I received a question the other day that I thought would be helpful to share with you all. Most of us have those random spaces in our homes--they're too big to leave empty but too small for a piece of furniture.
Hey Christine,
I had a question for you about some shelving options for the new apartment. We have a small unused area of wall about 4 feet wide running between the corner of a room and a window. There is a radiator at the base of the wall, and so we can't just put a book shelf there, so we were thinking of doing some silhoutte shelves for some display items.
The stuff I saw from Bed Bath and Beyond looks a bit thick (I used to have Lack shelves from IKEA, and I didn't like how thick the shelves were). They also look a little mod, which is not precisely our style. I like the sort of non-traditional layout we could do with something like that. I don't really want to just blandly center three shelves on the wall. I didn't know if you had any suggestions for places to look for something like this, or interesting way to layout these types of shelves is would be a great help.
Hey Christine,
I had a question for you about some shelving options for the new apartment. We have a small unused area of wall about 4 feet wide running between the corner of a room and a window. There is a radiator at the base of the wall, and so we can't just put a book shelf there, so we were thinking of doing some silhoutte shelves for some display items.
The stuff I saw from Bed Bath and Beyond looks a bit thick (I used to have Lack shelves from IKEA, and I didn't like how thick the shelves were). They also look a little mod, which is not precisely our style. I like the sort of non-traditional layout we could do with something like that. I don't really want to just blandly center three shelves on the wall. I didn't know if you had any suggestions for places to look for something like this, or interesting way to layout these types of shelves is would be a great help.
Here's my reply: I like the idea of floating shelves. Gives you some interest without adding a lot of bulk. I have a few questions that might help narrow down the choices.
1. Does the radiator run from the edge of the wall to the edge of the window?
2. How far past the edge of the window do the draperies extend (if applicable)
3. Are there outlets nearby?
To start, if you have space on either side, you can always do a narrow console table (10" or so) that sort of frames out the radiator, giving you surface space to work with. You could do coordinating shelves above or lean some artwork (sort of a layered effect, a small piece of art over a larger item). Instead of a console, if you have more room, a removable tray table would also look great (again, with something hung above).
If that doesn't work, I put together 2 pictures with some ideas. You could do one long shelf with 2 pictures stacked one over the other. The second picture shows a longer shelf over a more narrow one. If you do a wide enough shelf, this also gives you enough surface for a small lamp or sculpture. As far as shelf material, wood is an option, but have you considered glass? It would be a nice look.
1. Does the radiator run from the edge of the wall to the edge of the window?
2. How far past the edge of the window do the draperies extend (if applicable)
3. Are there outlets nearby?
To start, if you have space on either side, you can always do a narrow console table (10" or so) that sort of frames out the radiator, giving you surface space to work with. You could do coordinating shelves above or lean some artwork (sort of a layered effect, a small piece of art over a larger item). Instead of a console, if you have more room, a removable tray table would also look great (again, with something hung above).
If that doesn't work, I put together 2 pictures with some ideas. You could do one long shelf with 2 pictures stacked one over the other. The second picture shows a longer shelf over a more narrow one. If you do a wide enough shelf, this also gives you enough surface for a small lamp or sculpture. As far as shelf material, wood is an option, but have you considered glass? It would be a nice look.
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