Let’s face it: More often than not, an apartment is lacking in space. So where are you going to store all your stuff? That’s where open shelves come in — but the key is to keep your shelving looking cool, not cluttered. Use these five tips to add stylish open shelving to your apartment (so there’s no need to throw out your beloved Harry Potter book collection!).
Go High
Yes, tall bookcase-like shelves always look good, but sometimes you don’t have room for big furniture in your space. If that’s the case in your apartment, try hanging a couple of shelves extra high, just a few feet from the ceiling. That way you can put other items beneath the shelves; in this case, hanging the shelves high allowed room for a bedside chair underneath.
Use Existing Furniture
Turn your existing furniture into master multitaskers by using extra space as open shelving. You’ll save some room and cut down on costs (by not having to buy separate shelves) too! For example, I turned the top of this petite secretary desk into shelf space — the top was just wide enough for small books and trinkets.
Style Up Your Shelves
No matter where or how you use open shelving in your apartment, you’re going to want to make sure your new shelves don’t look too cluttered. If you’re using your shelves primarily to hold books, consider turning some of your books horizontally and stacking a few on top of each other to add visual interest to the shelf; this breaks up the otherwise monotonous vertical row of paperbacks. Also, try using unusual items as bookends — in this case, I used a pretty candle — to change up the look. Just make sure the item you use is heavy-bottomed to avoid books tumbling off your shelf! P.S., if you like the look of this hanging bookshelf, check out the DIY tutorial on the ForRent.com blog.
Keep Kitchen Shelving Looking Tidy
Open shelving is all the rage in kitchens these days, but shelving can be hard to install in small, rented apartments. Instead, look for kitchen carts that have open shelves built in, like this one from IKEA. When it comes to keeping open shelving in the kitchen tidy and streamlined, follow a few simple rules. For one, utilize a cute basket or container to hold all your pans and small pots; otherwise the handles poking out at all angles on the shelf will look messy. Plus, keeping larger kitchen items that you might not use every day in containers will eliminate dust from building up on them. It’s a good idea, though, to keep often-used items like plates and water glasses directly on the shelf — since you use these items so frequently, they won’t get dusty by sitting on open shelving.
Mask Apartment Eyesores With Shelving
Sometimes apartments give you design lemons, but you can turn those lemons into lemonade — in this case, shelving! If there are design elements in your apartment that you can’t remove and aren’t exactly easy on the eyes, try building open shelving around the element to make it useful instead of just plain ugly. For example, the unattractive air conditioning unit in my apartment is located smack dab in the middle of my living room. I can’t cover it up, but I did make it useful by building a simple shelf to go around the unit. The shelving is completely removable and distracts from the unappetizing air conditioner while also providing me more much-needed shelving space in my small apartment.
Open shelving also works especially well in apartment closets. If you’re looking for tips on how to keep your closet in ship shape, check out this post on the ForRent.com blog.
What’s the best tip for making open shelving look stylish that you’ve ever come across? Share with us in the comments below!