Combine style and storage with built-in shelving that can work with any design style.
Built-in bookshelves offer functional storage and provide a blank canvas for a beautiful focal point in any area of the house. If you're squeezed for space, they're an ideal place to store all kinds of things, from books to power cords (concealed in a decorative storage container, of course). oak bookcase with glass doors
Whether you already have shelves scattered throughout your home or you decide to install custom built-ins, pull from these built-in bookshelf ideas and design yours to strike a balance between both style and storage.
If you believe that less is more, let this design philosophy flow through to your living room as well. A serene, minimalist home design allows you to wind down after a long day. Here, two narrow built-in bookshelves flanking the TV are subtly brought to life with white shiplap walls and contrasting wood shelves. They’re connected by a lower media cabinet that hides unsightly wires and electronics.
There are plenty of ways to organize your books on a shelf. If you have a lot of them, consider sorting them by color for a striking display. Turn a wall of shelves into a rainbow by sorting them by their spine color. Display artwork by hanging it on the shelves in front of your book collection to add dimension.
Paint your built-ins dark to make them pop. In this modern living room, the fireplace and flanking bookcases, painted chic deep green on-trend with moody colors popular in contemporary home design, stand out against the stark white walls. The vibrant decor on display adds to the space's cheery, updated feel and adds bright, bold color against the dark shelves.
Adjustable shelving for built-in bookshelves is ideal if you occasionally rearrange them. Adding the option to hide them behind closed doors is another approach to consider when designing your custom cabinets. In this case, a sliding door can cover either the mounted TV or the styled shelves. The moldings on the doors elevate the look from functional to beautiful, and the wallpaper behind the shelves gives the entire shelving unit a custom feel.
Add animal print wallpaper to the back wall of a sitting area bookcase for an unexpected style statement. Keep the shelves understated with simple, elegant decor such as gold potted plants, framed family photos alongside flower artwork, and a petite pile of interior design books. The wallpaper and the sofa are the same pattern, adding an unexpected style to the traditional room with a playful design.
A cloffice—a closet-turned-office—is a genius way to make a work or study space materialize in a home with little room to spare. However, the small square footage results in minimal storage for books and supplies. Built-in bookshelves surrounding the outside of the closet door is a smart solution. Bookshelves are a way to use every inch in a room without adding furniture that can take up too much space to move around. These bookshelves allow the small shelf in the cloffice to be used for displaying favorite art and pottery.
Add a wow factor to your formal living room with wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling shelving complete with task lighting. Not only are these built-in bookshelves beautiful by themselves, but the stunning styling is a design focal point. Coordinating baskets and boxes hide visual clutter, while delicate decor and framed photos keep things interesting. It has everything you need to entertain guests, from magazines to a minibar.
Using a few select colors for the displayed collections adds to the elegant feel and allows the one bold color—in this case, turquoise—to take center stage.
Long gone are the days when your entertainment center needed to store a slew of tapes, DVDs, and other items that are no longer needed in today’s world of streaming entertainment. You can, however, still make the mounted TV the focal point by installing built-in shelves, drawers, and cabinets on all sides for books, accessories, games, and electronics. Using the same wall treatment behind the TV, above it, and to the side helps the built-ins feel like a natural fit, while gold hardware and accessories add some glamour and shine.
Display books by turning the spine towards the back of a shelf so the pages face forward, keeping visual clutter under control. This gives the space a neutral look, so you don't have to worry about adding a mix of colors to a monochrome color scheme. Vintage bronze items mixed in with white and Chinoiserie patterned ceramics look streamlined, adding uniqueness to this expansive built-in. Drawers continue under the window seat, increasing the storage.
Having a home library is a dream for readers and bibliophiles alike. Evoke drama—not just from the latest thriller novel you can’t put down, but in the space itself—with dark built-in bookshelves that wrap throughout the room. Floor-to-ceiling storage, including above the seating area so no space is wasted, can hold both your book and art collection. The dark walls create a cozy spot to spend long hours with a favorite novel or a stack of magazines.
A sliver of space in the entryway can easily be turned into storage by adding shelves high up to store out-of-season items or bulky supplies. A bench with cubbies underneath serves as a place to sit and stash shoes off the floor, while a set of hooks allows you to hang coats and stuff away mittens and scarves. A tall set of shelves nearby offers additional room for backpacks, reusable bags, and more.
There are numerous ways to store your cherished vinyl records, but one of the best is to display them so they’re always within reach. Organize them according to artist or genre on built-in bookshelves alongside the record player and a few books to browse while listening to your favorite tunes.
If you don't have the luxury of a large built-in, you can create a bookcase (or add one for overflow) within a small wall. If you have little ones, use these shelves to store children's books since they can quickly grab them at their eye level. Or, use this small shelf to display your favorite reads, keeping the ones you reach for repeatedly within arm's reach. Keep bookshelves looking interesting by staggering your stacks. Place some books vertically and others horizontally, mixing colors and sizes for a collected-over-time feel.
There’s no need for a nightstand in a lofted bedroom if you use the sloped ceiling to your advantage. Use the combination of upper shelving and lower cabinets in a built-in like this to show off mementos and keep essentials hidden out of the way. Because the shelves are painted navy blue, the small sections fade into the background, and the unit looks streamlined and sophisticated. Instead of using several small items, large pieces make a more significant statement and keep the space looking intentional.
Built-in shelves are a welcome detail in small spaces because they add storage without taking up extra floor space. In this apartment, a two-row bookcase fits perfectly between the radiators and lets you confine your current reading obsessions to one spot. Organizing the books by color creates a focal point.
This neutral, rustic, yet refined home office gets a dose of color from the blue and cream-colored built-in bookshelves and desk combination. The open shelves on either side of the desk accommodate books and antique decor pieces, while the closed desk drawers hide necessary work supplies. The bookshelves, topped with molding, stop before they reach the ceiling, allowing the wood paneling overhead to continue to the end of the room.
Designing a game room is ideal for families who make it their business to play. A wall of diamond-shaped shelving allows you to store board games of different sizes, while nearby horizontal shelves are better for books and photo albums. Closed cabinets below and adjacent to the open shelving hide electronics, cords, and anything else you don't want on display.
Most open-concept designs benefit from some sort of divider between the living spaces. A column separating the kitchen from the family room is an excellent opportunity to add a built-in. Place books, records, a record player, decorative items, and a few potted plants on the shelves to create a multipurpose focal point. Another option for this built-in would be to leave the back open, allowing for a sightline between the spaces while incorporating storage.
Create subtle intrigue by adding beadboard to the back of built-in bookshelves. The black-painted paneling is striking against the off-white shelves and base cabinets. Dress it up with an eclectic mix of books and vintage finds that match your style. Dark tones make the back of the unit fade away, giving the illusion that it's much larger and deeper than it is.
If you have a standalone window on the same wall as your fireplace and can’t take matching built-ins to the ceiling, try this concept instead. Level bookcases with the mantle and then decorate the shelves and the wall space above.
Bookcases in a kitchen make perfect sense: They ensure your culinary references are easily identifiable, ready to inspire, and stored within reach of workstations. Recess a bookcase complete with open shelves and closed storage so it sits flush with the room's upper cabinets. Underscore built-in character by finishing the bookcase to match the kitchen's cabinets. You can get this look by removing doors from upper cabinets, installing new shelves, and painting the new design to match the existing drawers and cabinet fronts.
Use custom-designed bookcases to step up interest around a window and create extra seating. This trio of built-out bookcases extends the reach of a media center and supplies generous book storage and display shelves as well as a prettily cushioned perch meant for taking in views and conversation or just enjoying a good read.
Arrange built-in bookshelves above a desktop framed by cabinets or file drawers to fashion a home office or a kid's homework station. Give the built-out components the look of a built-in structure by finishing the top and bottom edges with moldings and baseboards that match those used in the room.
Aligning built-in bookcases with a focal point's horizontal planes creates a strikingly serene scene. When designing this wall, the homeowners took their cue from the paneled fireplace mantel's shape and height; the mantel's top forms a shelf separating lower closed-door cabinets from the open shelves spanning the wall above. Though the two sides of the built-in are different sizes, it's barely noticeable due to the simple paint color and carefully edited storage. Even the painting is hung slightly off-center to keep everything symmetrical.
Take advantage of underused wall space above and around a bed to create storage-rich cabinets, built-in nightstands, and display shelves. Match the built-ins to other wood finishes in your home and keep the silhouettes streamlined so the bedroom's peaceful aura isn't disrupted. This construction creates a cozy bed nook made even cozier with a leather-upholstered wall.
Place built-in bookshelves near an activity center and paint the bookcase a colorful hue to reflect the location's fun-filled purpose. Stow crafting materials, office supplies, and incoming and outgoing mail in handsome baskets, vibrantly hued boxes, and efficient organizers so they're within reach of those working at the table. Arrange often-used references like bird-watching guides or gardening books alongside your favorite collections and vases of fresh-picked blooms.
Built-ins can hold far more than your favorite novels. Fabulous showcases for sculptures, treasured antiques, and finely framed photos, built-in bookshelves add distinguished dimension to sophisticated spaces. During the design stage, measure the pieces you want to display to ensure the shelves are adequately spaced to give each object room to shine.
Incorporate arresting details, such as scalloped cutouts, raised embellishments, or fluted moldings, to create built-in bookshelves that command attention. These floor-to-ceiling bookcases draw the eye with shapely headers that craft fine-cabinetry compartments. Gray-painted crown moldings spanning the framework's top edges unify the constructions and meld the bookcases into the room's overall design.
Build an open-shelf bookcase partition that can be accessed from both sides to turn one large room into two distinct spaces. This thoroughly modern unit provides ample storage and display cubbies without completely blocking conversation or sight lines between the two areas. The open shelves allow light to pour in from the large windows in the rooms to increase the bright feel of the home. When styling a bookshelf like this one, choose objects that will be attractive and interesting from both sides.
Devise a lighting plan that focuses attention on bookcase contents, lets you quickly read book titles, and creates after-dark interest. Install picture lights at the top of the bookcases to cast a soft glow across books and collections. Picture lights immediately elevate shelves and artwork by making them a focus of the room. Add wall sconces and shelf, strip, or rope lights to brighten the interiors. Whenever possible, put the lights on dimmers so you can control the brightness and set different moods.
wall storage cabinets with doors Built-in bookshelves optimize a bathroom's storage capacity. Whether you reach between wall studs or build out from a wall, remember that bathroom shelves don't have to be very deep to hold bathing necessities, such as bath salts, body lotions, and rolled towels. Though space is limited inside walls, you'll find enough room to install shelves between 4 and 8 inches deep.