How to Fix Leaning Shelves

Name one thing that frustrates you. Is shelves that lean at the top of your list? Then you're at the right place my friend! Today I'm showing you how I fixed my leaning shelves.



One of my goals this year {actually every year!} is to get some more organization in my life, especially my workspace. I was so excited when I got some floating shelves up so that I could get some items off of my work table...only to realize that the shelves had one major downfall, the hardware provided to hang them was causing them to slowly pull away from the wall. Great for a blog post but frustrating when your stuff keeps falling off!

I was so happy for the extra workspace I was going to gain on my worktable once I got the shelves up. I even made a cute clipboard to hold a  print I had ordered {tutorial coming soon for the clipboard!} for my work room.

 
 
 
Then I walked in the next day to realize that the clipboard AND giant glass jar of glass glitter were lying on the floor! The culprit? The hardware provided with the shelves was not enough to keep the shelves tight against the wall once you put something on it.
 
 

 
 


You can see the slight lean of the shelves. You wouldn't think such a slight angle would affect a shelf but it does!

The one problem I faced with these shelves is that they are not very wide so a simple shelf bracket would not work. I was also trying to avoid using a plain L bracket to keep them level. While browsing through Lowe's one day {some women browse the mall, I'm a big fan of home improvement stores} I came across these.


These are chair braces, technically made for repairing chairs but would work great for this project.

I attached them to the bottom of each shelf and put the shelves back on the wall. I held the shelf level and then screwed the brace to the wall.


No more leaning shelves!! And it is much more attractive than a basic L bracket screwed to the wall.




Stay tune for the tutorial for the clipboard. The gorgeous printable came from Katy Girl Designs and she has them listed here in her Etsy shop.

9 comments:

  1. Hi there, i'm dealing with the same problem right now as a matter of fact! So you screwed the chair brace to the wall and into the shelf aswell?

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    1. Hi! Yes it is screwed in to both. I found the easiest way is to get the shelf mounted where you want it and then take it down, screw in the braces and then put the shelf back up. If you tilt the shelf up a little higher as you are fastening the braces to the wall, it should rest level when you're done!

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  2. So happy I found this. I am headed to Home Depot here after awhile to get some of these. I have a floating shelf that will not stop leaning and it's going to have heavy breakable stuff on it. Thank you, thank you!

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  3. So happy I found this. I am headed to Home Depot here after awhile to get some of these. I have a floating shelf that will not stop leaning and it's going to have heavy breakable stuff on it. Thank you, thank you!

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  4. Can you just use chair braces than using the bracket on the back of the floating shelve?

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  5. You have discussed an interesting topic that everybody should know. For home repairs, wall crack repair, wall crack, fixing cracks in walls you can visit this site sunken floors and piers visit the site to know more about Buildfix Blog.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have a hanging antique curio cabinet that pitches forward on the wall, despite having a wooden support under the base. I cant get the picture wire on the top back any tighter. What could I use instead of the wire? Thank yo for any ideas!

    ReplyDelete