Choosing Shelving Effectively For Your Home Decor

Shelves are the simplest, least expensive, and most versatile type of storage you can buy. Your choice should depend on practical considerations, such as strength and adaptability, as well as on good looks.

It’s tempting to imagine that tile first item a caveman invented was a shelf. At the very least, he would certainly have utilized any fiat ledge in the cave to store his tools and cooking pots. Finding somewhere to keep all your possessions, and leave space for your future belongings, is still an ongoing challenge in any home. To solve any shortage of storage and space, a combination of functional and decorative shelving is an attractive solution.

There are basically two main types of shelving to choose from - fixed, wall-mounted systems, including self-assembly kits, all-in-one bracket-and-shelf units and built-in shelves, and freestanding, movable units. Shelving is made in a variety of materials to suit all tastes and budgets. The least expensive are the sturdy metal, wooden, and plastic systems designed for offices and garages. Medium-priced shelving is often made from particleboard with a wipe-clean melamine coating or hardwood veneer. Solid timber and glass or clear acrylic shelving costs a little more.

Before deciding on the best type of shelving for your budget, you should assess what you want to store. Your choice of shelving needs to take into account practicalities such as load-bearing capacity as well as how well the shelves fit in with your decor. Most manufacturers provide guidelines on this, but always ask for information if you need it.

Take a look around your home for any under-exploited spaces - alcoves, under the stairs, or over doorways or windows, for instance - where you could fit a shelf or two. Accessibility is important too, both in terms of where the shelves are situated and how you arrange items on them. Frequently used items need to be within easy reach. Deep shelves are rarely an advantage, as the last thing you want is to be constantly moving one row of things so you can reach another.

Wall-Mounted Shelves

There are three distinct types of wall-fixed shelving: self-assembly kits, lightweight all-in-one bracket-and-shelf units, and shelving built into alcoves. Most home supply stores stock a wide range of shelf boards, tracks, and brackets. Useful accessories include clip-on book ends, grooved shelves for displaying plates, and corner shelves that enable you to run a continuous length of shelving around a room. Wall-mounted shelving is either set or adjustable. If you are reasonably sure that the contents of your shelves won’t change, there is little point in buying adjustable shelving. However, if you think you may want to extend the shelving or alter its function over time, an adjustable system is the most practical.

Apart from being inexpensive, the great advantage of self-assembly shelving kits is that you can tailor them to any items you want to display or store, from cassettes to candlesticks, books to bottles, and arrange the shelves where and how you want them. Shelving and fittings are normally sold separately, allowing you to buy as much or as little as you like. When you are planning to install several shelves in a stack, always measure the height of the items you want to store, and space the gaps between the shelves accordingly. Whichever shelving material you use, your shelves must be well mounted and supported so that they do not come away from the wall or sag.

Brackets and boards: Right-angled brackets screwed directly into the wall are commonly used to support shelves. A wide range of designs is available. With brackets and boards, you can devise all kinds of shelving arrangements - from covering a whole wall to putting up a single display shelf. The main disadvantage is that the shelving takes a long time to put up, as each board has to be individually levelled and each bracket screwed to the wall.

Track systems: In this very functional form of shelving, tiers of adjustable, wall-mounted shelves are fixed to metal tracks with rows of slots punched along their length for fastening the clips or brackets that hold the shelves at any height. The major advantage is that once one shelf is level, all the others will be automatically level. Unfortunately, the tracks tend to show up clearly against the wall.

Preassembled Shelf Units

With preassembled units, you can fasten the shelves to the wall in one try, and transport them as one piece if you move.

All-in-one brackets and shelves: You can buy small, lightweight shelving units, combining brackets and a shelf or shelves, to screw to the wall. They may be designed to hold specific items such as jars of spices or videos. Some are decorative, others more functional. Some designs incorporate other features underneath the shelf, such as a single drawer, a towel rack, or curtain rod, and are excellent space-savers.

Stacked shelf units: You can hang a set of shelves fitted into a frame on the wall. Some versions involving lightweight frames supporting wooden shelves are floorstanding but need to be fastened to the wall at the top for stability.

TIPS:

Check what the walls are made of before putting up the shelves. On most walls, screw the shelf supports into the studs for weight-bearing strength, rather than use hollow-wall fasteners.

Use a wiring detector to check that there are no electric cords, gas or water pipes hidden in the plaster where you want to mount the shelves.

Built-In Shelving

Tailoring shelves to fill an architectural gap, such as an alcove beside a chimney breast, an under-stairs triangle, or over a door, is an extremely practical use of space. For the most exclusive custom-built shelving that adds classical storage facilities to a room, you should call in a carpenter. Then you can decorate the shelving with paint finishes and shelf-edge trims, and add display lighting to your own specifications.

As well as the track-and-bracket systems, the most common methods of installing alcove shelving yourself are listed below. Wooden battening is the easiest type of shelf support to fit along two or three sides of an alcove. The batten is clearly visible, but if you can, paint it the same color as the wall so that it merges into the background. Measure and install each shelf independently because the walls of the alcove are unlikely to be true. Shelf-end supports, made from thin strips of aluminum or steel fitted to the sides of a narrow alcove, are an unobtrusive option for short shelves that don’t need to carry too much weight. There are various types, ranging from slotted metal strips with small studs that fit into them to carry the shelves, to plastic or metal studs that screw into wood lining the side walls. Alternatively, you can install a right-angled metal strip on each side of the alcove - and along the back for a heavy load - and either rest the ends of the shelves on top, or buy a grooved shelf that slides over the bracket and hides it completely.

Freestanding Shelving

Freestanding shelving fits inside a wooden or metal frame that you can place against a wall or set up so that it projects into the room, forming a high or low-level room divider.

You usually buy the shelves and supports together, either ready-assembled or as a flat-pack, which is the less expensive option. In either case, they are transportable so you can take them with you whenever you move.

Freestanding shelving takes up more space than wall-mounted kinds and is often more expensive because it needs a strong frame. But it is flexible. You can easily add on extra sections when you run out of storage space and rearrange the units whenever you want.

Industrial shelving is excellent for a garage or a tool shed, but its uses don’t end there. Tough and considerably less expensive than other types of shelving, it can be installed in a kitchen, teenager’s bedroom, or even a living room. The frames are made from steel, thick battens of wood, or brightly colored plastic tubing bolted together, and usually have adjustable shelving, available in a choice of several widths.

TIPS:

When you buy kit shelving, try to see an assembled sample beforehand to make sure it is well designed and sturdy — especially if you want to use it as a room divider.

If you are buying more than one shelving unit, ask for the manufacturer’s brochure to study the full range of accessories.

To prevent too much dust collecting when you use shelving as a room divider, include some closed cupboard units at floor level.

©2007, Kathy Burns-Millyard