Kitchen Shelving System Over the Worktop 1800mm Wide in Powder Coated Steel

Open shelving for the run above a worktop, set 500mm above it so a kettle and a food processor both fit underneath, with a rail, hooks and the deeper brackets a kitchen actually needs.

The track system is the reason this shelving scales. Slotted uprights fix to the wall on a 600mm grid, brackets hook into the slots at 32mm pitch, and shelves sit on the brackets. Nothing is fixed at a height you have to live with. A shelf moves in about twenty seconds with no tools, no new holes and no filler, which matters more than any other feature once you have owned it for a year and the books have changed. The uprights carry the load straight down into the wall rather than trying to lever off it, which is why a track system holds far more than the same shelf on a pair of cantilever brackets.

Specification

• Dimensions: 1800mm wide, three shelves, 300mm deep
• Material: 1.5mm folded steel with a returned edge, powder coated
• Finish: hardware in your chosen finish, timber finished in a food safe hardwax oil
• Load rating: 89kg per shelf evenly distributed, tested to twice that before deflection reaches 3mm
• Span and bracket spacing: uprights at 600mm centres, 300mm brackets
• Adjustability: shelves move on a 32mm pitch, which matters more in a kitchen than anywhere else because the tallest thing on the shelf changes every year
• Suitable walls: brick, block, concrete and timber stud. Plasterboard on dabs needs the long fixing kit, which is a free option at the checkout
• Fixings: stainless screws and the right plug for masonry are included. Fixings for plasterboard on dabs and for metal stud are supplied on request at no charge
• Depth: 300mm, which takes a dinner plate standing up
• Finish: food safe hardwax oil on the timber, wipeable
• Includes a 1200mm utensil rail with six S hooks
• Not for directly above a hob without a 700mm clearance
• Total shelf run: 5.4 linear metres
• Packed weight: approximately 42.7 kilograms

What you get

• Four slotted uprights, 1800mm
• Three shelves in powder coated steel, 1800mm by 300mm by 30mm
• 12 shelf brackets, 300mm
• One 1200mm stainless utensil rail with six S hooks
• A tin of food safe hardwax oil for the cut ends
• Fixing packs for masonry and for timber stud

Fitting

Two people, a drill, a spirit level and about two hours for a single wall. Mark the top line first and hang every upright from it rather than measuring up from the floor, because floors are never level and a shelf that follows the floor looks wrong in a way nobody can put their finger on. Fix the first upright, level it, then use a shelf as a straight edge to set the next one. The fixing pack, a paper template and a printed sequence are in the box.

Planning your wall

Work from the top down. Set the top shelf where it looks right, usually a little above eye level, then space the rest below it. Books want 320mm between shelves for paperbacks and 400mm for hardbacks and art books, and there is no reason for the spacing to be equal. A wall of identical gaps reads as storage and a wall of varied gaps reads as a room. Leave the bottom shelf at least 300mm off the floor so a hoover and a skirting board both have somewhere to go.