Shelves are the spice of interior design. After all, they have a way of completing spaces in unique ways. Plus, they appear as the perfect blend of two things: looks and functionality.
But, before you can add charm with the wall and display shelves, you have to know what works for your home. Where do you begin? It all starts in this article. We'll be discussing the necessary details you need to get through this hurdle hassle-free.
6 Types of Shelves That Would Spice up the Organization Game in Your Home
What exactly are you looking for when it comes to wall and display shelves? Whether it's practicality, versatility, or both - you can find them. But, first, you'll have to get familiar with the different types of shelves that are available:
Floating Shelves
This shelf system is one of the classy and stylish options you can find on the market. Besides the fact that they help you store your items in an organized manner, they also serve as fascinating decoration pieces. You can place these shelves in your bedroom, kitchen (above the countertops), or living room.
Suspended Shelves
You may be quite familiar with the suspended shelves because they are one of the oldest types of shelves and commonly used today. They have individual brackets that you can place on the surface where you'll put your shelf.
This shelving system includes other types of shelves like the bookshelves, cube shelves, and open storage shelves. The versatility of this type of shelf allows it to work well in your office, living rooms, study, or even bedrooms.
It's quite similar to the floating shelves. But, the significant difference is that the suspended shelves have a prominent point of suspension while the floating shelves have an invisible point of suspension.
Built-in Shelves
Built-in shelves are one of the modest types of shelves that allow you to maximize the storage space in your home. The shelving system is quite functional - provide an ample amount of storage space without a cluttered look.
You can place this shelf within empty spaces or within corners like the alcoves, below or above protruding wall cabinets, the recess beside a fireplace, etc.
But, you need to know that this type of shelf has a good and bad side. The good part: it's flexible as it allows you to play around varying shelf sizes - as long as they're within the appropriate limit. The bad part: it's restricted because its dimensions can't exceed the depth or width of the recess in your wall.
Also, it's ideal for homeowners, not renters, since the shelves become a permanent part of the architecture.
Free-standing Shelves
The free-standing shelf is the way to go if you want a shelf that won't be attached to your wall. It usually comes in open storage options, or with doors - that can help you stash private things.
Interestingly, this model is highly functional and looks super modern. So, you can use it to uplift the look of your living room with decorative accessories. It's also highly flexible in terms of placement and use.
The free-standing shelves work well if you plan to buy a bigger desk and need more space in your study room. It could also serve as proper storage for toys in children's bedrooms, especially if you outfit the shelves with plastic, cardboard or wicker boxes.
Adjustable Slotted Shelves
This type of shelf offers you a hassle-free and straightforward method of storing your items neatly and robustly.
It works best for garages considering its great flexibility for housing items like gardening equipment or toolboxes. Also, it's one of the favorite choice for laundry rooms.
Pull-out Shelves
You can install pull-out shelves with sliders mounted on both of its sides. It works perfectly in a table closet, cabinet, or any other shelving system - instead of using it in a standalone style.
3 Ways You Can Style Your Wall and Display Shelves
Here're three ways you can style your wall and display shelves:
Choose A Theme and Color Palette
Think of a color that can blend with the design of the specific part of your room - where you decide to install the shelf.
If your room has a neutral color like cream, white, or grey, you can play around a metallic accent of gold or silver to keep it exciting. If you want to be a bit loud, you can opt for pops of green and blue.
Select Your Objects
Once you have a good theme and color palette going on, you have to pick out objects you'll place on the shelf - depending on its location.
For instance, if your shelf functions for décor purposes in your bedroom, you can consider books, sculptural art, or candles. In your bathroom, you can store functional items like toilet paper rolls and spare towels. If it's your kitchen, stick to objects like cookbooks and beautiful dishware.
Arrange Your Objects
You can arrange your objects in groups of odd numbers like 3 or 5. The objects should vary in texture, size, color, and shape.
Creating diagonals between similar elements as you go down the shelves is another fantastic idea. Also, you can place larger frames against the wall - to help create a background for pieces in front.
3 Innovative Ways You Can Arrange Individual Shelves on Your Wall
No doubt, functional shelves add interest and dimension to your walls. So, you can choose from a wide range to enhance your decorative style. Here are four ways you can give your interior décor the desired pop it needs:
Wall Ledges
If you live in a modern home, chances are you have built-in wall ledges near the ceiling - which allows you to display decorative items. But, if you don't have them, you can install wall shelves. The shelves should be about the same height as a wallpaper border.
With this, you can display collectible items, framed artworks, and artifacts on your built-in or high shelves wall ledges.
Vertical Arrangements
You can create a vertical line with a group of wall shelves. It helps to emphasize the height of the wall. If you increase the space between the shelves, it will create an illusion of more space - especially when you use floating shelves.
Also, you can try out this shelf layout on a narrow wall, an empty wall, next to a fireplace, between windows, or in your bathroom.
Low Profile
The low profile design involves installing your shelves very low on the wall. You can explore this option on the wall in your bathroom next to your bathtub - display items like towels, essential oils, body lotion, and candles.
The design also works in a family room - and it can hold knitting supplies and craft. Or you can install low wall shelves near the bed in a bedroom. It would come in handy for holding books, and provide a convenient place to store electronics.
With the information in this piece you can confidently proceed to choose the best wall and display shelves that will do justice to your interior décor and home in general.
Tara is a San Antonio-based award-winning landscape architect, writer and educator, passionate about eco-friendly solutions and growing her own food. She knows all it takes to help you create a sustainable backyard retreat that combines blissful charm with a modern take on landscaping.
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