Wall shelves are a great place to store your things. They keep the floor and counters free of clutter and can even add a decorative element to the room. Although you may be somewhat limited by the design of your living quarters, there is always some place that you can add a wall shelf for added storage. Wall shelving ideas are plentiful due to all the different styles and materials available. Think about your needs before adding any new storage areas to your home. Then you will be able to decide if you wall shelf ideas are practical. First make sure to get rid of all your unused and needless possessions which we all have too much of.

Decorative Wall Shelves

Some people don’t like the look of shelves attached to the wall because of unsightly brackets. There are two solutions for this problem. Buy decorative wall shelf brackets or use floating wall shelves that attach directly to the wall through a hidden bracket attached to the back of the shelf.  You do not see any bracket with a floating wall shelf, hence the look of the shelf floating.

Glass wall shelves are very attractive and blend well next to windows or glass door display cabinets. Another idea is to create the image of a shelf blending into the wall. This can be achieved if the shelf is the same color as the wall. White wall shelves are clearly suitable for white walls. They also tend to be one of the cheaper shelf choices.

If you have a black book shelf or entertainment unit, you can add black wall shelves to the wall directly next to the book shelf. This creates the illusion that the shelves are part of the book shelf and gives you added storage space. Similarly, if you have a wood book shelf, entertainment center or any other kind of display case in your home, wooden wall shelves attached to the wall right next to that piece of furniture will create that same look of extending the unit and creating more storage space. Decorative metal shelves are another style that have become popular. They come in different colors and can be simple or ornate.

Guidelines for Buying Wall Shelves

When buying shelving, there are some guidelines to keep in mind that will maximize the functionality of your shelves. If the shelves are overly deep, it will be too difficult to retrieve the things in the very back. 12 inch deep shelves are recommended for the efficiency of access. You also don’t want to install the shelves with too much height between them. The general rule is that you shouldn’t stack items more than 2 or 3 high otherwise everything will topple over when you remove an item. On high shelves you can store lightweight items that are easy to retrieve. Storing heaving things on the top shelf is actually a danger as you can hurt yourself when removing them.

Making Use of Wall Space for Wall Shelves

When I moved into an apartment without a storage room, I added shelves in the laundry room high up on the walls near the ceiling to store the things I use infrequently like suitcases and holiday decorations. Don’t forget the space over or behind a door which can give you even more added storage. If there is enough space between the top of the door and the ceiling, you can add shallow shelves. If you are budgeting, you can often save money by creating shelves out of cheap furniture that people are giving away. Use the side of an armoire for a nice long storage shelf. Use the shelves from a broken bookshelf to attach to the wall above your computer to hold your printer. A printer wall shelf will free up a lot of space on your desk and give you more room to work.

If you have very heavy things to store away in a basement or garage, steel shelving is a very strong and durable option. Stainless steel wall shelves are also popular in kitchens, especially commercial kitchens but also in homes.

The corners in rooms are usually overlooked as storage options but can add additional storage space. Corner wall shelves are great for storing decorative items or things you use frequently. You can use corner shelves in a bedroom instead of a nightstand and they are great in the bathroom to store shampoo and other shower items. There are many other corner shelving ideas. Bathroom wall shelves are a must when you are cramped for space and don’t have room for a bathroom vanity.

When storing your things on wall shelves, remember that location is a premium. Store your most frequently used items in the places that are the most easily accessible. Save the difficult to reach places for things that you need infrequently.

If you don’t like the look of open wood wall shelves because you have a hard time keeping your things looking tidy, one idea is to attach wooden shutters to the shelves to hide your mess.

If you store small things like spices on a shelf, it is a good idea to group them all together in a small box or basket. This way you can take them down from your open wall shelving in one motion and return the easily as well. This not only make for easy accessibility but also allows you to easily clean or dust your open wall shelves without having to remove and replace many small items to the shelf. Spices look nice stored on decorative corner shelves in your kitchen.

The uses for wall shelves are as endless as your imagination. Look through magazines, at store displays and in other people’s home and you will find great ideas for storing your things with wall shelves. Putting up wall shelves is a great DIY home improvement project.

Related posts:

1. White Wall Shelves for a Blended Look
2. Black Wall Shelves
3. Creating Space With Bathroom Wall Shelves

Bathrooms are not the only place in an older home with a problem such as this. If the house is old enough, you may find that the kitchen cupboards have a few less inches in depth as well. Back when those homes were built, much more space was needed for food preparation. Now we buy a lot of pre-packaged food and need extra room for all those boxes.

One idea is to install corner wall shelves around your windows. These can hold things that are suitable to display such as vases and pretty dishes. This will free up some of that micro space in the existing cabinets without having to install new ones. Turntable corner shelving is also a great idea for the space under the counters. They give you the ability to make smaller storage items more accessible. By doing this, you will again leave more room in the smaller cabinets overhead.

As the rage for the retro look increases, a corner shelf here and there in many homes has become popular. They are not only functional, but they also add that sought after traditional appeal that only retro can give. Another thing you will often see in older homes is an extrusion from the wall where there used to be a chimney for the old wood burning stoves. A lot of these have been sealed off and covered over with sheetrock, leaving an awkward shape on the wall. This is the perfect place to put a corner wall shelf. It will look as if it was intended to be there and eliminate that odd appearance. You could install a single shelf there with a decorative piece of artwork sitting on it. You could also put corner bookshelves going from the floor to the ceiling here and maximize that space.

If your house has a rustic look, you could even play off of that and use corner wall shelves that are made of unfinished wood. If you take the time to go through your house, you will see that there are numerous possibilities for space saving with the strategic use of corner shelves.

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