Shelf Bracket

With the shrinking sizes of houses there never seems to be enough space for storage of even mundane items. The limited floor areas leave with no option but to go up vertically along the walls and create some storage space. Rest assured you are not the only one facing this problem; it’s almost universal now.

Ever tried shelf brackets! They are great and sure to provide some degree of relief. Plainly speaking these are boards that are attached to the wall. The two main features are that while offering a practical solution to your needs they go to provide an element of beauty. They make a wall appear like a big closet or a dresser, which you use for storage and they provide the decorative touch.

The mounting arrangements needed to support the shelf brackets are quite unsightly. That’s what it makes desirable to have floating wall shelves. They come in a variety of models, as there are a good number of manufacturers. You get them in different sizes and styles. As you start using them to take care of cluttered items around the house, you will appreciate the new look your room begins to present. And, it’s not only because of its organized looks but also the decorative aspect of the arrangement.

Installation of a floating wall shelf may look problematic to you, but you can always have professional help for a perfect job. Yet, you can do it yourself if you are willing to go thru its learning process. It may seem rather difficult, but soon you may begin to like it if you don’t give it up midway.

The challenge is to hide the brackets and mounting arrangement while maintaining the overall harmony of the room. That’s facilitated by the availability of shelving kits that come loaded with all the necessary hardware and the shelves.

Having made arrangements for the shelving kit, you need to precisely mark the area that’s going to house your shelf. Be careful in taking measurements and ask for a helping hand to facilitate accurate measurements, for any error will work out expensive, as you may have to do redo the whole exercise all over again or buy an item afresh. It needs patience but you’ll be happy with the end results.

Before you start drilling the holes, make sure that the structure is properly aligned. Acquaint yourself with the drilling machine and don’t overlook the needed precautions while drilling. Remember, going step-by step yields satisfactory desired results, even if it slows you down.

Once you are done with the drilling of holes on both the sides, you put in place the wall anchors and bolt them up. Make sure that they are secured and then mount the shelf bracket ready for use. Finally, you get something useful and good-looking too.

It’s quite a norm with most of the householders to use their garage as a storehouse for all the not so frequently used items in the home. Anything and everything for which no proper place can be thought of, is left in the garage. As a result a miscellany of items from sports gear and books to tools and handyman find their way to the garage. Yes, it’s not unusual to see a garage, which makes it rather cumbersome to park a car. Some of the garages get so flooded with all this clutter that parking of car needs an effort and more time consuming, thereby losing the very purpose of having a garage. Well, to some extent garage can easily be used to store the not so frequently used items of the house, but if they are stored in an organized manner, the garage looks neat and presentable, making it easy to move the car in or out of that. One easy way for having organized storage in the garage is to install appropriate shelving to suit the items being stored therein. Most home improvements stores offer building plans for shelves.

Garage shelving comes in two forms. You may have the pre-fabricated variety or get it made to your style and design. Naturally, the pre-fabricated kind is economical and easily available at any local handyman center or a lumberyard in the neighborhood.

In its simplest form a garage shelf is made from plywood or lumber. It is installed with the help of shelf brackets. Here, the brackets are attached to its studs with the help of long screws. For added strength a brace is normally added to each stud. You may also use floor-supported shelves.

Material

Though plastic shelves make a good option, they are not practical for storage of heavier items, which eventually land up in any garage. Having pre-fabricated steel shelves is thus a better option. The limitation with the prefabricated steel shelving is that it can’t be cut to size and is available in standard widths and sizes. That makes it important to see if it would fit your kind of space.

Adjustability

If you take prefabricated shelves into consideration, adjustability becomes important. Shelves need to be adjustable and the pins for adjustment should have a locking arrangement in place, lest they get misplaces or lost.

Safety

Shelving in garage should be installed in such a way that it gets attached to the wall securely to prevent it from falling over. You should be aware that heavily loaded shelving tends to topple over if not attached to the wall properly.

Hooks

It’s a smart idea to have hooks installed in the ceiling joists. They are great for hanging bicycles and other tools and canoes etc. If you have hooks, you will naturally have more available space in the shelves.

Getting rid of clutter

In due course of time most of the garages tend to function like junkyards, because they willingly accommodate items which find no other place in the house. You can prevent it from getting into that shape by periodically checking the contents of the garage and its shelving and getting rid of the unnecessary items, which you are not going to use.

Have a garage sale!

Rather than throwing away the items you are not going to use, having a garage sale is worth considering. Look at what this has to offer; you may salvage some money and revive contacts with neighbors.