Tips on How to put up shelves!

 Once your decor has been finished, you may want to add some shelves to your walls to declutter your room further. Firstly decide on the position of your shelves and use a pencil to mark the shelf height onto your walls.

You will need:

- Pencil
- Spirit level
- Masonry drill bit
- Drill
- Wall plugs
- Shelf kit (including fixings)

 Make sure the mark is discreet and can be covered easily by the shelf; you don’t want to ruin your freshly painted or newly papered walls. Before you mark further, use a multi-purpose electronic tester to ensure that there are no pipes or electrics residing underneath the wall surface. 

Once you are satisfied that it is safe to install a shelf in that position, you must ensure that you install the shelf level; use a spirit level to mark the positions of your brackets. Make sure that the brackets are positioned no more than 600mm apart, as this could lead to the shelf bowing, especially if you use it to display heavy items. 

Also if you intend to paint your shelves, do this before installation and allow to dry before fixing to the wall. Select the masonry drill bit and drill pilot holes into the bracket markings you just made. Drill to the depth of the wall plug, instead of guessing, it may be useful to position the wall plug against the drill bit and mark its depth by wrapping masking tape around the bit.

 If you are putting up shelves on a solid brick or block wall, use the drill on the hammer action setting to drill more effectively. Once you have made your holes, insert the wall plugs, checking that they fit snugly. If the wall plug is loose, insert a bigger wall plug. 

Next fix in the brackets by inserting screws into the wall plugs; finish by attaching the shelf to the bracket, the shelf will either clip in or be fixed via screws or panel pins, read the manufacturer’s instructions which come with the shelf before attaching to the brackets.

 Fixing shelf to plasterboard :

 If you intend to fix the shelf onto a plasterboard wall, choose a cavity wall plug when drilling into the wall. The shelf itself should be fixed directly to the timber studwork underneath, instead of the plaster and lath of the plasterboard wall. Do the ‘tap test’ to identify the stud wall; you should hear a solid sound when you hit the timber rather than the hollow noise created by the lath.