• About Polished Habitat
    • About Me
    • Contact Me / Media Requests
    • Partner with Us / Advertise
    • Terms of Service, Privacy, & Disclosure Statements
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • Home Decor
  • Room Makeovers
    • House Tour
    • Space Reveals
  • Cricut
  • Organizing
    • Most Popular Organizing Posts
    • Closet Organization
    • Bathroom Organization
    • Kitchen Organization
    • All Organizing Posts
  • Cleaning
  • Letter Board Ideas

Polished Habitat

Home » DIY & Crafts » Invisible Floating Bookshelf – Small Space Storage

04/01/2021 · 6 Comments

Invisible Floating Bookshelf – Small Space Storage

DIY & Crafts

1.1K shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

If you’re short on storage space for books or just looking for a wall to display your books in style, I’ve got a quick and affordable tutorial for you today!

I fall into the camp of people that love having my own library of books at home. However, our living room floor plan doesn’t allow space for bookcases without giving up seating and my office shelving is already full of business and decorating non-fiction reads.

I found the perfect solution for anyone else trying to display books – invisible floating bookshelf brackets! We put ours at the end of a hallway, and they’re ideal because they only take up the width of a book. They’d be just as great in a bedroom or living room.

Books Stacks mounting on the wall with invisible brackets
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs I earn from qualifying purchases.

I first saw the Umbra Conceal shelves, but when they were out of stock, I found a different brand on Amazon that came in a four-pack instead of 3. Since I needed 12 of the shelves, it saved me a decent amount of money and we’re really happy with the quality.

Here’s what the hidden shelves look like before installation.

White metal L shaped bracket for books

See the C-shaped pocked under the ledge? That is where you’ll tuck the back cover of the bottom book. The longer L part of the shelf goes in between the back page and the back cover. This makes the book stack more secure and also conceals most of the shelf.

This photo is probably more helpful than my words!

Demonstration of Putting a Book onto a metal invisible shelf

As you can see in the above photo, each shelf has four screws to attach it to the wall.

Installation is quick and easy with basic tools, including a drill, hammer, and ideally a level.

Before we drilled any holes, we spent some time figuring out how to arrange our shelves around a thermostat and light switch. We also had to decide how much vertical space to leave between stacks. Each shelf can hold 15 pounds of books, or a combination of books and decorations. Visually, 5 to 6 books per shelf looks great.

Don’t skip the planning part – either lay the shelves out on the floor to figure out your design or even grab a piece of graph paper to sketch it out.

Once you have a plan, grab a pencil and a level to mark the four holes for your first shelf using the actual shelf as a template.

Drill the holes in the corresponding size of your wall anchors. The shelves we received did come with anchors, but they were pretty weak and bent when we tried to hammer them in. We quickly switched to using sturdier 25 lb #6 anchors from our garage stash and would recommend anyone installing these shelves into drywall to do the same.

With your anchors installed, you just have to screw your shelf into them, double-check that they are level, and you’re already done!

The last part is the most fun – loading your shelves with books! I’m actually not done organizing mine yet, but they’re great for now. Perhaps most importantly, our fireplace mantel is back to being a pretty mantel after months of being slowly consumed by piles of books!

Wall of floating book stacks

Between these new invisible floating shelves and the picture ledges I’m using for books in the living room, I have space to add a few more new additions before I’m hunting for another perfect book storage solution!

And PS: If you’re looking to add to your own home library, I shared my thoughts on the Book of the Month Club over on Book Girls Guide this week. You can also see more creative ways I decorate with books here.

Happy reading!

MORE FROM POLISHEDHABITAT

1.1K shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
melissa

Melissa George

In 2013, Melissa founded Polished Habitat to share her passion for intersecting style and function to make everyday life more beautiful and less stressful. She does this by sharing easy home organization tips, home decor tutorials, and creative ideas to help readers think outside the box, no matter their budget. Her work has been featured in print in Better Homes & Gardens and Room to Create Magazine, and online by HGTV, House Beautiful, Buzzfeed, & more. In 2018 & 2019, Melissa was named as a Style Maker by Better Homes & Gardens. In 2019, Polished Habitat was shortlisted for the Amara Blog Awards Best Interior Styling Blog - International. Read more...

« Cube Storage Ideas
How to Label Storage Bins On a Dollar Tree Budget »

Comments

  1. Sarah Vogel says

    04/04/2021 at 12:34 pm

    Beautiful! This is like a work of art!! Genius, as always!!

    Reply
  2. Joycegina Hosmar says

    04/06/2021 at 6:57 am

    Those floating bookshelves look great! What a unique idea!

    Since you mentioned your mantle, I was wondering if you would consider doing a piece on decorating mantels. Or maybe just share an Instagram pic of the way you decorate it each season. My mantel is redone each season. Sometimes I like what I’ve done and other times I feel like I need help.

    Reply
  3. Maria says

    04/09/2021 at 11:20 am

    Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful idea!!!!! I like it so much that I think I may give this a try as well:)
    Have a great weekend!!!

    Reply
  4. The Cape on the corner says

    04/09/2021 at 6:39 pm

    That looks amazing! I love the whole colorful vibe and the patterned wall!
    B

    Reply
  5. Mary says

    12/19/2021 at 1:50 pm

    I love this idea so much, helps keep things uncluttered and looking creative! A nicely organized book display also makes reading a more inviting habit. Thank you for sharing! ❤️🤍❤️

    Reply
    • Melissa George says

      12/19/2021 at 2:14 pm

      Thank you! There isn’t much better than being surrounded by books!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome!

In 2013, Melissa started Polished Habitat to share her skill of mixing decor & organization to add style & function to everyday life at home.

Her work has been featured in print in Better Homes & Gardens and Room to Create Magazine, and online by HGTV, House Beautiful, Buzzfeed, & more.

In 2018 &  2019, Melissa was named as a Style Maker by Better Homes & Gardens. In 2019, she was also short-listed by the Amara Blog Awards for Interior Styling, International Division.

Need to reach Melissa?
Email: Melissa @ PolishedHabitat.com

Affiliate Disclosure

Polished Habitat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Copyright

Please keep in mind that all text and images on this blog are the property of Polished Habitat (formerly A Prudent Life).

Projects are for personal use only.

Photo Use Policy

You are welcome to share 1 image for an online round up or feature if you clearly link back to my post and use nopin code.

You are not permitted to remove watermarks, crop or edit my photos, use my images without credit, print my images, or share more than 1 image online without my written permission.

The 1 image used can NOT be a collage image or any image I have created that includes text. Please email me with any questions about acceptable use! THANK YOU!

Copyright © 2023 · polishedhabitat.com