custom length shelves (cheap!)

hotcookie101

I want to put some shelves up in an alcove in the spare room. Its 750mm wide. I just want plain shelves with (ideally) hidden brackets. And I want the shelves to pretty much touch the sides-as is it were a built in bookcase.... I want about 6 or 7 shelves (need to work that out)
All the floating shelves I can find seem to be 800mm, or custom made at £75+ each. I wouldn't mind brackets-I'd just like them to be not that obvious IYWKIM? I don't mind about material-either wood or plain white/paintable would be grand

I also want 2 longer floating shelves to go in the dining room-approx 1400mm-this is a plasterboard wall-is there a weight limit?

Can anyone recommend anywhere to buy them? We can fit ourselves

hotcookie101

Just bumping this one up to see if anyone has any bright ideas

olias

You just need to fix battens to the wall like this:


http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=shelves+batten&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&biw=1304&bih=688&tbm=isch&tbnid=vVGC84QEJ2OdxM:&imgrefurl=http://www.practicaldiy.com/carpentry/shelving/shelving_alcove.php&docid=l_QSsn8MXxikUM&w=200&h=174&ei=d11OTu7pFIOk8QOOsNGgBw&zoom=1

Or this:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=shelves+batten&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&biw=1304&bih=688&tbm=isch&tbnid=qpbY12YppB2xdM:&imgrefurl=http://diydata.com/carpentry/shelving/shelving_alcove.php&docid=0JylEkMYGDwvqM&w=200&h=174&ei=d11OTu7pFIOk8QOOsNGgBw&zoom=1



And then have a piece of MDF or conti board or similar cut to size at your local DIY shed to put on top of these battens. If you are not going to have a lot of weight on the shelves, then battens either side like in pic 1 are fine. For more weight and stability, add an extra batten to the back like pic 2. Just use 2"x1" planed wood or similar from a DIY shed for the battens, screwed to the wall using appropriate sized rawl plugs and screws.

As for the long floating shelves. Just make sure the brackets are screwed into the stud uprights behind the plasterboard wall.

Olias

ZenUK

Use 12mm studding and resin (every 400mm) and fix into wall minimum 60mm. This will be support for the shelves. Get some 9" x 2" timber and predrill 12mm holes 150mm deep on rear to match studding. Slide onto studding. Glue 6mm mdf to top, bottom and sides. Either paint or stick on some veneer.
Make sure all timber is stored for 10 days in room before use.
That's it for strong floating shelves.
Studding and resin from Toolstation.