Should I paint the floating shelves?

[millefeuille2]

I'd like to put up floating shelves in the study, two rows running across one entire side of the room. Sort of the like the attached photo.

It's an Edwardian house, and there's a picture rail. It's white above, F&B Ammonite below. See photo. I was going to get the Lack shelf from Ikea, which is white and not paintable. Will this look ok?

And will it look ok with the picture rail there? I've been Googling but can't find where someone's put up rows of floating shelves just under a picture rail.

Thank you!

You'll be able to paint them of you prime the surface first.
What is the wall made of? Floating shef brackets need a decent wall to fix them too, lath and plaster is unlikely to be strong enough .

It's the wall that we share with our neighbours (it's a semi). I'm not sure what type of wall (my husband will know, I hope!). In that case, maybe normal shelves with discreet visible brackets?

As the pposter said you can paint them using a primer first which will look more bespoke if they are the same colour as the wall.

They will look fine with whatever mouldings you have.

Wha I'd worry is they won't be strong enough to hold rows of books though.

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My DD put shelves up and painted them the same colour as her walls. They look fantastic.

Do you think two rows just below the picture rail will look right?

The shelves in the photo you posted are below a picture rail.

If you plan on filling them with books like in the photo, that's a lot of weight on the wall and plaster.

I think they'll great. They do look good in the pic you've posted.

If I used a traditional (rather than concealed) bracket, that should hold the weight, right? We have solid wood shelves on normal brackets holding up mason jars - that's maybe a similar weight.

I think they'll be stronger.

It's not that floating shelves can't be strong. It's just that I think the IKEA lack ones don't have long enough fixings to be reliable for books.

There are people that make strong floating shelves that you can order on line. I've seen some on Instagram example posted below. There are probably also some on Etsy. I'd have a look at them if you want floating shelves suitable for books.

Thank you - I know the companies you're referring to. The issue is, they're a lot more expensive! I think I can accept some discreet brackets for £££ saving 😊

I've used Ikea floating shelves in a couple of previous properties. Firstly, as pp said, as long as they are primed, they can be painted. In my first flat I had 3 or 4 of the longest lack shelves in my hall filled with books and it was no problem. From memory, I may have used extra long screws to fix the concealed support. In my second house I had them in the kitchen and stored heavy pasta etc jars on them and the weight was no problem.

We have the Ikea shelves in our lounge painted the same colour as the wall. They look good but we don't put much on them as they aren't strong enough. You need the right type of primer to paint them with first, then pain with the colour of your choice.

What will be below the shelves? A sofa? It should look fine with two rows, you just need to think about the spacing between the top of the sofa, the shelves and the top of the shelves and the picture rail.

Did you have to sand before priming? If not, how well did the paint hold up?
I'm wondering if I could prime and paint furniture without sanding.

I'm not sure I'll bother painting - it sounds time-consuming. One of the reasons I liked Lack was its length - we'd only need 3 for one row. Would Lack work with visible brackets underneath?

You could use brackets to reinforce the floating shelves, or instead of the floating mechanism. Some nice cast iron brackets maybe?

You can use a paint called Bradite One Can to paint them, its a primer/undercoat/top coat all in one and can be miced in any colour. Its great stuff.
I think shelves usually look best painted in with the wall colour.

I’ve got Lack shelves which I primed & painted to match the wall colour. They seem pretty sturdy - I have some books plus some pictures etc on them - but I did pay a carpenter to put them up as they were too tricky for us to do (you need to drill several holes at the exact same level & spacing)

@sellinghomeswithmn at the time I just primed then painted. If I was doing it now I'd probably give them a really light sand followed by Zinsser primer. The paint lasted a number of years for me (certainly until I sold each house).

@TattiePants that's good to know. Thank you