A shelf is more than a flat board which is attached to a wall, and on which objects can be placed. It plays an important role in interior decoration. More importantly it is something you can make and be creative with.

While shelves are a necessity when decorating your homes, they can also be used to accentuate features of your room and give it a whole new look. A small change in this furniture can transform it into something memorable as well as impressive. You can get experimental with them, play with them kinds, tweak their functions, and change their colors. In fact, you can even design and build your own shelves. 

To help you find what you’re looking for, we have compiled a few things that would make your project stand out from the rows and rows of boring old shelves.

Get creative

Shelves don’t always have to be supported on the floor or set up against the walls, as long as they hold objects. If it is sturdy, strong and looks good, it will serve as a fantastic shelf.

You can have floating slab of wood    just a single slab of wood nailed solidly to a wall    in your living room. Put a few books on it, two decorated items on each side. And there you have it, a unique-looking shelf that doesn’t take up any floor space.

Speaking of furniture that take up no floor space, you can also make a good use of pegs. Specifically, they can be set up near entrance areas to hold your coats, bags and if you’re among the stylish ones, your hats too. Pegs of different sizes are also equally useful if you want to hang smaller objects like keys, belts and ties.


Playing with shapes

Rectangle, who? Shelves don’t always have to have the formal, boring form with four corners. Shapes, when used creatively, especially in décor, can be extremely memorable and improve the look of your entire room. So change the way shelves are used and seen by adding different figures into the equation.

Make a triangle shoe shelf. Make a floating, hexagonal shelf to store your favorite books. Spell out a letter with the small squares of tinier shelves. Nail various slabs of wood on your walls in ascending order of their sizes so they look like a ladder. Don’t be afraid of trying something new. You can even be abstract if you want. As long as it looks fabulous, and your shelves are securely placed, you’re good to go.

Coordinate color

Deny it all you want, but color makes all the difference. Whether its fashion or décor, a spectacular color coordination, with just the perfect ingredient of style, will make anything stand out. When they’re both done 
right, especially in one’s interior, the result is not just striking, but also quite satisfying, more so it you did all the construction yourself.

So this year, don’t wait until Holi to play with colors. Dip your hand into the bucket of neon and paint the town red. Make sure that all the coloring works are done before you set the shelves up on or against the walls, in order to avoid staining them.

Just like with shapes, you can experiment with colors as well. Try making the inside and the outside parts different. You can put your choice of designs in them with smaller paint brushes.

Color coordination doesn’t always mean putting an new paints. Sometimes, you can also match the items being placed on the shelf. Just imagine the contrast of putting a row of black-covered books on a stark white shelf.

Recycling wood

As aforementioned, a shelf is anything that can keep and store items. So why combine recycling to your shelf-making project? Do you have a skateboard that’s in perfect shape yet unused because it lost its rollers? A surfboard you bought on a whim but now just sits in the corner as a decorative item? An unused block of wood broken out of your precious box, stored on the dark side of the attic?

Why not use them for your self-made shelf?

Use them as the base for your floating shelf. In fact, why not get more creative? Strap them up with a belt on a hook. Color them if they’re too rough to be used. The shape of those skateboards is what make them unique, so when you keep items on them, make sure they highlight the curve instead of hiding it. An old slab of wood can be just as aesthetic when you accentuate the old parts of it and give it an antique look with fresh paint and varnish.