Custom cut-to-order shelves

The Scoop on Custom Floating Shelves

The Scoop on Custom Floating Shelves

Austin Merrill |

Alder Floating Shelves by Ultra Shelf

Floating Shelves transform any empty wall into a beautiful, functional space. Adding floating shelves is a great way to add storage and style to any room in your house. When you pick the right shelves, they're easy to install. Fully customizable shelves are on-trend. 


You’ll see these shelves popping up in homes and retail spaces all across the world (and Instagram) if you’re paying attention. Our favorite restaurant recently added floating shelves to their space and for that space, even just adding three shelves made a huge difference.


The great thing about customized floating shelves is that, in addition to being easy to attach to any wall, you have the versatility to arrange them any way you want. Whether you're looking to display photos or cookbooks, these beautiful shelves are a functional and stylish solution.


We also love floating shelves as a way to upgrade to builder-grade homes. When we moved into our first home, it looked exactly like half of our neighbors' homes on the inside, and floating shelves were a very easy way that we could add something high-end and unique to the space, without having to hire a contractor to come and do more work.


Concord Ivory Painted Shelves by Ultra Shelf

How to Decorate Shelves

Decorating open shelves is one of the easiest ways to give your room a quick refresh. If you've got more than one open shelf on your wall, you're going to want to know about the triangle rule. The triangle rule will help you create really visually interesting shelves, without having to put in a lot of work. All you need are three objects in the same color or material. You’ll place these objects on different shelves in a triangular form. This creates visual interest and will help you create an anchor point for your space.


The pieces that you choose to use to create your triangle don't have to be super matchy-matchy. As long as there is something tying these objects together, like color, shape, material, or something else – you'll be able to get the same cohesive look when creating the triangle. We often use stacks of books throughout our cells to create a triangle, or sometimes even potted plants.


As interior designers, we borrow this rule from artists because the triangle is a shape that naturally draws your eye around an image. If your shelves are feeling really flat and they need something Dynamic, you might just need to rearrange the decor that's currently on your shelves into a triangle. Giving the viewer's eye something to follow hold your attention for longer and makes your shelves feel professionally styled.


Decorating open shelves is one of the easiest ways to give your room a quick refresh. If you've got more than one open shelf on your wall, you're going to want to know about the triangle rule.