Simple, yet very practical, shelving units are one of those furniture pieces that don’t always get the credit they deserve, but they sure make for a clever investment. The best thing about them is that they are versatile – they can be used for various purposes and be placed in almost any room of the house. This is especially useful if you happen to live in a small space and really love organizing things. This being said, let’s go through some of the many ways shelving units can be used around the house.
Display Items
There’s no doubt that shelves provide the best space for displaying items that are important for you and recall your experiences. You can proudly show off different kinds of small treasures brought back from recent travels, like artwork or photos or maybe display accomplishments that you are proud of. These can all give a hint about your personality and style.
Arranging the shelves can be a project in and of itself considering how you need to pick the right color pallet and arrange the items to create visual interest. For a clean look, avoid placing accessories and items on every shelf and choose one color or maybe tone-on-tone scheme for the items, to give it a sense of unity. If you have colorful objects to display, you should definitely go for neutral shelves to tone the pallet down.
In order to style a display shelving so it doesn’t look overwhelming, you’ll need to ground it with items that have a lot of visual weight – place items that are bulky and large like oversized books on the bottom shelves and as you work your way up to the higher shelves, lighten the visual weight by adding simple and light souvenirs or maybe plants like succulents. For the purpose of creating a nice atmosphere, make sure you add some lighting to your shelves. Led strips can be a fun and simple way to add some sparkle.
There are a variety of shelving units on the market, but if you opt for modern and minimalist designer shelves unit that features clean lines, it’s most likely that they will fit your already established design setting, whether it’s Scandinavian, retro, vintage or maybe industrial.
Store Things
Most living rooms are in need of a storage solution that will add practicality without sacrificing style. On this note, a shelving unit will allow you to organize just about anything like small items that you don’t want to display, but need to have them close at hand. Things like DVDs or kid’s toys can be stored in boxes, labeled and placed on shelves. For this purpose find a sturdy shelving unit that is able to stand up to plenty of movement. Convenient-wise if you want to disguise what’s on the shelves, panels curtains would do the job.
Room Division
In addition to being a storage and display unit, a large floor-to-ceiling unit can be used to divide a room. This may come especially handy in open-concept spaces that lack privacy, as you might want to relax in the evening with a book or watch a film in a more private atmosphere. They can create the feeling of having two different rooms, without closing up the space permanently. On top of that, this design technique doesn’t require any building work, so it’s easy and affordable, which is ideal for rental homes.
Some Unexpected Additional Functions
Also, the purpose of a shelving unit can go beyond displaying and storing items. For instance, a low console table with shelves can be used as a home bar. The top surface of the unit can serve as a place where you can pour and mix drinks with ease, while the lower shelves can be used to store and display bottles of alcohol, bar tools, must-read cocktail books, garnishes, and glassware. In addition, a shelving unit can be also transformed into a bar, just make sure it’s of the right height.
Now, since it’s quite obvious how multi-purpose this piece of furniture can be, it makes sense to invest in something that can last you a long time. In order to choose a piece that can tick all the boxes regarding the various purposes mentioned above, I’d suggest that you go for a unit which comes with the promise of durability. I am talking about designer shelves. You will be able to easily set them apart if you look closely at the materials they’re made of. Simply put, look for natural wood finish, but not any kind of wood – shelves that feature legs made from solid American oak and veneers made from natural oak are the best choice.
A shelving unit can be also used for storing and organizing your clothes in case you don’t have a dresses or if you can’t fit all of your clothes in it. With a few storage cubes where you can place folded clothes nicely, your new dresser won’t look like a cluttered mess. For fashionistas with a love for shoes, you can use a shelving unit to store your shoe collection and ease the stress of finding the right pair of shoes.