Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with shelving

Shelving that doesn't collapse on anyone's head.

A Terrible Llama — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:01:27 -0800

Please help me work out a plan for my wall-mounted shelf project.
Between the cavernous aisles of Home Depot and the 30,000 web pages on this topic, I'm a little overwhelmed. In order to contend with the increased mobility of baby llama and our decision to stay in the small house we're renting, I need to get some shelves on the walls.

I want to hang a couple of different shelf types in different rooms. Let's say the function is to hold books (even though in some cases it'll be lighter stuff -- I want them to at least support a bunch of books.)

I want to have (in several rooms):
A single long shelf about a foot from the ceiling
Multiple shelf system on brackets (several above each other)

The various questions:

My concerns are: the walls are pretty crumbly, so I have to use the stud finder to find a solid place to drill. When I've done this in the past, despite my using the stud finder, I found that the top screw slowly pulled away from the wall, making everyone uneasy. I did use an anchor, but can't remember what kind. What kind of anchor should I be using, and how do I use it?

What's the best way to deal with the single shelf design? I want to not spend thirty dollars a bracket for some curlicued bit of fanciness if I can get away with something else that's lots cheaper that's tucked away and labeled something else somewhere in the depths of Home Depot where I'd never think to look. Or I wouldn't be able to find because I need some perfect L-shaped thingy for the job because they don't have an L-shaped thingy aisle.

What kind of wood should I use? Should I spring for oak or can I get away with pine?

Can you help me figure out the simplest and safest, most effective, least pain in the ass way to do this? Very specific and Home Depot friendly answers are especially appreciated.

Sorry about the jumble of questions. I'm having a hard time parsing my needs. Because I don't really know what I'm doing.

Put a pole in my living room.

peachfuzz — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:31:15 -0800

How do I DIY-up a pole-mounted shelving system like this? I have a lot of books. I have big blank walls and an awkwardly long, narrow room. I need seriously low-profile (like 8-10" deep) shelves that will leave no mark on the walls. So pole-mounted shelving that relies on tension between floor and ceiling is pretty perfect. Unfortunately, the aforementioned Rakks system is pricey when you're talking a lot of square feet. Lower-cost options are ugly and flimsy-looking. Can I build something like this for relatively less? I only want shelves, no cabinets, and I'm thinking that if I don't need to spend $80 a pop for poles and shelves, I could get real wood and sturdy materials that were both strong and good-looking.

I know I can rig up compression poles with levelers and pipe, but where can I get long poles that will work with standards or brackets on either side, so they sit in the middle of the boards, like these? I want it to be adjustable, so I'm planning a system that uses separate boards rather than long boards with holes drilled through for the pole (such as the zero point shelf). And oh, right...I have no serious metal or wood tools, or experience. I'm pretty handy, though.

Basically, I think I need ideas on combinations of hardware that might be able to do this, and what they're called. I'm planning to just go to the hardware store and walk around and get ideas, but starting points would be helpful. If you have advice on structural integrity or general tips, that would be great too - though I get the basic physics of the thing (weight rests on the floor and the wall, load should be at the rear), I really don't know what I'm doing.

Or is this super over-ambitious?

The opposite of out of the box thinking...

rileyray3000 — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:30:22 -0800

I'm looking for a box shelf - one foot by one foot square - that's wall mounted. Black brown wood. I've been looking the length of google but clearly I'm not doing it right. Help. I wanted to go with regular nightstands but there wasn't enough room. So ten I was going to go with tall pedestal night stands but they kept falling over when I hit the snooze. So then it hit me: wall mounted cubes on either side of the bed. One foot square. Black brown wood. Perfect.

Except I can't find what I'm looking for.

My guess is they have some sort of cutesy name that I'm not in the loop on and that's why all I'm getting are complicated "cubing systems" or just industrial shelving.

So please, for the love of my clock radio, help me find it.

Searching for wall mounted bookshelves.

aladfar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:02:59 -0800

Searching for the perfect, wall mounted bookshelves: As I live in San Francisco, I'd like some books shelves that are adjustable and readily anchored to the wall. The Treku Bookcase from DWR is perfect, but (as with much from DWR) a bit too expensive. Any other suggestions? There's a knockoff at CB2 called The Helix, but the shelves aren't adjustable and it isn't available in a color that works for me.

Am I overloading my IVAR shelving?

washburn — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:20:25 -0800

How many books can an IVAR bookshelf unit from IKEA hold? So, I've just moved into a smaller apartment, and I've got more books than I can fit onto my shelves. I'm tempted therefore to really load up my new IVAR bookshelves, rather than get rid of books.

I'm hoping to hear experiences with really loading up IVAR shelving with books--have you done this and been fine? Have you tried this and produced a spectacular collapse?

Personally, I've got the 6ft (70.5") shelves (2x35" and 1x17" wide), hooked up together, on a carpeted concrete floor. I want to put in at least seven shelves (including the top and bottom piece), and want to load books two deep on the shelves (I'll just have to sort of remember which books are behind the ones in front).

What are the chances that this sort of loading will break the shelves?

I think I need a putty knife...

roygbv — Sun, 25 May 2008 07:27:11 -0800

I need to hang things from my walls and ceilings, but can't. Help! I've just moved into an old apartment building in SW Portland. The walls and ceilings are made of some kind of plaster, and in places are very thin. For instance, part of our kitchen / living room area is divided by a wall about 2" thick. The maintenance guys haven't been a ton of help figuring out what exactly this is, but they think it's plaster over a wire lattice.

My issue: I can't hang a thing from the stuff. I've tried drywall screws (the little inserts) in predrilled holes, but those pull out. I can't use the anchor-type ones, because there are no gaps within the wall for the anchor to expand into. There are no studs (to my knowledge) and in places I hit metal (assumedly the lattice) and cannot drill or nail anything in.

My roommates and I are keen on mounting a few shelves (Ikea) to the wall, and hanging a bike or two from the ceiling. Please, help us!

Seattle-area bookcase company?

The corpse in the library — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:51:00 -0800

I want to have some bookshelves made for my living room. Any recommendations for a Seattle-area carpenter or company to do the work? Also, can you identify a furniture style for me (links inside) so I can describe the shelves I want? Here are some shelves I like:

shelf 1
shelf 2

Mine would be floor-to-ceiling and go around a corner, but I like the general look of these -- especially shelf 2. Simple, sturdy, like you'd find in a school library in the 1960s. Does this style have a name?

Attractive shelves for holding plastic tubs?

The corpse in the library — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 08:56:06 -0800

Shelves, with doors, that hold large plastic tubs? My family and I keep most of our stuff in big plastic tubs. I'm trying to find cabinets that we could put the tubs on and close the doors, thus making our living room look a little less like a garage.

Any advice on where to get such things? (I'm in the USA, near Seattle.)

Help me find drawer slides to convert a suitcase into an portable shelving unit.

chundo — Fri, 11 May 2007 09:10:05 -0800

Help me find drawer slides to convert a suitcase into an portable shelving unit. I recently purchased an aluminum carrying case and a stack of small trays designed to fit in it for transporting jewelry. When it arrived, I found that the case doesn't have any slides in it - the trays just stack on top of each other, which makes it really awkward to get at things on the bottom when it's full of heavy items.

I'd like to install some tray sliders in the side walls of the suitcase, something like the yellow highlighted piece in this mockup.There's not much free space on the sides of the trays, so I was hoping to find or make a plastic sheet with grooves about every inch and a half that I can glue to the walls. How can I easily make something like this, or is there an existing part out there that I can use?

Looking for angle iron source for shelving

bagelche — Fri, 11 May 2007 08:09:30 -0800

I'm trying to find angle iron uprights for industrial shelving. My small non-profit was given shelving (well, shelves) that we originally expected uprights to come with and they ended up without the uprights. I'm looking for angle iron around 8 ft(96inches) long, of reasonable strength, and with bolt holes running the length. Holes on the shelves are approximately 3/4" on center from the corner, but are oval. leads are appreciated as my google-fu has mostly failed me. thanks.

Where to find solid wood cd shelving in the Dallas/Fort Worth area?

snowleopard — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 13:34:07 -0800

Where to find solid wood cd shelving in the Dallas/Fort Worth area? I want to purchase solid wood bookcases/towers made specifically for cds. I have a large collection and I enjoy seeing them displayed in their jewel cases, so I'm not looking to rip and toss or Caselogic them.

I don't like particle board furniture (so ikea's benno shelves are out). I love this tower from Gothic Cabinet Craft and want to find something similar in the DFW area. I like plain, no frill bookcases (think amish/shaker style furniture with straight, clean lines) I'd be happy to buy unfinished wood and paint it myself. Looking to pay around $100 ($150-200 is possible, though less likely).

Looking For the Perfect... Shelves

incomple — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 21:36:35 -0800

This is a long shot, but I'm looking to purchase shelving units that match, or at least come very close, to those pictured here It's solid wood construction (I'm not savvy enough to know one wood from another), 24" x 72" x 9", with six non-adjustable shelves each placed twelve inches apart. Nevermind the dust, or the dweeby selection of DVDs.

While having them match aesthetically would be great, I'm mostly looking for something that comes close dimensionally... Though it was surely designed as a bookshelf, I find it perfectly suited for housing my apartment's DVD collection (which has recently expanded beyond the capacity of a single unit). Any suggestions where I could purchase something similar at a reasonable cost? All of my searching is yielding units made of particle board and the like. Thanks for any help you can provide!

Corner Shelf?

wavejumper — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 09:42:21 -0800

I'm looking for a shelf (from 3 - 5 feet high) that neatly fills a corner, i.e. it turns at a 90 degree angle. A "Corner Shelf." Either one piece or something in two-peices that would go together without interrupting the flow too much. Anyone know of such a shelf set? Hopefully from a national brand available in the S.F. Bay Area? I'm putting together a tatami / library / altar room and want to continue the flow of books, but in the corner have a little Buddha statue and meditation area that integrates into that and yet holds the space on its own. Does that make any sense? Can IKEA save me? I haven't found anything like what I'm talking about...
thanks!

Cheap, Sturdy Modular Shelving?

dgeiser13 — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 17:21:59 -0800

Can anyone recommend some reasonably-priced, reasonably-sturdy modular shelving? In my office at home I have a closet with a bi-fold door directly behind my computer desk. According to my tape measure the inside of the closet is 7'10" tall, 2' deep and 5'6" wide. I'm currently thinking of this as my computer closet. So all of my computer related items, e.g. cables, pc parts, books, software, etc, are going to go in here.

I would like to get an assortment of cubes (or other shapes) that I can stick in this closet and create a variety of spaces where I can sort this stuff and make it easy to access when needed.

I originally started Googling for closet organizers but quickly realized that wasn't quite the way to go and then started looking at shelving and finally what I can only describe as "modular shelving". A rudimentary form of modular shelving might be the kind you could make with a bunch of hard plastic milk crates like you find in a college dorm room.

I found this Black Stacking Modular Storage Cube Set on the Bed, Bath and Beyond website but I don't think they are nearly sturdy enough for items or any real substance (especially if I start stacking high) and also I'd rather not have a bunch of holes in the bottom of the cubes because I may be putting small objects in there as well.

I think what I'm seeking could be described as functional building blocks for adults. If I could do the whole closet betwen $100-$200 that would be great. If the blocks are pleasing to the eye that would be OK too except I'm not as worried about how they look as much as how well they work.

I think I have access to some good stores, e.g. Container Store, Ikea, in town or at least a few hours drive away and I'd also be willing to buy the right items over the Internet.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Measurement-foo and shelf-fill rate help?

robocop is bleeding — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 09:03:17 -0800

See a librarian’s brain asplode*! So my library is moving back into our building next summer. We have some 8,400 linear feet of bound serials* being moved into 15,500 linear feet of compact shelving*. We need to tell the mover what we want our fill rate* to be. Sounds easy, right? However, there are complications, horrible complications. Lingo:

Asplode – explode painfully
Serials – mainly journals that have been collected and bound together into volumes
Compact shelving – moveable shelving that slides to open or close aisles as needed
Fill rate – the percentage of the shelf that is filled by books. Ideally, you don’t want to go over 80% because it makes shelving new items difficult.

Other factors:

Each serial shelf unit is five shelves in height. Each shelf has 11.5 inches between it and the one above it.

Each shelf is roughly three feet wide.

The complications:

Some volumes are either too tall or too deep for the shelf. Tall items require that a shelf be pulled from the shelf unit to increase the 11.5 inch clearance. This will decrease the number of shelves in the shelf unit. Some items are too long to fit on the shelf, so when the compact shelving is closed, they would jam against the opposite shelf. To make space, a shelf must be pulled from the shelf unit behind the one with the long item in order to keep the spines flush. Some volumes are both too long and too tall for the standard shelf unit.

For the sake of this puzzle, let’s assume that we can not create a separate section for serials who are too large for the shelf. While my library does have a Folio section that would likely take all the items that are both too tall and too long, it is in the best interests of accessibility to keep all the serials together. Besides, these volumes are collections of bound issues of a journal title and must be kept together. However, one thing journal publishers love to do almost as much as change their journal’s titles is change the size of their journals. So a serial title could have 20 volumes, of which only 1 is oversized. We can’t pull that lone volume out, and we can’t pull out the entire title.

There are 405 linear feet of oversized items in the collection. 23 feet of them are too long, 290 feet worth are too tall, and 92 feet are both too long and too tall. They are not necessarily all next to each other, although some are. Each single oversized item can cost anywhere from 3 to 9 extra feet worth of shelf space as shelves above, behind, or above and behind it are removed. I have an inventory of all the oversized items.

This collection grows roughly 400-450 feet per year. The oversized elements of this collection grow only 14 feet per year. We are hoping for 10 years minimum worth of growth space with an ideal of 15-20.

If we give a fill rate that is too low, causing there to be books left but no shelf space, days are lost as we shift and the entire move schedule is out of whack. If we give a fill rate that is too high, we cost ourselves growth space that has to be justified to the school. Either way, it’s a “Very Bad Thing.”

I figure I need to produce a pretty detailed shelf map of what the stacks should look like once the movers finish. However, outside of trial and error, I have no idea how to produce this map.

The Questions (finally!):

Does a computer program exist that can perform this mapping for me? If not, how hard would it be to code said program?

If computers can not help us, what other method would you recommend for producing this sort of map/plan?

Am I doomed and should I start eating bugs now?