2. How High Should I Hang My Shelf or Shelves? Like artwork, shelves should be hung at about eye level or about 4 to 5 feet from the floor. If you're hanging the shelf above furniture, measure about 10 inches from the top of the desk or couch.
TLDR: There's really no “right” or “wrong” height at which you should hang your kitchen shelves. Honestly, as long as you like the look and you can reach your items, you're good to go! But the “standard” we'd recommend would be about 18 inches above your countertop surface and/or 54 inches from the floor.
The highest shelf in a bookcase should be as high as an average-sized person can comfortably reach - about 72 to 78 inches. If the shelves will be accessed from a sitting position, the highest shelf should be no more than 60 inches above the floor. The lowest shelf should be 3 to 4 inches from the floor level.
Height to Hang Shelves
How do you know how high to hang your shelves? Standard cabinet height is a distance from counter to lower shelf of about 24 inches. Then you want at least a 15-inch space between shelves.
For an office or workspace with open shelves or uppers, 22 to 24 inches is standard for shelf placement above the top of the desk. This is high enough to clear most computer screens and even accommodate undercounter lights.
When vertically mounting shelves, provide room for the tallest item on the shelf, plus a few inches for breathing room. A good rule of thumb for spacing floating shelves is to measure 12 inches between the shelves. However, this can be boosted up to 18 to 24 inches for exposure and accessibility reasons.
General Guidelines I learned: For hanging shelves above a couch, measure 10” above the back of the couch. When hanging shelves on a hallway wall, measure up from the floor 5-6 feet. For hanging shelves on a dining room or living room wall, measure up from the floor 4-4.5 feet.
Although generally, 12-15 inches is suitable for any environment, if the item you are going to put is larger than these dimensions, it may not fit. Then you will need to use a deeper shelf. For example, bookshelves are mostly 10 to 12 inches, while standard furniture shelves are 16 to 20 inches.
How deep should kitchen floating shelves be? First, decide what you plan to display on the shelves. Standard dinner plates are 10-12″, so your shelves should be at least that deep if you're storing plates. Everything else is typically smaller, so 10″ should be sufficient for bowls, drinkware and salad plates.
Like artwork, shelves should be hung at about eye level or about 4 to 5 feet from the floor. If you're hanging the shelf above furniture, measure about 10 inches from the top of the desk or couch. Of course these rules aren't set in stone, and other circumstances might factor into your height decision.
The standard depth of most shelves is 16 to 20 inches deep. The highest shelf should be shallower, like 12 inches deep, to make those items easier to access. If you find that stuff seems to get pushed to the back and forgotten about, you should consider even shallower shelves.
The lowest shelf must be at least 6-inches above the floor with a clear unobstructed area below. All shelves located below a counter top or work area must be set back at least 2-inches from the drip line of the surface above.
The FDA Food Code requires that food be stored six inches off the floor, that food be protected during storage, and that there be no pests in the facility to contaminate food.
If you go beyond the required depth, you will begin to lose weight-bearing capacity. For instance, if you are installing a floating shelf for books, the shelf likely won't need to be more than 10 inches deep, as most books are less than nine inches in length.
The open shelving kitchen trend has been around for a few years now, but real talk: it doesn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down.
But how much weight can a floating shelf hold? TLDR: A floating shelf can hold 45-50 pounds for every wall stud that your floating shelf bracket is attached to.
Floating shelves are best secured into wall studs—hands down. If you must, they can also be attached to plaster or drywall; if driven down this road, make sure you have the proper wall anchors (a.k.a. molly plugs) necessary for the potential load of the shelf.
The rule of thumb for spacing is 12 inches between each shelf but bump that up to 15 or 18 inches and you enhance that sense of exposure and accessibility.
If you're attaching to studs, use a stud finder to find, and mark them. Once they are marked, you'll have to identify which studs to hang the brackets on. This is where you have to use your judgment. We had 5 brackets for each shelf but once we determined where the studs were, it made more sense to use 4.
Always place heavier loads on lower or middle levels of heavy duty storage shelves. Store long and heavy items on their side to prevent the risk of tipping. Label all heavy storage items so materials can be more quickly located. Keep heavier items properly tucked away for safe retrieval and transportation.
Design tip: If you're wondering how high to place floating kitchen shelves, I typically like to place the first shelf about 18″ from the countertop.
Decide which wall you'll want your shelves to be on. Then, using your stepladder, go along the wall and measure down 20 inches from the ceiling (for illustrative purposes only---you can determine your own distance).
Now, symmetry can shine on a floating shelf, if that's what you're going for; however, it might be obvious and stale. Balance, on the other hand, can create more visual interest as the brain attempts to hash out why each piece is where it is. It's a technique that works extremely well for floating shelves.
For kitchens, you want to have a depth of at least 10 inches. This is important if you want to store dinner plates or other wider items on your shelving. My kitchen corner shelf is 12″ deep and I think it is perfect.