Hi Juno - from what I've learned, it really depends on how big the shelf needs to be and how much weight you'll be putting on it. If its just a few tchotchkes then you should be fine with an "off the shelf" shelf and mounting hardware. There are quite a few places that sell these kinds of shelves, link below. You can also build the shelves yourself with a little elbow grease - google "torsion box shelves" for instructions. That seems to be the popular choice and would give you a lightweight alternative. Also look up "french cleat" for mounting hardware - that also seems to be a popular way to attach them. If you do decide to go with solid wood, that Hafele hardware at the top of the page is for solid shelves and would provide the invisible support you're probably looking for. They have an option for masonry installation and it looks like they come with pretty detailed instructions. We're going to have to DIY the hardware for ours because our shelves will be so deep and long and I want triple assurance the things won't pull off the wall when I load them up. I placed an order yesterday with a local saw mill - they're going to give us ripped and planed boards to glue together ourselves, and then we'll take them back so they can plane them again to the correct thickness and clean up the ends. I'll sand and stain them myself, and then according to ctycdm's instructions above we'll affix them to the walls. Hope this helps! EDIT: Also, FWIW, I calculated the weight of our longest shelf (approx 75"x12"x2") to be 32 lbs. I also found this online which gives you the approx weight of lumber depending on how dry it is... http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/green-kiln-dried-pressure-treated-lumber-weights-d_1860.html Here is a link that might be useful: Prefab shelves This post was edited by Swentastic on Wed, Oct 8, 14 at 13:17

Three different possible ways that I can think of offhand. Easiest....Pocket screws from underside of shelf into ends of adjacent cabinet. Cut a kerf (slot) into the end of the shelf, stopping short of the front edge and slide the shelf onto aluminum angle mounted to ends of cabinets. (The kerf captures the aluminum angle.) Build a hollow shelf in place...hollow core door principle...by affixing ledgers onto the cabinet ends, wall and across the front of the opening to create a 'frame'. Sheath the frame, top and bottom with something like 1/4" plywood. Trim to dress up front edge and conceal the 'sandwich' materials. Just be very careful because the cabinets look like they are made of particle board or MDF w/ a melamine overlay, materials that are very poor for holding screws and nails. Need appropriate fasteners and glue for any attachments to the cabinets.

If you want to have a 3cm shelf around 5-6" deep to cap a stone backsplash, ask your fabricator if they can drill 1/2" dia. holes to accept hanger bolts. 3/8" x 6" hanger bolts can be screwed into studs, leave at least 3" protruding from the wall, alternatively you can use 3/8" x 7" lag screws, this might be easier to screw into the wall, and then grind the hex head off after in place. The stone installer will need to put epoxy in each hole to allow it to set around the support. Be sure the supports are perfectly level, and placed in the middle of the stone shelf.

We figured however we put it into the cabinets, those holes are easier to fill than tile holes. I don't mean to be adversarial, but I disagree completely. Replacing a tile is a 15 minute and $15 DIY job, getting a paint and sheen match on cabinets is something I would not even try and I have years of experience doing it. I would just respray the entire sides of your cabinet as that would take 1/10th the time of trying to match them. However, the problem isn't drilling through your tile and that wouldn't work either. You need to accomplish what you want without drilling through the sides of your cabinets. Which can easily be done. You can make it look like it was a planned part of the kitchen and not an afterthought while preserving the sides of your cabinets. Or something like this..