Living Room Shelving Units
Buy the best living room shelving units selected and recommended by interior designers. By Caroline Patterson.
A great option if you’re always losing everyday items or are sick of constant clutter, a living room shelving unit will solve all of your issues. They are especially helpful for smaller spaces due to their multi-purpose use. Just because they count as storage, it doesn’t mean they can’t look good, and the ones we’ve chosen below are fashionable and functional in one.
Living Room Shelving Units
Buying Guide
Caroline Patterson
Interior Design Expert
Caroline is a young, New York-based interior designer and home decor writer, obsessed with textiles and designer furniture. Backed with rigorous training from a prestigious design school, as well as a profound understanding of material quality and fabric care, she offers spot-on advice on how to furnish your place with reliable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing pieces.
The best materials for large shelving units are wood or metal. Which you choose depends on what you will be placing on the shelves, how often you will be moving the shelving unit, and your interior decor.
Large living room shelving units allow for storing or showcasing more items. They can also hold more weight than smaller units. For this reason, you want a solidly built shelving unit made of solid wood, steel, or a combination of the two.
Wood shelves are stylish and durable. Certain types of wood are more rigid, limiting the sag that can occur when additional weight is added. Look for shelving units made of hickory, oak, maple, cedar, and other strong hardwoods.
You can also go with a straight metal shelving unit if it blends in better with your room’s decor. Choose powder-coated steel or galvanized aluminum; these materials are not only strong but also corrosion-resistant to prevent rust.
If you think you’ll be moving your shelving unit frequently, consider a lighter material such as plywood and composite woods, such as MDF, or opt for a model with lockable casters on the base. If you plan to use your shelving unit for lightweight items, you can also go with plastic or glass.
A living room shelving unit should be relatively small to allow as much space for movement as possible, so each one is typically no larger than 12” x 48” x 72”. This is big enough to allow room for books, DVDs, toys, decorations, and other essentials in your living room.
You can also use multiple smaller shelving units to create the same amount of total storage capacity. Using various tiny shelves may be more aesthetically pleasing if you have a small living room, as a single long shelf can overwhelm the space. Try low and wide shelves around the edges of the room, especially if you have low ceilings.
Living room shelving units can hold various decorative and functional items, from photos to vases to digital media players; however, you need to check the unit’s weight capacity to ensure you don’t overload the shelf.
A freestanding or full-length anchored living room shelving unit can hold a larger quantity and more diverse range of items, making them ideal for placing either side of your TV to create an entertainment center.
Stack books, DVDs, and gaming discs on the lower shelves, digital players toward the center, and lighter items, such as small house plants or keepsakes toward the top. This ensures that the items’ combined weight is distributed evenly along the unit and reduces the risk of toppling.