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I'm not sure if the expedit is strong enough even to hold its own weight empty... Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing other people's experiences with it.

is that even an expedit??

i would hire a professional, for sure. it also depends on your walls and what's in your walls! maybe some type of cleat system would be best since flimsy brackets you can buy just ain't gonna cut it.

Heather, i really don't have experience hanging an Expedit. But i believe it will be better for you to hire someone to, at least, check the structure of the wall to use. It should have the required blocking for support, or studs can be used as well, to hang heavy objects.
Also, is it from IKEA? Please check the material cause maybe this system is not strong enough for all the stuff you want to storage there. Xo.

Find the studs on the wall and mark them out. Then attach the Expedit to the wall using fairly large metal L brackets placed exactly where the studs are (and extras in other areas even if there aren't studs - just use anchors for these screws.) Because Expedit is particleboard, I would be concerned about how well your own screws will attach to it, so I would actually attach the L brackets with bolts, washers, and nuts that go through the entire side of the shelving. Put the nuts on the inside so the outside stays looking clean. Make sure you fully hit at least two studs - even more is ideal. I personally would also attach along the bottom and sides, just to be safe.

We put in Ikea kitchens cabinet ourselves, and their hanging rail & hardware system is excellent, and I would consider adapting it to anything heavy I need to hang. But like xieta, I'd worry whether the Expedit unit is strong enough to hold itself together, plus any weight you put in it. Floor standing shelf units are engineered differently from wall cabinets.

Best way to hang securely and cleanly would be purchasing two(2) Ikea Lack shelf http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20151309 to use wall mounting kit for top and bottom of your EXPEDIT, but this will cost you extra $40, you would have to drill holes in EXPEDIT and end up with two somewhat useless Lack shelves...

Or purchase nice 2X2 furniture grade maple/oak/pine/poplar from Big Box orange store and hang it horizontally with minimum 3" screws on multiple studs... (height of your EXPEDIT is 58" so you should be able to hit at least 3 studs) Then Hang your EXPEDIT and you would have to use 3 or 4 inch screws to screw down from top of the EXPEDIT and thru 2X2 wood. You can paint to match your wall color and it will blend in.

Or any of those combination plus shelf bracket on the bottom like this, but you would need bigger bracet than 10 inches... (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10143211)

I recommend combination of first two... Lack Kit on the top to keep it from flipping over and solid wood piece to distribute the weight on the bottom.

Good Luck...

I would definitely look for some professional help as well.

I have a larger version of this wonderful bookshelf sitting in my living room and when putting it together, I realized how flimsy it could if I had stood it on it's side as opposed to the proper way of standing it. If you hang it horizontally, all of the weight of everything will be held up by 4 (and 2 for items in the lower section) rather flimsy screws.

That larger board on the bottom of it does a very good job of supporting the weight of everything above it (and even still, the manual says each shelf only supports up to 25 pounds), but if you flip it to it's side, you would seriously need to reinforce those joints since it will be a disaster when you place all of the items you want on it and the screws fail you. You may even have to have some metal braces fabricated for you to be able to secure the inside and outside of each corner with some rather hefty bolts and screws to make sure they do not fail you.

Then of course you'd need to securely mount that beast onto a wall... Good luck!

Thanks for all the help. We love the look of French bistros and thought this would be a great modern alternative.

You need to put a 2x4" cleat underneath the length of the unit, level, and mounted into the studs with 2-3" cabinet screws. Then you need to add shorter cleats to the inside of the load bearing areas of the unit the same way, also into the studs, also with cabinet screws so it "hooks" onto the cleats.

Then mount the unit onto the cleats by drilling the unit down into the cleats with cabinet screws as well. It's easy, but you shouldn't mess with it if you have no idea how to do it or it can fall and hurt someone.

How about mounting legs to the underside?

Mounting concerns aside, I don't think this unit is appropriate for storing the kind of things you're talking about. According to the IKEA site, the maximum load per shelf is 29 lbs. Dishes and wine bottles can be VERY heavy.

Always keep in mind that not everything can be hung on the wall without making a lot of alterations and enforcements to the structure. The EXPEDIT line was designed to sit on the floor (with the floor itself bearing the bulk of the overall load). If you hang it on the wall, stress is going to be put on the unit in an entirely different way. I'm not saying it's not possible, but considering the amount of modification that would be needed, you're probably better off looking into buying something designed to be used in that manner -- or even having something built.

Check out this article from ikea hacker. They hung an expedit shelf on the wall after discussing with an ikea designer/tech about the safest way to do it. The office is beautiful and the article explains it all.

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008/12/home-office-make-over.html

I'm thinking of cutting a piece of cabinet grade 3/4" plywood to the exact dimensions of the the shelving unit. Paint to match, or wallpaper or choose a groovy accent color, then attach to the back side of the unit on perimeter and at cross divisions with wood screws. This should very significantly increase the structural strength of the unit, and force it into square. Depending on the materials used in the unit, you might also need to add anchors into the it at corresponding screw locations. Then hang with a french cleat or the cabinet hanging track system from Ikea, as others have already suggested by attaching directly into the wall studs with longish wood screws. Please don't use sheetrocking screws. They are very brittle and easily snap and break. Ikea's track hanging system will be visable, so I'd really recommend the french cleat. You'll need to have a spacer strip at the bottom to keep it plumb.

The thing about Expedit is, its chunky-looking frame is mainly hollow. It gets its only strength from dowels (and glue, one hopes), the strength of the MDF of the inner shelves, and balance. The weak point is the perimeter, and heavy forces can (will) warp it and could break it or damage your walls.

While the wonderful ikeahacker site does offer a secure technique for mounting Expedit to the wall, the owners are loading it with only six books and other lightweight-looking stuff per unit. That equates to about one wine bottle and a couple of glasses? Doesn't sound like what you have in mind.

I _urge_ you to heed Anna at D16 above. Have a custom unit built, or get creative with Ikea's wall cabinets and just trim it out like an Expedit.

Too bad Ikea makes wall cabinets only 13" deep and Expedit is 15 " .. it might have been interesting to use a combination of white wall cabinet with a white Expedit stacked on top. Even the Lack shelf unit is 15", too deep.

Think safety first, and good luck!

Hmmm, creative, but I'd call in the pro's on this one. The office on ikeahacker looks great and it could work if you are storing very light kitchen stuff, but not stacks of plates, or bottles of vinegar, olive oil, wine, etc, Imagine the nightmare of hearing the whole thing come crashing down in the middle of the night (On a pet? On a guest?). And losing any family heirlooms that smash with it? Sometimes a pro is worth the investment. Or if you are really keen to do it on the cheap stick with regular shelves, used as they were intended.

LOL, xieta!

Those aren't made to be hung - even with dozens of brackets, the structure of Expedit isn't solid enough to hold onto brackets screwed into the thing because the thing is just a hollow-core - the weight of dishes, etc will tear the thing apart.

Get some sturdy cabinets made for the purpose - either off the shelf or custom made.

this unit was designed to sit on the floor, so all the joins were designed to resist compressive stress. if you were to wall mount it you would have to ensure that none of the joins were in tension, because they were not designed to withstand it and they will fail.
the only way to successfully wall mount this is to put a very heavy duty shelf on the wall, and then sit the expedit on top of the shelf. probably not the look you were going for. the unit will also need to be secured with an anti topple device.
the wall mounted expedit that someone linked to will fail along the join on the bottom front edge if it is heavily loaded.
you might consider using a few ikea kitchen cabinets, without doors, mounted side by side, and then frame them with thicker pieces of wood.

No.

You could try WingIts Master Anchor. It is a wall fastener that should be available at Home Depot. It is rated to 300 pounds, resists vibrations, can be used in all wall substrates, is waterproof, and removable! It basically redistributes the load throughout the wall evenly. You will also need to get the drill bit that goes with it, which is very inexpensive and available at Home Depot as well. Each Wingits package comes with 2 fasteners. Good Luck!

I'd be careful of the exterior frame bearing any weight as well. We put one of the LACK bookcases on its side with casters on the bottom and used it as a TV cabinet. One night we heard this huge crash, and went out to our living room to find our TV on the floor (still in one piece, thank goodness) and the shelf at a crazy angle. One of the casters had punched right through the thin material of the exterior frame, just from the weight of our A/V components - not nearly as heavy as dishes!

That said, if you can figure out how to distribute the weight properly (like in the linked IKEAhacker instructions) It would look fantastic!