floor to ceiling shelves

Submitted by mcoreen on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 07:51

Ana's work is definitely inspiring.  I'm trying to come up with a plan for a cabinent/bookcase that will hide the utility box in a bedroom in the basement.  The room is 13X14, and about 7.5 feet high.  I was thinking of doing a floor to ceiling bookshelf with doors over the utility box.  The only problem is the area of the box & wires is 4 feet wide!  Do you think this would be overwhelming for the room?  All the store bought bookshelves I have in the house are only 3 ft wide.  I'm just not sure how such wide shelf would be in real life. I've done a google sketch up for my idea but I have no idea if I can add it here!

My plan was basically 3 shelves that are 4 ft wide and a 1 ft high, the top would consist of 2 cabinent doors ~1.5 ft each with 3 cubby holes along side. 

Any thoughts or suggestions?

amanda.leonard

Tue, 02/08/2011 - 13:39

Try dividing the open shelving in half so you get more of a square opening instead of a rectangle opening.  You don't want the span of your bookshelf to go too far or the shelves will sag.  Square openings are very bin friendly too.

Amanda

claydowling

Wed, 02/09/2011 - 07:11

If you find you must have a four foot wide shelf, you can reduce the sag by putting a lip on the underside of the shelf.  Menards at least sells 1x2 clear stock.  Put the 2" dimension virtically on the front or under the front of the shelf.  If you don't care for the heavier look you can also do it at the back.  The lip helps the shelf resist bowing.