Shelf Styles

Four main styles run through our catalog. Hidden bracket floating shelves show nothing but wood. Visible bracket shelves make the steel or wood support part of the look. Rounded corner shelves soften the outline, and freeform shelves leave the straight line behind entirely with waves and sculpted edges. All of them are solid oak or mahogany from the same Brooklyn shop.

Hidden brackets give the clean, floating look and suit most rooms; the steel lives inside the board and holds 45 to 50 pounds per stud. Visible brackets trade some of that minimalism for more capacity and a deliberate style: black steel J brackets read modern industrial, wood corbels read classic kitchen, and deep L brackets carry roughly 100 pounds each. Pick by the room's style first, the load second.

Thickness changes both the look and the load. Thin shelves are 7/8 of an inch thick, run 6 to 36 inches, and keep a light line for photos, plants, and paperbacks. Thick shelves are an inch and a half, run 12 to 84 inches, and carry roughly 45 to 50 pounds per stud for books, dishes, and kitchen storage. On the wall, thin reads like a line and thick reads like furniture.

Open kitchen shelving usually means one of three builds. Thick floating shelves at 8 to 12 inches deep hold everyday dishes with nothing visible. Wood corbel shelves give the classic wood-on-wood farmhouse look. Steel bracket shelves suit kitchens with black fixtures, and the deep L bracket version carries the heaviest stacks. All are solid hardwood that wipes clean with a dry cloth.

Yes, and it usually works best with one repeated element holding it together: the same wood across different shapes, or the same shape in different sizes. A thick oak shelf above a run of mini shapes shares the grain; a corner shelf continues a straight run around the room's angle. Keep the wood consistent and the styles can vary freely.