Live Edge shelf recommendations

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de103065

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I'm in the process of having a cedar live edge shelf put up in my game room. The shelf looks very nice so far, but there are few things I've noticed that doesn't quite give it a finished look and I was looking for recommendations on what would help give the shelf a finished look.

I've attached several photos that show how the shelf currently looks.

The first issue I've noticed is the short side of the shelf has slight tilt down to the right. The contractor put a level on it and it looks close to level or maybe slightly off, but he then put a level coming out from the wall and there is slight tilt down. He said he could work to adjust it but said that would cause a slight change in the long side of the shelf which does look perfectly straight. Just wondering what might be suggested to get that short side corrected to get level?

Also, the ends of the shelf have open ends between the wall and the wood and the backing is about a 16th of the inch longer than the shelf coming out from the wall. I was considering options for giving this a more polished/finished look. One idea was to fill that open ended area between the wall the shelf. Other ideas would would some type of end cap, but what would look good?

Finally, the corner connecting the long end of the shelf to the short end has a pretty good gap and doesn't match up. What would be a way to make that corner look finished? Something that hides that open gap? It just doesn't have a finished look yet. I was just interested in ideas.

I really like the shelf overall, but those few items need to be addressed to give a finished look to the shelf. Was also considering decorative shelf supports underneath instead of it be a floating shelf. That was just a consideration.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.
 

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While the wood does look nice, maybe not the best selection of pieces for what your doing.
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm committed at this point...financially and otherwise. The wife does like the style as well. Any thoughts/recommendations on the issues I describe in the original post?
 
Purely my opinions:

Adding supports should be a practical question. Does it need them? Do the supports help to hide a flaw or something? Do you have some extra wood that would look good used that way?

If the gaps are so small only you notice them when you look closely, stop noticing them and move on with your life. If on the other hand they really bother you as soon as you walk into the room, or you suspect other people notice them, ask the contractor to redo the work. The one in the corner looks like it could be concealed easily just by staining the filler to a darker color that matches the wood better.

You want the shelf level to gravity, not necessarily perpendicular to the wall. It's common for walls to not be perfectly vertical. It kinda looks like what's holding you back on that short section is the piece of wood used as the backer; it looks like it tapers (wider in the corner, narrower going out from there) which makes the shelf look uneven no matter what.
 
Of course I'm okay with my installer doing the best he can. The contractor I use has done great work for me and I trust his work. That wasn't my original question. If you have some recommendations great.
 

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