Shelves + Bookcases
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Modern Bookshelves, Bookcases & Shelves
Adequate storage solutions are integral to a functional home. Storage furniture and accessories can help you keep everything in your home neat, clean, and easy to find when you need it. Among the most useful and versatile storage solutions to choose from are shelves, which can turn unused floor or wall space into attractive and efficient storage. While many wall shelves and freestanding shelving units are strictly functional, made sturdy and spacious but not so good-looking, modern shelves like those available at Design Within Reach stand apart. They’re functional and aesthetically pleasing, designed to put items on display as much as store them away.
Despite their status as organization assistants in the home, several of the mid-century modern bookshelves and wall shelves available at Design Within Reach have reached icon status just as many other iconic furniture pieces have. Many pieces originally designed in the mid-to-late 1900s, including Magis’s Elysée Bookshelf, Carl Hansen & Søn’s BM0253 Bookcase, USM’s USM Haller Bookshelf, and Herman Miller’s renowned Eames Storage Units, are still recognized and renowned for their beauty and functionality. At DWR, shop these and more iconic modern and contemporary shelving solutions and learn more about the types of shelving units available to optimize your home.
Types of Shelving Storage Solutions
Wall Shelves
Wall shelves are wall-mounted shelving units that can have any number of individual shelves. They may be as simple as floating shelves – simple, stripped-back shelves designed to look like they’re floating along a wall – or as complex as wall cabinets or wall shelving units featuring multiple shelves, sliding doors, and other features. Modern wall shelves are a storage solution that is both efficient and decorative, able to make use of otherwise unused wall space for added storage and decor.
Freestanding Shelves
Freestanding shelves are shelving units that can stand on their own, without the need for wall mounting. Modern shelves come in a range of materials, including metal and wood, or even a combination of the two. Freestanding metal shelving units can be modest and industrial in appearance, ideal as garage shelves, or decorative, ideal for displaying home decor and accessories. Some metal shelving units are adjustable and allow you to place shelves at the heights that are most useful for you. Other freestanding shelf units are more like credenzas or cabinet units, sturdy furniture pieces with doors that conceal shelves within.
Bookcases
Bookcases are attractive freestanding shelving units designed to display books. They’re typically made of wood, though they are commonly available in a wide variety of colors and wood finishes. Bookcases can have a varying number of shelf columns with a varying number of bookshelves in each column. Narrow bookcases are great for small spaces, while large bookcases are great for impressive spaces with tall ceilings.
Ladder Shelving Units
Ladder shelves are halfway between wall shelves and freestanding shelves. These ladder-shaped shelving units lean against a wall, with staggered shelves great for prominently displaying decorative objects. Many of these shelving units are wood ladder shelves. Some ladder shelves are actually ladder desks, their lowest rungs made to be used as work tables rather than for storage.
Modular Shelving Units
Modular shelving units are customizable storage options that can be configured like building blocks. Adjustable and modular shelving systems typically come in a wider range of materials and finishes than standard bookshelves and bookcases, as they're made to be customized to your ideal specifications. Modular shelving units can have numerous different components available, including shelves, cabinets, drawers, clothing rods, coat hooks, and more.