Collector Shelfies
Are you the type of person who loves books, and has a home library? Do you struggle with space and making it all look good? Or maybe you have a collection you want to display. I’ve got some ideas for you! Today I’m showing off a few of the designs for shelving I created for my clients.
Shelf Form & Function
This creative space solution for a San Francisco loft has a movable set of shelves that wrap around and hide the circular staircase, pulled open and shut with a large black handle. A change in color for the modern staircase rails and a new high-gloss shelving interior, the addition of global textures and patterns, and coordination with a pop of color in the nearby wall niche makes this shelving really special. I dressed it with display plates and pillows, to supplement the owner’s books.
There’s a second moveable shelving unit, which you can see in this before photo. Wouldn’t you just love to surprise your guests by sliding open a hidden bookshelf like this?
Media & Cocktail Combo
This San Francisco bachelor’s open-plan living and dining room conceals a floor-to-ceiling projection screen for movie watching, surfing the web, and playing video games. I wanted to display some of the owner’s fun collectibles, and hide the tech.
The solution: A custom wall-mounted media cabinet stores AV equipment wired into the ceiling projector, and also serves as a bar area. Collectibles, media and cocktails live comfortably side-by-side on this shelving, and look very hip together.
Home Office Guestroom
A hardworking home office doubles as a guest bedroom in this condo. The convertible wall bed is hidden behind the large blue cabinetry, with a second, custom drop-down desk in white. The owners, who were recently married and moved in together in their golden years, wanted to combine their belongings, downsize, and still have room for family and overnight guests. Shelves either side of the bed unit are filled with books and display items.
Upon closer inspection, you can see I’ve turned one of the books around to face into the room, so the cover art is visible, and used a designer trick of stacking books with spines out, adding to it by topping the stack with a beautiful vase or sculpture. For additional interest when it comes to a collection on multiple shelves, I stagger the direction books are leaning.
Custom Cabinetry & Open Shelving
Here I’ve created a custom wall cabinet to hide our downsizing couple’s many reference books and filing. In the corner are open shelves and a small, lightweight but sturdy desk, appropriate for paying bills and handling mail, or working on a laptop computer.
When we look more closely at the desk and shelving, you see only a few books visible on the open shelves, mainly small reference books such as a dictionary. The rest of the items are beautiful collectibles and personal memorabilia, family photos, sculptural pieces like vases, and fresh flowers. Working at a desk that’s uncluttered, surrounded by things you love, makes life feels lighter and easier.
If you want help organizing your books and collections into a beautiful surrounding, get in touch with designer Kimball Starr! She beautifies homes all around the San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California and Nevada.
