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
![View into a Francisco loft contemporary living room, which mixes a midcentury modern sofa with Moroccan influences in a patterned ottoman used as a coffee table, and teardrop-shaped brass pendant lamps. Full height gold curtains filter sunlight into the space and a yellow and green patterned rug anchors the living area in front of a wall-mounted TV over a midcentury sideboard used as media storage.](https://kimballstarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Kimball-Starr-Interior-Desgin_Shelfies_AFTER-Moveable-Loft-Shelves.jpg)
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.
![Before the redesign by Kimball Starr, this San Francisco loft had stark white walls and a moveable bookshelf on either side of the black metal circular staircase. A white wall niche holds an urn, but otherwise the space looks unfinished.](https://kimballstarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Kimball-Starr-Interior-Design_Shelfies_BEFORE-Moveable-Loft-Shelves-580x326.jpg)
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
![San Francisco contemporary hi-tech bachelor living room has an open plan for entertaining. Modern finishes like the clear-green plastic chairs and smooth white melamine table make the space feel futuristic, while the comfortable B&B Italia pink and red sofas scatted about, and red-and-black shag rug say "comfort".](https://kimballstarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Kimball-Starr-Interior-Design_Shelfies_Bachelor-Living-Dining-Area-580x425.jpg)
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.
![On the left, a photo of a bachelor pad's bright green custom cabinetry and open shelving that partially hides AV equipment and partially exposes cocktail items for frequent use. On the right, a photo of a jeweled skull holding a pair of black headphones.](https://kimballstarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Kimball-Starr-Interior-Design_Shelfies_Bachelor-Media-Cabinet-580x425.jpg)
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
![View of a San Francisco home office space with white drawers and silver hardware, on the right wall, with blue drawers and silver hardware on the left. To the right is a large matching blue Murphy bed or wall-bed in the closed position, with a dropdown white desk and chair. Open shelves appear either side of the wall bed cabinetry.](https://kimballstarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Kimball-Starr-Interior-Design_Shelfies_Home-Office-Library-580x387.jpg)
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.
![A closeup view of the far left set of open shelves, with books filling the top six cubbies, and a vase on top of a book on the bottom right, while the bottom left opening has a wooden slatted box containing office supplies.](https://kimballstarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Kimball-Starr-Interior-Design_Shelfies_Home-Office-Library-Closeup.jpg)
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
![Modern closed storage cabinetry without handles or pulls, featuring bright primary colors of yellow and red on a single door each, the rest in white. Translucent glass peeks out around multimedia TV storage and drawers for remotes. Open shelving at the end displays 3 glass vases on 3 stacked shelves. To the right is a peek of an Eero Saarinen pedestal oval dining table by Knoll and red dining chairs by B&B Italia, with black and white tub chairs by Room & Board showing at the back. On the far right, open shelving displays collectibles above a lightweight desk and chair for a laptop.](https://kimballstarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Kimball-Starr-Interior-Design_Shelfies_Custom-Cabinetry-580x387.jpg)
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.
![A white and silver home office corner desk is built-in to the end of the wall storage unit, extending the usable surface space. The open shelves above feature a few small books, family photos, a vase of flowers, some wild animal sculptures, and other collectibles. On the desk is a laptop, and the chair is a modern white, silver, and black office chair on wheels. Natural light streams in from the window just out of view at the right edge of the photo.](https://kimballstarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Kimball-Starr-Interior-Design_Shelfies_Custom-Corner-Office-580x870.jpg)
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.