Hackers Help: How to wall mount an IKEA Expedit 5×1?

Hi everybody,

I’ve been looking everywhere on the website, and apart from finding some hacks involving the 2×4 and even 5×5 Expedit shelves, I couldn’t find anything about mounting a 5×1 Expedit shelf on a wall. I understand the problem is not so much the weight of the shelf that the fact that it kind of disassembles itself because of the lack of friction. But I couldn’t find out if that problem also involves the 5×1, which is very different (the wooden studs, for example, are much longer, and there are eight for each wood panel, instead of only 4 like all the other Expedit shelves).

In all the hacks, I saw either some long L shaped metal brackets were involved to support it from below, either some kind of long piece of wood screwed to the wall with the Expedit sitting on it. What it does to help with the Expedit disassembling under its own weight because of the lack of friction, this still escapes me, but why not.

Anyway, neither of these solutions seem that great for me because the Expedit(s) will be in my living room, above my sofa. Also, they won’t be holding a lot of weight, they will be there mainly as a decoration element, and of course I will put a bunch of stuff in them, but we are not talking books or anything heavy. Mainly little things.

My idea was to use the biggest flat shaped L brackets I can find for the top Expedit shelf, secure them to the wall, place the shelf on top of them, screw the shelves to the wall with the wall mounting brackets Ikea is giving with the shelves.

Then, I’ll put the two little cubes underneath, so that I can “hide” the ugly L shaped brackets. The little cubes will be fixed to the wall in the regular way, with the Ikea mounting brackets.

And here comes the one that is causing trouble: the last Expedit 5×1 shelf will be right underneath the two cubes. But I can’t really use large and ugly L shaped brackets again. What do I do? Would smaller brackets be enough? By saying small, I’m still talking about something that would be 10cm long on each side. I included a schematic. Sorry, no picture.

This “hack” is a “might be WIP”, if it’s doable. At the moment, I have one little cube. I’m trying to get the two 5×1 shelves and a second cube. They are hard to find. I will find them, for sure, but I want to make sure the hack is doable before spending hours looking for the shelves.

So, to sum it up, my main questions: 5×1 Expedit shelf mounted on a wall, is it as big a risk as a 4×2 considering the assembly is really different? Would two medium size brackets be enough on top of the regular wall mounting brackets to support it if it’s not holding a lot of weight?

I have drywalls, but I also have the right fixations for it. My kitchen elements still haven’t fallen down, and they are a lot heavier than the Expedit shelf. Each fixation can hold up to 35kg in a 13mm drywall, my drywalls are 15mm, so a bit more sturdy. Not as good as brick walls, of course, but modern flat, modern walls :/

Thanks a lot for your input!

Vanessa

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