The glass shelves seem to defy gravity, allowing everything on them to appear to float in the air. While glass shelves can’t hold much, they beautifully enhance anything displayed on them.
Glass shelving is often associated with bathrooms, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but why not consider it for other rooms in your home as well? Glass kitchen shelves with jars of beans or candied fruit are a great way to spruce up an unused corner or area above the door. Similarly, a set of glass shelves stocked with family photos in the den gives you extra display space without making the room feel too closed off.
To maximize the beauty of your glass shelves, be sure to use proper supports for them. Glass shelf brackets are specifically designed for this purpose, enhancing the elegance of the shelves. Do not use glass shelf supports for other types of shelves unless their use is clearly specified in the mounting instructions.
Approved brackets for glass shelving tend to be lighter, more delicate, and in some cases deliberately smaller than other types of brackets. A large metal bracket can completely dwarf and overload a glass shelf, making it look unbalanced and unnecessarily heavy. It’s also wasted on a glass shelf, as larger stands are designed to hold more weight, which is generally not a problem with shelves designed for display rather than storage.
The smaller glass shelf supports are rails or clips. These brackets barely protrude from the wall, and many of them are made of chrome, so they shine like glass and blend naturally with the shelving they support. They are first mounted on the wall, and then shelves are placed on them. Instead of screws that go through the glass shelf to hold it in place, they have specially designed screws with a blunt end that pushes down and holds the shelf in place. They are also rated by weight and by the thickness of the glass they are designed for. Rails and clips are really only good for glass shelves that hold the lightest of items. They are not designed to support any kind of significant weight.
There are entire pages devoted to the topic of brackets, shelving accessories, shelves of all kinds, and more in The Home Shelving Guide. Come and take a look at all the information we have compiled for you.
If you’re interested in placing heavier items on glass shelves and are worried about them sagging, you’d be better off using standard glass holders. These are more traditionally designed brackets that extend completely from the wall to support the shelf. They differ from regular wooden shelf brackets in that they are usually longer than the width of the shelf. They are constructed with either a raised foot at the end or an extended lip that holds the glass shelf in place. Since glass easily slides over metal, this is important so the shelf doesn’t slip.
The variety of glass shelf supports available on the market is vast. Choose supports that match your decor, your budget, and most importantly, your glass shelf support needs.