Every home office needs good shelves to help clean up the look, keep things organized, and for a place for important things you need quick access to. Let’s take a look at some of the options for home office shelving.
Types Of Home Office Shelves
A shelf is anything with a horizontal plane that is used to display or store things. In a home office, you might be using it to store books, office files you’re working on, decoration, inspiration, etc.
There are five main types of shelves for the home office.
Freestanding Shelves
These are your typical shelves that are set up to be one total piece. You can anchor freestanding shelves into the wall for stability, but otherwise, it’s one piece that you can move them around the office. You can even pack it up and move it right out of the place if you end up moving, etc.
Built-In Shelves
Built-in shelving, by far, looks the best. Is it the permanence? Is it the fact that most people use higher-end materials or better craftsmanship when doing built-in? These elevate the look of your office and can be specifically designed for your home office needs.
Ladder (Leaning) Shelves
Ladder shelves are sometimes called leaning shelves. They are like the freestanding shelf, except that they lean against the wall or are sometimes even mounted to the wall. They often have a less substantial look to them, given that they’re using the wall for strength, which can be good for a smaller space.
Wall-Mounted Shelves
Wall-mounted shelves are boards fixed to the wall using brackets or sometimes with a hidden support, like a floating shelf or a box shelf. These kinds of shelves often can’t hold too much weight and are usually for adding quick access to things or for holding some lighter decorations.
Wall-Mounted Slotted Shelves
These slotted shelves have adjustable slots, more commonly used in the past for garages. These days, a lot of gamers, streamers, and home office optimizers have been using them for a more industrial look while providing quick access to things.
High-End Design Home Office Shelving
Freestanding Shelf—Eames Storage & Shelving Unit
For the mid-century enthusiast, this 1950 design still looks great. Made out of molded plywood and zinc-plated steel columns by Ray and Charles Eames.
Ladder Shelf—Folk Ladder Shelving
This ladder shelving unit is modular and has different model sizes depending on your needs. The rails are made out of solid wood, so it’ll be sturdy. The only downside is that it seems like the shelves themselves are wood veneered over MDF. Get it in natural ash, walnut, or blackened (ebonized) ash.
Wall-mounted Shelf—String Wall Shelving
This modular design was originally created in 1949. It’s mounted flush onto the wall. Made out of powder-coated steel (with, unfortunately, MDF shelves) in Sweden. You can get it in a variety of configurations, such as white and walnut, black and oak, all black, all white, etc.
Slotted Shelf—Kerf Slotted Wall Panel Design
If you like the slotted wall aesthetic, like modern design, and have the budget, the Kerf Wall is an attractive option for home office shelving. They have all sorts of modular additions like plywood bookshelf, plywood hooks, easels/desks, etc. with 17 different bright mid-century colours.
Budget Home Office Shelving
Freestanding Shelf—IKEA Billy Bookcase
If you’re on a budget and want something that looks nice, the Ikea Billy Bookcase in birch veneer in a no-brainer. Comes in a variety of different shapes, sizes, and colours.
Freestanding Shelf—Ikea Vittsjo
If you want something reasonably inexpensive but want something more industrial looking, this option combines powder-coated steel, glass, and MDF shelving panels. It looks industrial yet refined without breaking the bank.
Wall-Mounted Shelf & Desk—West Elm Modular Mid-Century Wall
This wall shelving unit is veneer and in a mid-century style. It’s modular, and you can build a “desk” area right into it. Perfect for the home office going for that mid-century vibe.
Wall-mounted Shelf—Ikea EKET Wall Boxes
These Ikea wall-mounted boxes look sharp on first glance. It’s fake walnut veneer, which isn’t ideal, but that’s also why they’re inexpensive. You can get them in a variety of colours and adds a nice modern look if you’re mainly looking for something to dress up your home office and you don’t need as much storage.
Slotted Shelf—Ikea Skadis Peg Board
I’ve noticed a lot of gamers are using these Ikea pegboards in their home office/streaming areas. The peg board, obviously makes you think of a garage and has utility right at it’s heart. It’s black powder-coated steel, inexpensive, and can be set up exactly how you need it.
Home Office Shelving Tips
Choosing The Right Shelf Material
If you’re aiming for a masculine look for your home office, you’ll want something made with authentic materials (not a facade), like solid wood or real metal.
Not only will solid wood and real metal have the best look, but they’ll be stronger and studier as well.
However, not everyone has the budget, and not everybody has the same style. You can get particleboard shelving, but it’ll be a lot less strong. The scratches show early, and the shelves begin to sag, but you’ve only invested a few bucks. You might be penny-wise but pound-foolish. But they’ll look okay for a year or two, which might be all you need.
Colour And Styles
If you go with the high-end options, you’ll often have real solid wood (or real veneer) with its own warmth and colour.
If you are going with metal or particleboard, you’ll probably have a solid colour. In that case, you’ll need to make sure it matches the vibe and overall design of your home office.
In general, if you are in a little dark nook in the corner with no windows, you will want something light-coloured that won’t suck the remaining light out of the room. Use a lighter colour for shelving, like white, or a lighter wood, like maple or beech.
If you are working in a well-lit southern-faced room with large windows, you can get bold with the colours. You can choose a darker shelf colour or a darker type of wood, like walnut.
Lighting For Your Home Office Shelving
We have a whole article on home office lighting, but there are a few ways to improve the look of your shelves and make them more usable with lighting.
- LED under-cabinet or strip lighting. I am not big on LED lighting as it has been linked to eye health issues, and we haven’t been using them very long to see the full repercussions, but there are many cheap, inexpensive, and powerful options (control it all via your phone, etc.) to add lighting to your home office shelving via LEDs.
- Himalayan Salt Lamp. This is what I use primarily. The salt lamp can sit on the shelf, and it uses an incandescent full-spectrum bulb that gives off pleasing light for our eyes. It adds light to the shelf it’s on in a non-garish and time-honoured way.
- A small table lamp. There are many lamps that are very small and compact that can add a bit of nice design to the shelf while lighting it.
DIY Home Office Shelving
One of my old roommates from college is very handy. Every time he’d move into a new rental apartment, he’d make a deal with the landlord, and they’d fund him as he renovated the place. Because of his DIY nature, he always turned his apartments into the coolest places. Now he does the same thing with places he buys and sells. Some of you are handy out there, or you’re willing to learn, and that opens up a lot of options for cool home office shelving.
Doing some DIY shelving can be a no-brainer since the project is relatively small. Here are some cool ideas for the DIY person.