Open Shelving Installation

Floating shelves or bracketed open shelving above a kitchen counter, in a bathroom, or flanking a fireplace costs $50-$200 and installs in 2-4 hours. The trick is finding studs (use a stud finder, not the "knock and guess" method) and leveling precisely — a shelf that's 1/8" off looks drunk from across the room. Pine boards stained with Minwax Early American on iron pipe brackets is the industrial-farmhouse look. Walnut floating shelves with hidden hardware is the modern upgrade. Both look like they cost 10x what they did.