Showing posts with label Shelves. Show all posts

Wall Shelves - Add Utility and Design to Your Walls

A wall shelf can be crafted in a wide variety of material, style, color and shapes.

The main purpose of the shelf is to keep things in an organized manner that can highlight the beauty of the stuff. The things that can be kept in the wall shelf are photo frames, books, show pieces etc.

The wall shelf unit can be placed anywhere in the house - in the bedroom, the living room, guest room or the kids' room. There are so many varied designs that one can pick from. The entire wall can be covered with varied wall shelves or can be made the focal point of the room. How about adding a pop of color by installing a bright red, yellow or a blue shelf on your wall?

Wall racks or shelves can be fixed, freestanding, adjustable or hanging. The wall unit chosen should complement the décor too. The material can range from wood, plywood, stainless steel, glass or metal. You can also choose from the various shapes available in the market- rectangular, square, round or any random shape that will gel well with the décor of the house.

The leaning wall shelf is also a great idea to place books and other stuff in any room. Since it does not need to be installed, the leaning wall shelf can be placed anywhere you wish to. It can be moved from one place to another without hassle. The corners in the room are generally the most unutilized, so you can add utility to them by adding corner wall shelves. A framed picture, a memorable souvenir, a nice vase can be placed there. Placing shelves in the study room or the home office is important to easily keep magazines, files, folders etc.

If you have a dearth of space in your house, wall shelves can be your savior! Get them fixed on the wall and keep your showpiece and your favorite photo frame right there. But make sure you place it on a height that people don't bang their heads when sitting or standing. Place it over the bed or the sofa at a considerable height. Another important thing to consider before buying is to see what kind of products will be placed in the shelf. Go for a sturdy one if planning to keep some heavy items like a painting or a dainty vase so that it does not shake resulting in breaking of the precious items.
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How To Organize Your Book Shelves

This is an era where people usually just download audio books, print out reference materials and electronic books, and search for anything they need online. However, even if technology has taken a bite out of book owning, it is very important still to own a book or two, and to take care of them. Here are some instructions you can follow in organizing your book shelves to eliminate those tottering towers of books at your bedside.
  1. First, you might want to take them all out. It would be easier for you to sort through piles and piles of books if you started with a clean slate.
  2. Think of the book's purpose and how it affects your life. Ask yourself if it makes you comfortable, if it's informative, or if it is a literature or drama book. Definitely, you should think of which category these books fall into. Some people think that books are holy; that they should not be thrown away. Understanding why you are still keeping these books will distinguish what you would want to do with them rather than just letting them collect dust and lie around in your library for nothing.
  3. Set aside a specific day when you can work on it! Get some cardboard boxes and just start. Remove those that you don't want from the shelf, those that you won't care for reading at all. Now, sort through books that you're neutral about. Once you have decided on what books to be rid of, you can make a list of these books, and you may want to sell them online or donate them to charity.
  4. Next, you may want to decide on what other things you want to put on your shelves. You may want to put photo albums, DVDs, cassettes, magazines and CDs up there.
  5. Next, stack the books on your book shelves first, after considering what system would be most convenient for you. You may want to stack them by topic or arrange them by size. Line your books up in one pile and compare that to the length of your bookshelf. Cull your keep pile or think about an additional book shelf, if you're short on space. There are several types: the corner bookcase, the built-in ones, the ladder bookcases and the ones attached to your walls.
  6. You can put other items on your book shelf once you have finished stacking up your books if there's still space available for any more items. If you have collections, you can alphabetize them and sort them into genres and categories.
  7. Magazines and periodicals can be shelved in stand-up files. Label them by publication, date of publication and author.
  8. Lastly, create a list of your extensive collection of books. Arrange them by category and take note of the shelf where you kept them. Go through the book cabinets in your mini-library, and list everything that's in there, without missing any piece. It would also be great to keep a list of those books that your friends borrowed from you.
It is now up to you whether you want to custom design your mini-library. You can change the book shelves' positions from one corner to another or maybe add personalized style in your mini-library to make reading books more comfortable and worthwhile.
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How To Create Invisible Shelves

Looking for a creative way to store books in your dorm room or office, then look no further. You can create invisible shelves that create the illusion that your books are just hanging out on the wall, suspended in space. All you need is a few simple materials and some time and you can create invisible shelves.
  1. Decide where you want the shelf. If you are using multiple shelves then stagger their locations and heights to create a more dramatic and mysterious look.
  2. Choose the books to use. You will need at least one large, hardback book, preferably a textbook that you don’t use very often. Then select four or five other books that are smaller or graduated in size in comparison to the first book.
  3. Secure the metal shelf to the wall. The shelf is L-shaped so put the tall back of the L flat against the wall and the short end sticking out from the wall. Make sure the short end is level with the ground before getting started so your books don’t slide off the shelf. Use screws to secure the shelf tightly to the wall.
  4. Open the hardback book to the back cover. Slide the back cover under the shelf ledge and push it tightly into the small lips below the shelf. Make sure the book is secure then close the book over the top of the shelf.
  5. Stack the rest of the books. Add books one at a time on top of the hardback book and arrange as you like.
There you have it, a few simple steps and some hardware and you have created an invisible book shelf. Amaze and amuse your friends or just celebrate your own quirky design sense.
Required Tools:
  • 1 hardback, thick book
  • 4 or 5 books smaller in size than the hardback
  • Flat metal L shelf (try the Conceal shelf from Umbra)
  • Screw
  • Screwdriver
Quick Tips:
  • If you want to fool your friends and don’t want to buy the conceal style shelf, then you can buy a plain metal shelf and hide the shelf bottom into the hardback book used on the bottom of the stack. The catch is that you will have to sacrifice the book by securing the back cover to the shelf.
  • These are not sturdy shelves and can usually hold less than 20 pounds so don’t try to overload with books. If you want to create a tall column of books with invisible shelves, then space several of the L shelves one above another on the wall and stack them that way.
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