Are Floating Shelves Safe for a Kid's Room?
Okay, so you love floating shelves (just like us!) and you’re thinking about putting some up in your child or infant’s room. But wait… is that even safe?!
TLDR: Yes—quality floating shelves are absolutely safe for a kid's room. Just make sure that they are installed properly AND that they are out of reach to prevent your little ones from attempting to climb "floating shelf mountain".
Now, for a more detailed answer: First of all, we applaud you for thinking of your child’s safety! You rock, Mom or Dad! In this post, we’re going to dig down deep into whether or not floating shelves are a good choice for your new nursery—or even an older child’s bedroom. Let’s get started.
Some Floating Shelf Factors That Affect Safety
Before we definitively answer your important question, there’s a little bit of context we need to build up. The safety and shelf capacity of floating shelves is going to depend a lot upon the following factors. So, bear with us while we build up to your answer. Don’t skip these sections because they are incredibly important to your child’s safety.
How high will the shelf be installed?
Is the shelf going to be up out of the child’s reach? If you’re doing shelving in a nursery, this doesn’t really matter too much—just make sure shelving isn’t within reach of the crib. However, if you’re hanging shelving for older children, like toddlers and little kids, you should absolutely keep shelving up out of reach of children.
What is the weight capacity of your Floating shelf?
Check out what weight limit your shelf is rated for. When designing your shelving, make sure to not meet or exceed this weight limit. Doing so can create a dangerous situation—we don’t want heavy objects and trinkets falling from the shelf while your child is in their room playing!
For more information about how much shelves can hold, check out How Much Weight Can a Floating Shelf Hold?
Was your shelf properly installed?
This is an important one because if you don’t install your shelf properly, you can’t rely on the weight limit for that shelf. Make sure you’re installing your shelving properly so that you can trust it 100% with your child’s safety. Install your shelving into studs and do not rely on drywall anchors to keep your child safe!
If you’re extra worried, add additional blocking behind the wall just to be certain that the shelf isn’t going anywhere. Wink.
How you style and use your floating shelf
This one can be hard to explain, but the gist is that shelves can’t hold quite as much weight when the load isn’t evenly balanced. For example, if you (a 200lb man, for example) were to hang onto a 250lb rated shelf, that shelf would likely break off of the wall. This is because all of the force is being applied to the outer (front) edge of the board, thereby placing all of the strain on the wall fasteners. But if you stood on top of a well-installed premium quality floating shelf with your weight evenly distributed across the length and depth of the shelf slab, it would likely stay in place. Science!!
Using this concept, be smart with how you disperse the forces on your shelving. Make sure that heavier items are against the wall and lighter objects are at the front of the shelf. And try to keep your kids (or any 200-pound men, for that matter!) from hanging off your shelves. This leads us to our next point...
How... "Acrobatic" Are Your Kids?
Some kids make monkey bars out of any surface in reach! So if you've got yourself a couple of climbers, ASSUME that at some point, they will make an attempt to ascend "floating shelf mountain". Make sure those shelves are out of their reach—for sure. When you can’t be watching your kids in their rooms, it should still be safe for them; but of course, you already know this stuff—you’re a super parent!
So, Can You Put Floating Shelves in a Kid’s Room?
Yeah! Absolutely! You’ll just need to take some precautions, that’s all. Follow instructions, check the weight limit, and don’t put shelving where your kids could use it as trapeze equipment. Ya dig? We recommend that you don’t skimp on the shelving you choose for your child’s room. Go the extra mile and get a set of contractor-grade, sturdy shelving that will last a lifetime.
So What Shelves Do You Recommend?
We don’t mean to toot our own horn here, but our shelf brackets are some of the safest, gnarliest brackets on the market. We’ve designed our shelf brackets with contractors in mind—and their standards are pretty darn-tootin’ high. And all of our all-American, heavy-duty brackets are in-stock and ready for lightning fast shipping, like today. If you’re looking for shelf packages that are dynamite duos including these heavy-duty monstrosities, peruse through the styles and finishes that we have available for our ready-to-hang systems.
Now get out there and hang some shelves, homies!
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