Our living room layout is a little awkward: long and narrow with a fireplace jutting into the center of the room. This makes the walls on either side of the fireplace seem inset. On one end, we’re going to do a L-shaped sofa. On the other side, we opted to install two Ikea LACK floating shelves.

I contemplated making my own floating shelves from plans I saw via Ana White, but it seemed like a bit of a pain, especially when 6′ Ikea shelf are only $20!

The shelves were easy enough to install. The Ikea LACK comes in two pieces: the metal mounting piece and the wooden shelf. I found the center-most stud in the wall (not perfectly center, but so it goes), and with Ryan’s help holding the metal piece to the wall, I leveled it and made marks where each screw needed to go.

Because the shelf absolutely needed to be in a stud, I had to install it slightly off-center. Not a big deal. With holes marked, I drilled into the wall and installed heavy-duty anchors (about $8 from Lowe’s) in the drywall (not in the stud, obviously).

Then, again with Ryan helping, I screwed the metal piece into the center stud. From there, I worked my way through fully mounting the piece with the screws and heavy-duty anchors. Tip: Don’t fully screw in anything at first. Get all the screws in halfway, make sure the whole thing is level, then go nuts fully securing it to the wall.

ikea lack bracket

From there, the Ikea LACK wood piece slid onto the mounting bracket’s three arms. The kit came with a small screw to secure the metal and wood pieces together in the center.

ikea lack

Rinse and repeat, and we had two shelves up in about half an hour. As for the sturdiness, they feel solid. I haven’t taken any chances or tested its limits because, well, I’d rather not rip it out of the wall. But, I think it’s safe to say it will hold frames, a few books and trinkets without any issue.

ikea lack

That’s pretty much all I’ve got for you though. I haven’t really decorated them – I’ve just been adding knickknacks to it from around the house, giving it zero cohesion. I may have mentioned this before, but I’m rethinking the curtains in the living room and kitchen. Possibly too bold? But I’ll stick with them at least a full year so I don’t feel the fabric was wasted, haha. UPDATE! Got new curtains!

Please feel free to drop some decorating ideas in the comments. What do you keep on your shelves? These are our first non-utility shelves (see also: laundry room, bathroom), so it feels a little foreign!

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