Great Ideas for Shelves

Create the storage you need with inspiration from these shelves for kitchen, living room, hall, garden, mudroom, bathroom, and more.


Built-in floaters of pine and red oak
Built-in floaters of pine and red oak


Floating book shelves

Typical store-bought floating shelves are suitable only for displaying objects, as they have a weight capacity of 10 or so pounds. That's why California architect Stephen Atikinson created what might be called built-in floaters of pine and red oak, with seriously strong support.

The total cost of the project was $500. Wood trim hides the brackets supporting the shelves, creating an elegant appearance reinforced by the larger display shelf at the bottom.
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Glasses, wine and cocktail fixings within easy reach
Glasses, wine and cocktail fixings within easy reach


Custom drink station

The beverage center of our reader-voted dream entertaining kitchen keeps glasses, wine, and cocktail fixings within easy reach. The custom shelves ensure that all the drinkware fits perfectly in place. Open shelves and mirrored backs add interest.

Two under-counter GE Monogram wine refrigerators each keep up to 57 bottles at preferred temperatures.


Shelves use salvaged bleachers
Shelves use salvaged bleachers


Designated clutter zone

Pegs, buckets, and colored bins (from $11; www.tubtrugs.us) help keep this mud room organized. The shelves were an easy DIY using salvaged bleachers.

Having a storage space just off the kitchen of this home helps prevent stuff from piling up on the dining table.


Frees counter space and keeps ingredients handy
Frees counter space and keeps ingredients handy


Simple window shelf

A single shelf in an unexpected place can expand your storage right where you need it most.

This one in front of a kitchen window frees counter space and keeps cooking ingredients handy.


A divider between living-dining and kitchen areas
A divider between living-dining and kitchen areas


Storage room divider

A freestanding cabinet provides open and closed storage while serving as the principal divider between the open living-dining and kitchen areas in this remodeled ranch house.


Shelving for books and curios
Shelving for books and curios


If the shelf fits, use it

18 horizontal inches of wall may have more possibilties than you think. Designer Lotta Jansdotter put a Benno CD tower on its end and used it as shelving for books and curios.


Shelves shaped like skateboards add fun
Shelves shaped like skateboards add fun


"Rough and tumble" bath

Shelves shaped like skateboards (from Pottery Barn Kids) add fun to a wall of concrete wall tiles mimicking masonry. Bright towels pick up their color for another accent.


Shelves serve the bedroom and entry on opposite sides
Shelves serve the bedroom and entry on opposite sides


Surprising shared shelving

Three built-in shelves serve the bedroom wall and the entry on the opposite side. Lumicor resin panels containing recycled materials let in natural light.

The wall art is a digital image transferred onto fabric then stretched into place with a tiny metal frame. Wall covering by Planet Profile.


Inspired by nesting boxes in chicken coops
Inspired by nesting boxes in chicken coops


Garden cubbies

Nursery pots and planting paraphernalia stay put in these cleverly constructed garden shelves. The upslanted edges of the shelves were inspired by nesting boxes in chicken coops.


Compact kitchen feels roomy
Compact kitchen feels roomy


Storage wall

A single storage wall makes this compact Seattle kitchen feel roomy.
More small-space solutions


Adjustable Plexiglas shelves
Adjustable Plexiglas shelves


Homework center

Adjustable Plexiglas shelves keep everything in this workspace handy but out of the way.
More: Kid-friendly remodels


A backdrop to brown and orange accessories
A backdrop to brown and orange accessories


Brighten up a nook

Create a colorful focal point in a small space by painting your shelves (including the back) a bright color. Here, pumpkin-colored shelves (Kelly-Moore's Deep Spice wall paint, KM3608-5) act as a backdrop to deep brown and burnt orange accessories.


Keep horizontal stacks on lower shelves
Keep horizontal stacks on lower shelves


Tame chaotic piles

Open shelves can look cluttered. Unite unruly stacks by showcasing a collection of objects of similar shape and color. Even the most haphazard piles will seem intentional.

Keep horizontal stacks on lower shelves to prevent them from looking precarious.


Painted the colors of the shoreline
Painted the colors of the shoreline


Color-coded walls

Open shelves in this Oregon beach house are painted the colors of the shoreline. "We tell visitors to turn left at the green wall for the media room or left at the blue wall for the bathroom," says Homeowner Jo Landefel.


Convert a closet into a work station
Convert a closet into a work station


Office in a closet

Her small San Francisco home didn't have space for a home office, so Sara Menuck converted her living room closet into a chic, streamlined work station.

For $1,000, including materials and labor, her designer removed the closet pole and added an upper covered storage area, a floating middle shelf, and a work surface with an almost-hidden drawer. Says Menuck, "I hardly ever close the doors."
More home office ideas

Design Paris Renfroe Design (651/233-0063).

More: 20 fun DIY projects