Hi all! Quite often in apartments and houses you can find niches in different rooms. They are found in the bathroom, often along with sewer pipes, in the kitchen and hallway, less often in the living room and bedroom. And if you make shelves in a niche, this will maximize its practicality.
Agree that simply covering an existing niche, or leaving it without shelves, storing all things only on the lower edge, is an extremely irrational way to use this interior element.
Yes, a niche is a kind of recess in the wall. Therefore, the shelves will be built-in and not protrude beyond the walls of the toilet, bathroom, living room or other room.
The only question is how to make a shelf and what material to choose from.
How to hang a shelf on drywall - installation features
In general, hanging a shelf on drywall is quite difficult, but with the right approach it is possible.
A competently carried out work process using the necessary and high-quality materials is the secret to the success of professionals. Despite the fact that drywall is one of the most sought-after and popular materials, it is quite delicate, and some impacts can negatively affect its shape and integrity. Such impacts can safely include the installation of shelves - the larger and heavier they are, the greater the chance of getting a damaged plasterboard partition (large cracks may appear or the integrity of the entire structure may be compromised). This can significantly degrade the appearance of your room and the design of the apartment as a whole.
A neat shelf on a wall lined with plasterboard
Advantages and disadvantages of drywall
Drywall is classified as a universal material that has various purposes - ceilings, niches, and all kinds of shaped structures are made from it. This popularity is due to the following advantages:
Plasterboard construction can also be durable
Despite the large number of advantages of this material, some of its disadvantages should be highlighted:
Drywall shelves - improving skills
The whole structure on a wall lined with plasterboard
Is it possible to hang shelves on drywall? It's possible, just be careful. According to novice builders, it is generally better not to hang anything on plasterboard walls and partitions - “the fragile material will quickly break and become unusable. Professionals have a different opinion - with the help of simple manipulations you can significantly strengthen a plasterboard wall.
Now we’ll try to figure out the most popular questions on this topic, but all you need is attention and a good memory in order to remember all the professional techniques.
Hanging light shelves
Let's start with the fact that you can attach a shelf that is small in size and weight to drywall using special dowels . You will find such fasteners under the name umbrella dowel and butterfly dowel, which are created specifically for attaching various objects to drywall.
The question immediately arises, which ones to choose ? In any hardware store, a competent sales consultant will quickly help you decide on a purchase; to do this, he needs to tell him the parameters and approximate weight of the item being attached to the drywall (shelves, cabinets, paintings, etc.).
The principle of operation of such dowels is simple - when screwed into the wall, the dowel head begins to open, thereby forming an excellent stop and taking most of the load on itself. When purchasing, the main thing is to choose the right set - the screw should be slightly longer than the dowel (about 1-1.2 cm).
How to hang a shelf on a plasterboard wall? Let's try to consider the entire installation process in detail:
- 2 holes are drilled in the wall (working surface), suitable for diameter dowels;
- Dowels are inserted into the resulting holes and brackets (hooks) for the shelf are mounted on screws;
- The shelf itself is hung.
In principle, with light shelves everything is quite simple - then it will become more complicated and interesting.
Attention! If you are new to the construction business, then exercise extreme care and caution when working - even such a seemingly simple task can cause a lot of headaches.
Hanging a heavy shelf
If you are unable to secure a heavy shelf (picture, cabinet, etc.) using the above-mentioned method, due to the fact that the heavy product simply crumbles the drywall, then there is another way. It involves fixing a shelf to plasterboard by mounting it to a metal frame using special fasteners.
How to hang a shelf on a plasterboard wall if it is heavy? The following list of works must be completed:
Installation sequence of the Butterfly dowel
- Holes are drilled in measured places, not only through the drywall, but also through the profile;
- The next step is to insert the butterfly dowel into the finished holes and tighten the screw with the fastener attached to it;
- The screws should not be tightened too much - the main thing is that the wall can withstand not only the weight of the shelf, but also the pressure as a whole.
Features of self-installation of glass products
When installing glass structures yourself, you must follow a number of rules to ensure that the product is functional and lasts a long time.
- They determine the location of the glass structure or object, where it will be located - in the bathroom or in the hallway.
- Choose a suitable fastening method (adhesive mounting or installation of special fittings).
- Having chosen the fastening method using fittings, select the appropriate fasteners.
- Depending on the fasteners, they are installed in the correct order.
- Check the reliability of the work performed.
Tips for installing mirrors yourself
When installing a mirror yourself, you should consider many factors. Each material requires a certain type of fastener.
The mirror is fixed to the concrete wall using glue. It is worth considering that glue is not always able to withstand a massive product, so you can use a combination of glue with double-sided tape.
The mirror sheet is fixed to the plasterboard wall using holders. It must be remembered that drywall can be deformed if there is a strong impact on it, so the weight of the mirror sheet should be taken into account.
Rules for installing glass shelves yourself
Attaching a glass shelf yourself is not difficult, if you consider the following:
- To secure a shelf no more than 50 cm long and 20-25 cm wide, only two holders are required, but if you intend to install a longer shelf, the number of holders increases.
- Before installing fittings for a glass shelf, you should mark its location (the holders must be attached so that the shelf is horizontal and level without distortion).
- When installing several shelves, it is better to start installation from the top row.
By following these tips, you can independently carry out a number of activities to install any glass element and structure.
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Hanging shelves - secrets of home craftsmen
Among the great variety of home craftsmen, there are real “nuggets of the old school” who are skeptical about new construction methods, preferring to trust their own experience and skill.
And it cannot be said that they are doing it wrong - many installation methods have proven to be effective and quite convenient, with the help of which you can significantly improve and strengthen the plasterboard structure. Let's try to understand this “construction cocktail” and try to find the answer to the question - how to hang shelves on drywall with your own hands?
If in the room where you want to hang a shelf, the walls are lined with plasterboard, then the shelf can be fixed not to the plasterboard, but through it to the wall. Anchor bolts, which builders rarely use, but home craftsmen, on the contrary, often use, will help us with this.
Using anchor bolts, you can securely attach the shelf to the wall. With this method of fastening, you can safely forget about the fact that the shelf may someday come off. Surely this method of fastening from “nuggets” is worthy of respect.
How to do all this? Now let's look at:
- First, you need to drill working holes in the places where the cabinet, shelf or other accessory will be attached;
- The next step is to make deep holes in the load-bearing (monolithic wall);
- Next, we insert the anchor into the holes made and clamp it;
- What’s interesting is that the anchor bolts themselves can be used as fastenings, or additional brackets can be hung on them.
Visual instructions for installing anchor bolts
In addition to anchor bolts, many “self-taught inventors” use Driva dowels. Using this fastener, you can safely hang a lamp, a shelf, or even a small hanger on a plasterboard wall.
But there is one significant “but” - to fasten even a light shelf, it is necessary that the drywall is simply glued to the wall, and not held on the frame. Otherwise, Driva will not reach the wall and will be useless.
Installation method for Driva dowels
Advice! When working with fastenings to a plasterboard surface, you should be extremely careful - incorrect markings or poorly selected dowels can set you back several stages of work, which in itself can result in a colossal loss of time.
As for the cost of this issue, it all depends on the method you chose - if you decide to hang a light shelf on two “butterflies”, then the price of the issue will be 40-50 rubles.
That, in principle, is all a novice owner needs to know. If you have any questions, photo and video instructions are presented to your attention on our website. Good luck!
Why do you need invisible fasteners?
All types of shelf fastening can be divided into traditional (using brackets and other fasteners) and invisible, or hidden. In the first case, holders made of metal or plastic securely fasten the products and are placed below, above or on both sides.
Advice! The hinges and corners, which are designed to support the heavy weight of the shelves, look almost imperceptible and compact. They are great for many interior styles.
The second mounting option means that the fittings remain disguised, and the design looks neat and unusual. This type of fastener is used to create the illusion of shelves floating in space, which is great for modern interiors.
Shelves with hidden fasteners in the interior
Hidden fasteners are needed if the presence of additional technological or decorative elements is not provided for by the selected design or is not consistent with the function of the shelves. Hidden fittings are ideal for concrete and brick walls, but are not recommended for thin partitions.
Shelves-niches made of plasterboard in the living room (9 photos)
When arranging an apartment, everyone wants to get an exclusive version of the interior of the hall as a result of renovation. However, after installing the furniture, it turns out that the room looks ordinary and banal, “like everyone else.” Of course, you can try to install the furniture differently, but still the end result is a typical, standardly furnished room. A good way out of this situation would be to create shelves and niches from plasterboard in the living room yourself. This material has long been used in interior design. It is flexible, easily suitable for the construction of various structures and can successfully replace massive frame furniture.
Materials used
First, let's talk about what kind of shelves there are.
There are actually several options:
Mainly used are plasterboard shelves, as well as wooden and glass structures.
You can make them yourself, buy them from the manufacturer, or take them to order if you need something very original and individual. For example, you want to install a dozen shelves in a narrow niche.
Convenience of building plasterboard niches in living rooms
The living space in apartment buildings built in the second half of the twentieth century and in many modern municipal high-rise buildings is so small that residents worry about every extra centimeter given up when covering the walls in the hall for frame fastenings. To some extent, you can compensate for this loss by making niches from plasterboard in the living room. Thus, you can achieve several positive results at once:
- Reduce the amount of wasted space, since shelves can be made in the spaces between structural elements.
- Give individuality to the room, make its design special.
- Save a large amount of money by ordering furniture based on a personal project.
Wall recesses, or niches, have been used by people since biblical times. Despite the passage of time, they still have not lost their relevance. Thanks to the plasticity of drywall, they can be given any shape and structures of different sizes can be made. In the living room, a niche can be used:
- as a stand for a large TV;
- as a frame for a sofa, and you can install a backlight or LED strip in it, which will make it possible to use additional lighting in the room.
A corner rounded niche can be used to install a beautiful vase or figurine, while it will make it possible to play up the corner of the room.
Features of glass shelves for the bathroom
Glass is a complex but fairly common material used to make parts designed for human convenience. As for glass shelves for the bathroom, special plexiglass is used here, unbreakable and pre-heated to eliminate static stress. In the last few years, varieties of material have been introduced to the market that protect people from cuts. They can break if hit hard, but cannot cut a person. Such glass is most often used to make shelves in the bathroom.
When purchasing for a bathroom, it is recommended to give preference to frosted plexiglass, which will not lose its appearance in a short time, unlike simple transparent glass. On transparent products, drops of water are the first to be seen, so to maintain cleanliness, the housewife needs to constantly wipe them or wash the glass daily using cleaning products.
Plasterboard shelves and their advantages
To decorate a room, shelves are often made along with niches. Usually they are consistent with the general style of the room and therefore fit harmoniously into its interior, which is difficult to achieve from purchased pieces of furniture. You can make very elegant plasterboard shelves (photo), which will have many advantages:
- they can easily withstand the weight of any household appliance in the room;
- you can place flower pots on them without fear of ruining the polish;
- with their help, shelves are convenient to mask flaws in the decoration of the room and hide communication pipes behind them;
- using shelves, you can visually expand the space or, conversely, narrow it;
- The lighting located in the shelves will highlight the objects located on them in a favorable light;
- they can become the main detail of the interior, attracting attention;
- By installing plasterboard shelves in the room, you can solve the issue of zoning the space.
Using mirror inserts, spot lighting and the correct placement of shelves relative to the size of the room, you can visually adjust the room. This is especially true in elongated narrow rooms located on the shady side of the building.
Additionally, in older homes where the living room is a walk-through space with a lot of doors, creating shelves in different shapes can help draw attention away from the doorways and make the living room stand out.
Where are glass products installed?
Glass products can be mounted in any room of the house. It can be in the bathroom, or in the bedroom above the dressing table. The most common mounting location is a full-length hallway mirror. In addition, some people prefer to decorate their home with all kinds of glass shelves that are mounted along the walls.
Glass shelf
Of course, large glass will be much more difficult to install than small glass, which can be easily attached with tape to the surface. Regardless of the size of the item and where you plan to install it, you must first prepare the selected surface for fastening: clean it of dirt and grease deposits. In some cases it should be leveled.
Drywall in the interior design of the hall
The hall in the apartment is a place that can be used for receiving guests, for family dinners, for relaxation and even for sleeping. This is especially true for small families and apartments in which several generations of the family live together. Therefore, the arrangement of niches, partitions and shelves in this room is especially important. The living room should accommodate a large number of people, which means it cannot be overloaded.
- By installing bookshelves on the wall in the hall facing the street, you can simultaneously hide the heating radiators and insulate the wall.
- If the room is used at night as a sleeping area, then you can make a niche around the sofa and, placing lighting in it, use it as night lighting, and the shelves next to the sofa will play the role of bedside tables.
- A TV and a built-in electric fireplace, as well as an aquarium, will fit perfectly into the niche located opposite the sofa.
- If the design of the room is arranged according to Feng Shui, then you cannot do without drywall. Its use allows you to make all sharp corners in the room rounded.
- Niches made of plasterboard with rounded shapes look impressive on the wall. The lighting located under the shelves allows you to create the feeling of the structure floating in the air, giving it weightlessness.
Tips for installing plasterboard shelves and niches
When deciding to make a niche or shelf from gypsum plasterboard, you must take into account that this material itself cannot withstand a lot of weight. Therefore, it is necessary to create a strong frame with frequent profile pitches, onto which the drywall will be attached. In addition, if it is planned to install electrical equipment in the structure, then it is necessary to conduct wiring inside the frame in advance.
When installing a niche that has elements with a rounded shape, the wet method of bending drywall is used, as this allows you to give the part the required shape without damaging it.
An LED strip is well suited for lighting shelves, as it is very easy to install and takes up virtually no extra space in the frame.
After drilling the holes for the fasteners, dowels are inserted into them, which go against the grain. After this, a screw is inserted into the dowel, for example, with brackets or hooks. According to builders and manufacturers, the maximum weight that drywall mounted on a wall can withstand is 55 kilograms. Note: the head of the fastener must be held with pliers, pliers or any other tool. The fact is that when the bolt is tightened, it can turn, crumbling the drywall around the attachment point.
How to hang shelves on a plasterboard wall if they are light in weight and will not be loaded during operation? The type of fastener we need is called a gypsum board dowel.
Plasterboard niche with shelves
To install a niche made of plasterboard with your own hands, you should prepare materials, the quantity of which is calculated based on the drawing: When you have the idea to create a niche with shelves, you need to decide what it will be like? Where will it stand? Why is it needed?
When all the answers to these questions have been received, you need to start designing, drawing and drawing. In order to design a drawing on which the entire installation will be based, it is initially better to draw a drawing with the number of shelves, the color of the light, and the installation location. To install shelves, you must take into account the interior of the room.
The base of the shelf is 10 cm. In order for the horizontal profiles to be reliable, corners are attached at the bottom. The recess of the shelf will be as shown in the diagram. This will be the thickness of the entire structure.
Jumpers should be installed as often as possible to ensure the reliability of the structure. Let's say every 30 cm. Scheme for creating plasterboard shelves with stiffeners. Basically, around a niche, a wall or corner needs to be covered with plasterboard for an impressive appearance. Now that the frame is ready, you should do the wiring. All wires are insulated in a special corrugation so that the wire does not have contact with the metal base.
The video shows the process of creating a frame for a plasterboard niche.
- Divide one large room into areas for relaxation and receiving guests.
- Remove all old furniture that stands along the walls and takes up space.
- Make your home design unique.
- Niches with shelves and light. The room becomes brighter.
Shelves in a niche against the wall
Damn, I really wouldn’t want to start drilling with this attachment and realize that I started all this in vain. How is it on concrete? Perforation will not work. Will I have to buy some kind of drill for concrete so that it cuts like clockwork?
- You can use furniture handles in the form of a small cylinder with an axis Ф 4mm. But here there may be a problem with fixing the glass itself so that it does NOT move.
Profan27 wrote: What is the intended height distance between the shelves? If you drill not into the tiles, but with a thin drill into the seam between the tiles, and then thin metal into this hole. Driving the rod onto the glue will make things much easier. What is the intended height distance between the shelves? If you drill not into the tiles, but with a thin drill into the seam between the tiles, and then thin metal into this hole. Driving the rod onto the glue will make things much easier. There is a niche in the wall where I intend to put shelves, glass, 6mm thick. The shelves have already been made. The niche dimensions are 42 cm deep and 16 cm wide. How to secure the shelves? You can only work with a drill on the opposite side, on the sides - due to the narrowness of the niche, it is unrealistic, at least with my tool and skills.
Adhesive fastening method
For adhesive mounting, you can use either double-sided tape or glue. There is also a mechanical method of attaching glass to the wall, but we will return to this a little later.
Connecting the product to the surface using tape is the simplest method. However, with this type of fastening, use only double-sided tape. First you need to peel off one protective layer from it and secure the tape along the wall. Then you apply the glass to the wall, remove the top protective layer from the tape, releasing the adhesive side, and press the glass firmly.
Although this method is simple, it also has a number of disadvantages. Often the object being strengthened is placed unevenly, and it will be very difficult to tear it off the surface and reattach it there. If this is a corridor, then you risk tearing off the wallpaper along with it; the sight will not be the best. To prevent this from happening, after gluing the tape to the intended fastening location, apply a thin layer of sealant along it. But when working with it, remember: it should not go outside. By applying a sealant, you can take into account possible gaps before securing the glass object and fix it straight and level.
If you want to use glue when attaching glass with your own hands, then we advise you to choose a silicone-based glue of the “liquid nails” type. The algorithm for working with glue will be as follows:
- Apply glue to the entire glass product in a thin layer around the perimeter. Then, having assessed all the risks, eliminating the possibility of a crooked arrangement, we sharply press the surface against the wall;
Adhesive fastening method
- It is necessary for the glass to dry to the surface. To do this, it is advisable to press something weighty against it for some time (perhaps even up to a day). If we are talking about a tall mirror or glass product from floor to ceiling, then it is better to find a large box, for example, from a refrigerator and press it tightly against the wall;
- After the glue has dried, the remaining gap between the glass and the wall should be treated with sealant around the perimeter of the glass.
The surface on which you plan to mount the glass must first be cleaned not only of dirt, but also of wallpaper. Outline the area with chalk around the perimeter of the glass and work it thoroughly.
How to fix a shelf on a plasterboard wall
To secure such shelves, you will need a special design, firstly, you will need to mount the structure strictly in the profile of the plasterboard sheet, and secondly, the use of special fasteners. How to hang a shelf on a plasterboard wall with a large impact on the surface, namely with a large weight of the shelf. Accordingly, the method for a light shelf will not work here, since under the influence of a large mass the plasterboard will simply crumble and crack, which can lead to complete destruction of the wall structure, as well as to the fall of the shelf.
And from this it follows that hanging shelves on drywall should be done in a special way, and let’s look at it. Naturally, many controversial issues arise here. But first you need to decide on the weight and size of the shelf, its design and method of operation.
Which is better: heated floors or radiators?
Warm floorBatteries
And only after that make a conclusion about which method is right for you. One of the most popular fastening methods is the anchor bolt method. This method is known to almost everyone who works with drywall, but it is used extremely rarely.
This design consists of fastening directly into the wall through plasterboard sheathing with anchor bolts.
- We make holes in the structure for installing dowels;
- We install dowels into the wall;
- Using screws, we mount hooks or brackets for the future shelf;
- We hang the shelf on the prepared place.
DIY glass shelves
When horizontality is achieved, tighten the self-tapping screw. Once again, use a level to check the accuracy of the fastening.
5.
Now that the base is installed, you need to install the console itself. The console is inserted into the grooves under the base and secured with a screw. Using the same fastening screw, the shelf itself is fixed in the console, i.e. it just clamps down like a beak.
6.
In principle, after this moment the fastening is considered installed. But in order to secure a shelf in it, especially a glass one, you need to install the plastic covers supplied in the kit. Wooden or metal shelves can be fixed without them, but they must be installed under glass ones.
7.
Now all that remains is to secure the shelf itself. The thickness of the shelves may vary. This mount allows you to mount shelves with a thickness from 2mm to 20mm. But "pelicans" can vary in size. Using the console, the drawing of which was shown at the beginning of the article, you can mount shelves up to 40mm thick; this is considered a large “pelican”, while the one shown in the article is medium in size. In most cases, 3 sizes are used: small, medium and large.
So, when the consoles are secured, all that remains is to insert the shelf itself and tighten the lower, movable part of the console with a screw. You can verify the accuracy of the installation by placing a level on the shelf.
Questions and discussion on the forum:
How to hang a shelf on a plasterboard wall: 5 installation methods
Now let's figure out how to hang a heavy shelf. Here, ordinary self-tapping screws are not enough - it is advisable to either use special dowels or solve the problem in other ways. The length of the self-tapping screw must be sufficient to completely go through the plasterboard and penetrate into a wooden beam or steel profile. For single-layer sheathing, it is advisable to use elements from 25–35 mm. When implementing this method with your own hands, it is worth keeping in mind that both when drilling a nest with a hammer drill and when hanging a shelf, the hole in the gypsum board will increase slightly.
So it’s worth installing fasteners in advance - then at the finishing stage we will be able to mask any defects that have arisen.
- First, using a drill or screwdriver with a drill bit installed, we make holes in the plasterboard sheathing. The diameter of the holes must be equal to the diameter of the fasteners used.
I will tell you how you can hang lightweight shelves with minimal labor, and also describe the technology for installing heavier structures.
Additional information on the topic:
How to treat the surface → Room decoration → How to choose the right paint → Surface treatment technologies → Leveling and finishing the walls → Selecting and applying a primer → Removal from the surface → Stretch ceilings and technologies → Reviews and testimonials
