DIY Kitchen Fixes

By The CHOW Editorial Team, published on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 / Edit Post

DIY Kitchen Fixes

Building or installing premade shelves from floor to ceiling is a great way to open up space in your kitchen, adding an architectural element in addition to extra storage. We broke up the space using different-length shelves. Vintage measuring cups and colored bowls you’d kept hidden can now double as decoration.

We scored mesh bags from the Container Store to create a recycling area on the bottom shelf, and bought a vertical letter organizer as a more convenient way to hold baking trays. (Thanks to the Chowhounds who gave us this tip!)

Shelves with brackets for mounting (we used shelves from Ikea with these brackets)
4 wood screws or wall anchors per shelf (check with your local hardware store to find out what type of anchor works best with your wall)

Measuring tape
Pencil
Stud finder
Drill
Level

Measure the wall from floor to ceiling.
Divide the space by the number of shelves you have, and measure and mark where you want each shelf to hang. Take one bracket per shelf (say, the left-hand side), and align each one with the marks you made. Make dots where the screws of the left-hand brackets will go.
With your stud finder, check to see if there are wooden studs behind your pencil marks. If there are, you can use a simple wood screw to attach the brackets: Drill a slightly smaller hole than the size of your screw. If there is no wood (there wasn’t in our wall), install wall anchors to attach each bracket.
Attach your left-hand brackets to the wall. Temporarily slip your shelves into the brackets, and lay a level on each shelf to ensure it’s straight. Mark where the right-hand brackets need to go. Slip the shelves off again for the time being.
Drill holes for the right-hand brackets. Slip the shelves back into the left-hand brackets, then into the unmounted right-hand brackets. Screw the right-hand brackets into the wall.