Adding storage or display space in your home can be a snap. Here's how to mount a simple wooden shelf and two brackets to a wall.
Instructions
Buy a wooden shelf from a home-improvement store. Buy shelf brackets - simple L shapes or something more decorative - making sure that the top leg of the bracket is no longer than the shelf is deep.
Buy screws if you don't have a supply at home or if they don't come with the brackets.
Find the wall studs; you'll fasten the brackets to them.
Determine where you want the bottom edge of the shelf to sit, then mark the position in pencil, using a carpenter's level as a guide.
Line up the top of each bracket with the pencil line and mark the attachment holes on the wall. Set the bracket aside.
Test-drill the holes to make sure they are going into wood rather than wallboard. If there is no stud in a convenient place and the shelf is not going to carry more than a few pounds, you may be able to settle for using hollow-wall anchors .
Attach the brackets to the wall, lay your shelf on top, and screw the bracket into the shelf.
Tips & Warnings
Choose screws that will penetrate the wallboard and go into the stud about 1 inch. Choose shorter screws for mounting theshelf on the bracket, so they won't penetrate the top of the shelf.
?