Suction Cup "Floating" Shelves for Bathroom, Kitchen, and more

Here is a shelving and storage system that uses suction cups to hang from any smooth non-porous surface such as glass, tile, or polished metal. Suction cups can be quite the eyesore so what makes these special is that they conceal the suction cups so you don't see them and the result is akin to "floating" shelves with all mounting hardware being hidden within the shelf itself. Reorganize your bathroom by the sink or in the shower! Add a new layer of organization to your kitchen fridge! Start adding shelves to your windows!

The current parts are designed for use with 1 1/8" diameter suction cups with a button/mushroom head. I used these specific ones from Kinter and simply removed the metal hooks. Similar/identical looking ones seem to be available from a number of sources - I can't guarantee compatibility with any other suction cup but here are some potential places to purchase matching suction cup hooks: Uline, McMaster-Carr, Amazon. 

In this upload I have included a "Suction Cup Attachment Point" STEP and Fusion 360 design file for anyone who would like to build on this design and create their own parts. If you have different sized suction cups you could use these files to resize as needed.

Installation:

1. Attach one suction cup to your surface.
2. Using the printed part as a reference, attach a second suction cup in position so that it aligns with the other hole of the printed part.
3. Position the printed part against your surface so that the suction cup buttons slot into the holes.
4. Slide the printed part down so that the suction cup buttons move into the key hole slots.

There is room for improvement with the installation process right now - a template or jig for positioning suction cups would help a lot. Eyeballing their needed positions can be a pain.

Files:

• Suction Cup Attachment Point - Use this if you want to build your own parts to utilize this suction cup "floating" shelves concept. This part is designed to not require any support if printed in the upright vertical orientation. Keep that in mind if you design your own part that may require the suction cup attachment point to be oriented sideways or horizontal during printing - supports could get messy.
• 100x45mm Suction Cup Floating Shelf - a basic shelf for small items. No support material required when printed with top down.
• 150x80mm Suction Cup Floating Shelf - a basic shelf for slightly larger items. No support material required when printed with top down.
• Suction Cup Floating Shave Stand - a remix of a shave stand I designed many years ago to work with this new suction cup system. It holds a metal tin of shaving soap, shave brush, straight razor, and 4oz glass bottle which holds my jojoba oil that I use as an after shave moisturizer. Support material is required for the overhanging brush and razor holders.
• 3x1 Gridfinity Floating Shelf - Thanks Zack Freedman for putting Gridfinity out into the world. This is loving mashup of Gridfinity and my Suction Cup Floating Shelves. No support material required.
• Toothbrush and Tongue Scraper Holder - I needed a simple way to hold these two items. I just hot glued it onto the 100x45mm shelf seen in my photos. Nothing special but I might as well share this file too. No support material required.

Background:

In the apartment I currently rent there is a large mirror above the bathroom vanity with the only space for nearby storage to quickly access common items being on the countertop. I find my stuff becoming cluttered when I only have countertop space available and cleaning the countertop is a hassle with so much hanging about. I wanted to get my items off the countertop and on the wall but since I'm only renting I needed to find a non-destructive approach and there comes in suction cups. I don't like the appearance of suction cups so I designed this method of concealing the suction cups.

Future Steps:

• I'd like to rework the design files tobe parametric so generating new shelf sizes and shapes is easier.
• I'd like to add compatibility with additional suction cup sizes
• I'd like to develop more styles of parts that use this system such as hooks and plant pots.