Shelving for an alcove

francohoops

Hi
We're looking at installing some shelving in an alcove in our living room. I've looked into floating shelves but would need them made up due to the width of the gap, which works out quite expensive.

Does anyone have any recommendations of where to buy some reasonably priced shelves and brackets - they'd need to be made to measure - want it to look good and not too commercial or rough.

Thanks for your help.

Regards
F

Owain_Moneysaver

Many B&Q stores will cut MDF or chipboard sheets to size.

Put a batten lipping on the front to strengthen and improve appearance.

They will also have a selection of bracket strip and brackets you can use at the back of the alcove, or you could use battens at the sides.

TomokoAdhami

Amazon and eBay could be reliable options but you can also consider B&M Store because they offer a variety of shelves at a reasonable price. You can also see the IKEA shelf brackets at their store.

Doozergirl

One of the first DIY jobs I did was make up floating shelves for alcoves. In exactly the way Owain describes. It's inexpensive and pretty simple.

I'm sure there will be an instructional video on the internet somewhere.

Undervalued

Check very carefully how square (or otherwise) your alcove actually is! They can be a long way out, often with the width at the back being a good few mm narrower than at the front due to the plaster.

If you want a perfect made to measure fit your shelves may need to be carefully shaped rather than just cut to a rectangle. Failing that, if the walls are significantly out of square, a deliberate gap looks better than something that doesn't really fit!

Ectophile

The DIY shops don't just sell shelving units. They also sell saws and tape measures.


Buy some shelves that are too long. Measure the alcove. Mark out the length on a shelf. Measure it again. Check that you actually marked the right point on the shelf. Then saw it neatly to length.

Pollyflinders

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Many B&Q stores will cut MDF or chipboard sheets to size.

Put a batten lipping on the front to strengthen and improve appearance.

They will also have a selection of bracket strip and brackets you can use at the back of the alcove, or you could use battens at the sides.

We did just that in DDs house. Looks good.

getmore4less

You can buy the floating brackets and make shelves.

keith969

Couple of pieces of 2x1 screwed to the alcove sides as supports, then some suitable softwood planks or plywood etc for the shelves. As Undervalued says, measure carefully as most aren't square!

grumbler

francohoops wrote: »

Does anyone have any recommendations of where to buy some reasonably priced shelves and brackets - they'd need to be made to measure - want it to look good and not too commercial or rough.

Personally, I wouldn't need any brackets for an alcove. However, if it's wide, chipboard will bend without any extra support in the middle.

I made my 190 cm long shelves from a hardwood 4 cm thick worktop, although it wasn't cheap. However, for shorter shelves you can use a a less thick worktop

Jackmydad

I've said about this before.
https://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/
Worth checking to see that the material you're using will take the load.

And I'd echo other's who have said about not just assuming the sides of the alcove will be square to the back.
In fact it's good practice to generally assume that nothing in any house is either square or plumb.