and followed the manufacturer’s recommendations for screw placement to ensure the shelf is strong and stable.
I positioned the brace along the horizontal guideline, measured in a few inches from each pencil corner because the brace is slightly shorter than the shelf, and temporarily secured it with a single screw in the drywall to hold it while I worked.
With the brace held in place I used the stud finder to locate studs and drove two long screws (provided with the shelves) into the studs for solid support. A partner holding a level helps ensure the brace stays perfectly straight as you secure it.
The kit includes small metal plates that act like washers and spread the load where the screw enters the stud; we used two plates into studs and added an extra anchor for more holding power.
Slide the shelf onto the brace and tighten the three pre-drilled screws on the underside of the shelf. I started by hand with the provided Allen wrench, but switched to a power drill to speed things up.
We repeated the same process for the higher long shelf. The short side shelves were simpler: we used heavy-duty wall anchors in the pre-selected spots that aligned with the look we wanted. Unlike the long shelves, those smaller units can be popped on and off easily, which is handy since we’ll temporarily remove them when we paint the cabinets.
The shelves have been sturdy. Use strong anchors and be precise when leveling — measure twice — and your shelves will hold up well. Over time we’ll tweak the styling: maybe hang a small framed photo above a stack of plates or add a taller decorative item on a bottom shelf to introduce color and height variation.
Functionally, the lower shelves now hold everyday dishes for easy unloading of the dishwasher, and the upper shelves display items we love to see. The glossy white finish helps bounce light around the room and doesn’t block the window like the old dark cabinets did.
Here’s another angle showing how much brighter the space feels. The shelves lighten the visual weight around the window and make everyday tasks like unloading the dishwasher faster and easier.
Update: Ikea specifies that each longer shelf can hold up to 33 lbs when properly anchored into studs. We secured each long shelf into two studs and have had no issues with the weight of dishes. The same principle used for mounting upper cabinets — screws into studs — applies here, and we had positive long-term experience with similar LACK shelves in a previous home.
It’s a dramatic change from where the kitchen started six months ago…
We’re excited to continue by lightening the upper cabinets and going deeper and richer with the lower cabinets for a tuxedo-style look. We’re sanding and priming this week and hope to reveal a refreshed kitchen soon.
Anyone else tackling last-minute home projects this season? We often find ourselves doing something big right in the middle of holiday preparations. It’s hectic, but worth it for the payoff.
Psst — we’re taking more quizzes on Young House Life, and they’ve been oddly accurate!