Corner Shelves

As you all well know, the primary purpose of shelves is to provide a safe way to hold items of value. In doing so, you also are able to better organize your various belongings in your home as living in a cluttered environment is undesirable. So the idea of simply buying a shelf when you need to organize your items sounds simple right? Well, what happens if you are faced with limited space in your home? This is a major and common constraint that a lot of people (myself included) have to deal with. For example, if you live in a studio apartment, a student dorm or when your bathroom is quite restricted, then you can’t afford to waste valuable space.

In such a situation, corner shelves can be a useful and unique form of storage solution. They can better utilize space making them ideal for homes that lack ample room. However, to ensure that you get the best out of corner shelves, you need to make the most appropriate choice for your circumstance. In this hub, I’ll look at the things you need to consider when searching for a corner shelf and give an overview of the different types you can choose.

Remembering that corner shelving is designed to hold items and do so without wasting space, there is no point in choosing one which looks fantastic but just adds to your clutter. I have seen some corner shelves that aren’t very practical at all. Well, maybe it is because I haven’t found how to properly use them to their full capacity. For example, there is a shelf from Rubbermaid that is multi-tiered with each tray reducing in surface area as you progress upwards. The entire shelf isn’t very big so by the time you reach the top tray, it is way too small to hold anything worthwhile.

Knowing what you intend to place on the corner shelving unit will help guide you along. If the items are small and relatively light such as delicate collectibles, little decoration items and photo frames then cheap soft wooden corner shelves may be sufficient. However, if you want to place books or a television then you would want something much studier. Probably corner bookshelves and tv corner shelves made from oak should be considered.

The number of items you wish to hold is another related factor. Corner shelves range from single tiers to multiple tiers, some of which may be adjustable in height.

Where will the shelf end up at? If you want to place a shelf in your living room in which there is a bit of floor space in the corner and nothing else would fit there, then a free-standing corner shelf is appropriate. Buying a shelving unit with a number of trays allows you to make use of the vertical space.

On the other hand, if you need shelving in your kitchen or bathroom where floor space is pretty much non-existent, then hanging or floating corner shelves is better. Floating corner shelves are mounted to the wall and are hence often referred to as corner wall shelves.

You can either get shelving units that require assembly or not require assembly. So if you are not a handy person and you find the perfect corner shelf but when it arrives at your doorstep, you realize that there is significant assembling involved, then you will face a long road of frustration. Of course, you can get around this by acquiring the help of the supplier or a friend. Just be wary of this and factor it into your decision.

Sometimes the assembly may not be a straight forward process. Take note of whether particular tools are needed to carry out the task.

Aside from being able to hold items, you ideally want your corner shelf to look attractive. It should match the room in which the shelf will reside. For example, oak corner shelves may look out of place in a bathroom, whilst glass corner shelves (made from clear tempered glass) with silverstone metal alloy for mounting to the wall would be much more appropriate.

There is a wide range in material, color, designs and finish. With material, you can pick from plastic, wood (e.g. oak, pine), metal (e.g. wrought iron) or glass. There are plain black corner shelves and white corner shelves available if simplicity is what you are aiming for. Otherwise, there are corner shelves with cherry finish and chrome finish. With the designs, you can get straight edge or curved edge units for example.