As the temperature drops, it’s time to pull out your fall decorations and winter weather clothes and put away your summer wardrobe. Before you throw all of your summer things into the back of your closet, there are several ways you can organize your space more efficiently to fit everything neatly into place. If you’ve tried using shelves and continue to run out of room, try this tutorial for magnetically levitating storage shelves.

Supplies:

Directions:

  1. First, gather supplies to meet your specific needs. If you intend your new levitating shelf to hold large objects or containers, you will need to buy a large plaque and possibly more or stronger magnets. The supplies listed above are intended for a small space to levitate relatively light weight metals.
  2. Now, measure the rare-earth magnets you bought for this project. Make sure to buy strong neodymium magnets. They have to be strong enough to attract metal or other magnets through the wood. The magnetic force must also be able to hold whatever weight you want it to suspend so gravity doesn’t overcome the attraction of the magnetic forces.
  3. Drill 6 - 8 holes into the back of the wood. These holes should be the same size as the magnets and they should be evenly spaced apart.
  4. Next, use superglue to secure the magnets inside the holes you just drilled.
  5. Finally, you can secure the plaque to the bottom of a shelf with the exposed magnet side facing up. You can do this by using more magnets on the top of the shelf to attract through it and hold the plaque in place. You can also nail, glue, tape, or otherwise secure the plaque to the bottom of the shelf. If your shelves are made of metal, the magnets inside the wood will attract to the shelf on their own.
Once your magnetic plaque is in place, you can use it to levitate metal objects or storage containers leaving more space available below. If you don’t have metal containers, you can use superglue to attach magnets to plastic containers. Then, the magnets in your new magnetic shelf will attract the magnets in the storage containers. Because the magnets are hidden inside the wood, it will appear as if the objects are floating. If you have any questions about types and strengths of magnets, feel free to contacts us!