I've been researching this for a friend.

Best I've found are here: http://www.ennospace.com/woodshop/index.php/wall-shelves/floating-shelves/12-deep-houston-floating-shelves.html but they never got back to me about how much load they can carry. I fear it's not enough for stacks of plates, etc.....

I also found lots of sites with how-tos for building custom ones. You may need to hire a carpenter to do that for you if you're not handy enough.

Here is a link that might be useful: 12

I just want to add that the same shelves are advertised on Amazon with a VERY bad review.... so maybe disregard them!!! Sorry about that.

Look at French Cleats?

Did you talk to Frigo yet? I chatted with them a while back about custom panels and found the woman there to be very helpful. They do custom work IIRC. Check out the pic of the concrete block on the floating shelf!

Here is a link that might be useful: Frigo

We put a floating solid walnut shelf (~82" long) over our buffet.

First, DH and a contractor friend installed 4 lag bolts (~1/2" x 10") into the studs, leaving 7-8" sticking out. Then they sawed off the heads of the bolts. *Note: make sure the bolts are screwed in so they are straight, and level coming out of the wall (they pre-drilled holes in the studs before screwing in the bolts, and they made sure to go in straight, and made the holes slightly smaller in diameter than the bolts).

They then held the shelf up to the bolts to mark the shelf in the correct spots. They used a big drill press, and bored holes into the shelf along the back edge (where they had marked). *Note: the holes needed to be slightly larger in diameter than the bolts.

Last, they aligned the shelf's holes with the headless lag bolts (sticking out of the wall), and slid the shelf onto the lag bolts. Very secure, very sturdy.

I have the Pottery Barn floating shelves. They have 2 ways to hang them depending on if you are using studs or just the sheet rock. They have the weight limitations included in them . I have very heavy plates etc on them and have used them now for 4 1/2 yrs w/o failure. I weighed the stacks prior to placing them on the shelves. Here is a pic.

I did custom powdercoated metal. I wanted them to run the entire length of the walls and I planned to stack all of my everyday dishes and select serveware so they had to be strong. They're strong enough to park a car on. They're attached with big metal T brackets to the studs behind the drywall. Then the shelf slid into the brackets and was also anchored to studs. They weren't inexpensive, but they're exactly to my own spec in terms of depth, thickness, color etc. They're a real focal point so it was worth the $ to me.

hi lolog72 - I'd love to see a picture of your shelves. It sounds like the t-brackets were installed prior to the drywall, and maybe the shelves went up before the drywall too? Hope you don't mind sharing a bit more about them!

Yes, the T brackets and shelves had to be installed before the brackets. They actually shaved/routered a channel in the studs so the portion of the bracket that was screwed into the studs didn't bump out from the stus and thus bump out the drywall. I think there were 5 brackets for the expanse that was about 10'. Then the shelf slid onto the bracket and was also anchored to the studs in places... The shelves had a little lip top and bottom. Then the drywall went up and covered the lip and brackets so all you see is shelf. Here's a pic (if it works). I also did two more shelves on a smaller 6' wall above a desk area.
[IMG]http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx226/laurag72photo/e83cacec.jpg[/IMG]

Oops. Looks like I did that wrong. trying again...

Here's a pic before drywall went up. You can even see a bracket on the work table.

and finished kitchen...

Wow, that is a gorgeous kitchen! Nice work :)

Thanks lolog! Cool to see the pre-drywall phase and then the final product. Those shelves turned out great, as did the whole kitchen.

Are your floating shelves between 2 walls? If so, that's a bit easier. I'm pretty happy with ours-we used an L bracket installed into the studs and drywalled over. They are not completely invisible, but blend pretty well.

Pps7- I love it! I will have a wall on one side and back. What do you think?

Thanks for great ideas all! As usual you've all helped a bunch!

Our cabinetmaker made iron dowels that are bracketed to the studs to support floating shelves. The tilers tiled around the dowels. The shelves are MDF with fir veneer and have "tunnels" drilled in them for the iron dowels. I think the shelves will be very strong. They were designed to line up with the muntons of the adjacent double-hung windows (when they are closed).

Lynn

well said. Rods / dowels inserted into the studs, meeting matching tunnels in the shelves. Since the shelves are substantial, they are thick enough to be tunneled into.

Use something called a "drill press" to make the tunnels.

One thing you can do to make the rods, is a series of rods sticking out from a strip of metal which you bolt to studs. To see this, find
"jackww's ABSTRAKT White Kitchen" in ikeafans.com
probably here :
http://www.ikeafans.com/galleries/index.php?n=791
http://www.ikeafans.com/galleries/index.php?n=780
http://www.ikeafans.com/galleries/index.php?n=779
(Custom 'floating' shelving using welded brackets and sections of NUMERAR Oak counter finished with 3 coats of TUNG Oil)

Here is a "before" picture of the dowels projecting from the studs, with tiles laid over:

{{!gwi}}

And here is an "after" picture of the fir shelves with some dishes already up. Our cabinetmaker also glued the shelves onto the dowels, which is probably overkill: barring earthquakes, they weren't going anywhere!

{{!gwi}}

Great pictures of floating shelves in this thread!
Lynn