Build.com For Pros: Shelving Ideas

Possessions like books, family photos, and trinkets picked up while traveling make a house a home. In the bathroom, skin care products, hair care essentials, and cosmetics help you put your best foot forward. Unfortunately, those must-have items can really clutter up the space they're stored in.

When building or designing a functional family home, shelving is too often overlooked. While shelving might not always be as glamorous as custom furniture and statement art pieces, they deliver something any good design requires: function. With the right shelving in place, your design ideas can shine years down the road without being consumed by clutter.

Use this guide to pick up a few new shelving ideas you can use as part of your next project. While there are lots of ideas out there, these smart shelving ideas can give you a new perspective on how to help your clients get organized.

Focus on the Garage First

The garage is often the last space you think about as a designer. It might be a unique approach, but thinking about garage storage first can actually make designing the interior space of a home easier. How? Because you'll know how much storage space is still needed within the house.

When it comes to garage shelving ideas, built-ins shelves are a standard option if you want to maximize storage space. With built-ins, you can utilize every inch of wall space and even work with the homeowner to create a design that they'll love. You can also create cabinetry and storage options that are functional while matching the interior style of the house.

If you're retrofitting a garage or simply adding storage, you'll rarely go wrong with heavy-duty rack-style storage in the garage. Materials like steel are used to hold hundreds of pounds of weight. When you can, use storage racks that take advantage of the vertical height of the garage your designing. That means more storage space for the homeowner and less chaotic clutter down the road.

Get Serious About Closet Storage

Go into the average home and open the nearest closet door. You'll see that chaos reigns supreme. With a few smart closet shelving ideas, you can help your clients avoid this common problem. 

Here are a few closet shelving ideas to use:

• Add a hanging bar to every interior closet. Even better, place a shelf directly over that hanging bar for more storage. A simple wall-mount shelf will work well here.

• Opt for custom closet storage solutions for master bedroom closets. From wood to wire, custom shelving will maximize and beautify any closet.

• Use pre-fab shelves to organize utility closets that are just empty spaces. Combine them with a bar and built-in top shelf if you've got space.

Update Shelving in Shared Spaces

The living room, den, and family area are prime gathering spots for everybody in the house. That's one main reason these rooms tend to get cluttered faster than others. While built-in shelves will work in some homes, they can be very expensive compared to pre-fab options. Here are a few stylish shelving ideas you can use in shared spaces:

• Opt for an opulent library look with multiple wood bookcases and library shelving. Rustic styles, lacquered wood and combination wood and metal shelves can transform a room when placed in pairs.

• Make it modern with a series of floating shelves. While floating shelves can only hold a certain amount of weight, they'll add a sleek style to your living room design. That makes them especially good for formal spaces used for entertaining guests.

• Create a contemporary room divider with glass shelving and curio cabinets. Freestanding shelving units made from materials like glass are great for open floor plans.

• Go for a glamorous look with gold shelving. A combination of brass and wood can add warmth to a room, while gold and glass styles work in modern and art deco spaces.

• Look for shelving units in unique shapes. Round shelving units made from materials like iron are particularly popular in modern design. They can be used in throwback and vintage-inspired spaces too.

Utilize Open Kitchen Shelving

The kitchen is a high-traffic space in almost every home. Not every kitchen is made with smart storage solutions in mind though. That's why many designers find themselves retrofitting the kitchen organization in their clients' homes before long.

One of the best ways to do that without spending your whole renovation budget is to make use of open shelving kitchen ideas. Easy to implement and quite space-efficient, open shelving can add visual interest to a kitchen and bring a more modern design to a dated space. 

Here are a few tips to help open shelving styles make a serious statement:

• Utilize shelving that's the same color as the kitchen walls for an austere, modern minimalist style.

• Use a wood shelf to add a natural touch to the kitchen. Go for untreated wood for rustic spaces, or more polished wood types for modern designs.

• Mix and match open shelving with standard shelving styles. Aim for unique shelving ideas like combining open shelves with doors and cabinets painted in a rich, dark color. Open shelving and glass doors can also add visual interest without making a small kitchen feel claustrophobic.  

If you need more storage than an open kitchen cabinet plan provides, metal racks often work well. Look for sleek, clean styles for modern spaces or more worn, aged-looking designs for rustic kitchens.

Build Better Bathrooms with Modern Shelving Ideas

A vanity with built-in storage is usually the best solution for any bathroom. Some spaces need more storage than a vanity can provide. That's where bathroom wall shelves can really shine

 In the bathroom, single and double-shelf wall cabinets with metal hardware are often the best choice. They'll provide room for storing essentials without being obtrusive to your design. If you choose this look, aim to match existing hardware for a cohesive style.

Better shelving ideas will make your client's homes for functional and stylish. If you're looking for more unique shelving ideas for the bathroom, consider floor cabinets as well as acrylic shelves, laminate wood styles or all-metal options. You can even mix and match floating shelves with more obvious hardware-mounted styles, towel bars and hooks.