The Best Shelving For Home

Buying Guide

Shelving can make a house a home. It gives you a place for storing knickknacks, framed photos, plants, your favorite books and more. Best of all, shelves can be added to any area where you have extra room.

But if you want to add some shelving, there are some decisions you’ll first need to make. First, you should settle on the type of shelving you want. Do you want it to be a standalone piece of furniture that you can move from one home to the next, or would you prefer something that mounts to your walls?

Next, consider the material used to construct your shelving. Do you want wood or metal shelves? You should also consider the mounts holding the shelves up. Some use PVC pipes and composite wood while others use metal pipes and solid wood. Price may play a role in the option you choose, and keep in mind that you may not need a heavy-duty build if you’ll only be using it to display lightweight items.

Once you’ve decided the basic design you need, measure the area where you’ll set up the shelves and compare those measurements with the many options you see. You may find some shelves protrude more than they seem like they will, and this could take up some of your precious floor space.

Lastly, there’s the general look of your shelving. You’ll find a wide range of colors, from woods to metals. Look around the room where you’ll be displaying the shelves and choose the color that will best match your existing décor. You should also pay close attention to the items you plan to store on your shelves and consider how they’ll look once in place. You may find that a lighter-color wood won’t look well with your dark wood frames.

• Most shelving will require some form of assembly unless you have a way to transport it from a store to your home. You’ll need to make sure that your purchase includes all the bolts, screws and other hardware required to set it up, as well as that you have the tools on hand to do the job.
• Consider before you purchase how much of a do-it-yourselfer you want to be. Some options include the hardware to hold up your shelves, but you’ll need to source the wood yourself. Others require more than one person to assemble, which means you’ll probably want to make plans to have someone help you put it together.
• Once your shelving is set up, it will be time to put your items on it. Consider everything you plan to store on it and make sure you’ll have enough room for everything. If you’re setting up your shelves to be more decorative in nature, keep in mind that you’ll want to space items fairly far apart to avoid a cluttered look.
• If you’re mounting your shelves to the wall, make sure your chosen wall is strong enough to support the weight.
• Weight capacity is also important for the items you’ll be storing on it. If you’re piling multiple hardback books onto one shelf, for instance, that weight can add up quickly, potentially weakening the shelf until it warps or buckles.
• There are also shelving options that are eco-friendly in nature. Look for one with wood that has been sustainably sourced if this is important to you.
• If you plan to paint your shelves at any point, you’ll want to go with shelving made from smoother wood like pine. Birch and maple hardwood veneer plywood will also provide a smooth finish. Stay away from oak plywood. Its porous nature doesn’t work well with paint.