there are lots of different ways to do this. check out etsy for pictures....take note of how much (how little) weight most of these shelves are supporting: https://www.etsy.com/market/floating_shelf check out ikea - the downside of these is that the shelves are mostly (all?) not adjustable width: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/living_room/20660/ check out rubbermaid closet systems - you don't have to use their shelves, but they have a horizontal stud-attachable bar, from which you can hang vertical rails to support brackets - the vertical rails don't have to be over a stud. not the most aesthetically pleasing option, but you could make it work (for example, position the horizontal bar so it will be hidden by the top shelf). finally, customfloatingshelves.com seems to sell a quality, beautiful product (but I have not seen it first hand).

i use the ribbed plastic kind as well, then i dont have to worry if there is any water left of dishes and utensils when i'm putting them away. and yes, if you store glasses and mugs upside down the ribs hold them up enough to allow moisture to dry. the shelves that i didnt put liner on (because they are open and would show) are shrubbed up a bit from the rough bottom of mugs being slid on them. its the kind of thing that does bite when you are selling. and i have liner in the oil and vinegar cabinet, because you'll always get a drip.

I think your instincts about quantity are right on - 2 or 3 (depending on the height of the items to be displayed) feels right for the height of that space. You want to take a close look at the shelf images you posted and compare with your space. It's a little hard to tell without more images of your kitchen, but it looks like you have a "transitional" aesthetic, not quite modern but not quite traditional either. The shelf images you posted are both of very modern decor. The reason the long shelves look good is that they are very thick, and the reason the thick shelves look good is because the aesthetic is very modern. Floating shelves can certainly look good in a transitional setting, but they probably want to be thinner and therefore shorter. In addition, I would keep the layout symmetrical rather than staggered (again, staggered is more modern). Consider either a set of shelves of moderate length centered in the alcove or two sets of shorter shelves each centered over a pair of cabinet doors. If appropriate for the items you plan to display, you might also consider shallow picture ledges like the image below, rather than full depth shelves.

Aloha @Floored You: TileDesigners Thank you for the questions. I was hoping it could be fastened with an adhesive vs the wood. Was hoping for feedback if that would be a good option. We had water damage to our kitchen so since we had to tear out the drywall, we thought we should try to make the kitchen how we’d like it to be. Electrical is where it was previously located. There were high cabinets before. This is a cookie cutter style house for this subdivision we are in. Cabinet height is 34 1/2”.