I want to put bookshelves in our alcoves which are placed either side of the fireplace.
Each alcove is about 120cm wide and about 40cm deep.
The bottom of each alcove has skirting board running around it, which I would like to retain, while the top has cornicing, which I would also like to retain.
I want to use a hardwood for the shelving, either teak or oak, which I will probably stain.
In order to preserve the skirting and the cornicing, I presume I will have to support each shelf independently and will be unable to put sides on the shelf unit. Correct? Are there guidelines about how wide a hardwood bookshelf can be without incurring bending from the weight of the books? How thick should the boards be? Is there a standard depth for bookshelves? Is there a standard height between shelves? Can anyone point me to online designs for bookshelves that might suit me? My taste is very minimalist! ;-)
Not necessarily; you could have side panels against the walls, but not resting on the floor or goign up to the ceiling.
google for shelf sag calculator or sagulator
Depends on your books
Depends on your books. Normally a wider spacing at the bottom of the case and smaller spacing nearer the top.
First thing to decide is do you want adjustable or not. If you do, then you probably need some form of strip and bracket system. If you don't then there are a variety of "invisible" brackets.
Someone wil be along soo to make other suggestions but you can get shelf supports that are intended to be recessed in to either side .I've only seen them recessed in to wood so you would probably need to line the sides of the alcove and I would imagine use a router to cut the slot for the shelf supports to sit flush in .I think probably
Not necessarily. For example, you could 'line' the left and right walls of the alcove with timber before you start with the shelves. I'm not sure why you think you might lose skirting/cornice though?
formatting link
Is there a standard depth for bookshelves?
Nope - depends on your books, doesn't it! If you're going to fill the shelves with zillions of standard paperbacks or a collection of large coffee-table books, then seperate the shelves accordingly. But best option is to make them adjustable, of course.
There are loads of different shelving systems out there:
But you could just screw timber battens along both sides and the back, for a cheap, very solid but non-adjustable system.
For an alcove, the neatest method are probably these:
- but beware the sagging issue, as this type are not usually supported anywhere along their length.
I had considered putting battens on the sides and back, being aware that the shelves would not be adjustable, but very sturdy. (We have a lot of very heavy, large format books)
I had assumed that sides, which would make adjustable shelving easier to install, would not be possible without running them to the floor, thus affecting the skirting. But, I suppose I can just screw the sides to the wall and then some sort of shelf support to that in turn.
If I do this, what could I attach to the back wall to provide support in the middle? Whatever about putting sides in the unit, I don't want to put in a back, so the back support would be attached directly to the wall.
You could fix boards to the walls above the skirting, so the walls support the load. You could make the bookcase with a pedestal base that fits between the skirting boards and lifts the bottom shelf above them (this arrangement will still need to be fixed to the wall near the top to stop it from toppling over but the load is supported by the floor through the sides of the bookcase, rather than the wall). You could use straight sides, then cover the gap between the side and the wall with a moulding.
At the top the sides can either go right to the cornice or stop short. I'd be inclined to leave a fairly large gap (assuming the ceiling is high) and possibly use the top for displaying something, but you could go right to the cornice and fill the gap between the ceiling and the top with a deep moulding or plain panel.
I have some shelves made of 18mm T&G softwood (floorboards) - the 1300mm one sags noticeably, the 1050mm one doesn't. The shorter one is packed with largish books, the longer one has in the past been packed with magazines but now is only about half full. Even with hardwood I think you'll have problems unless you go for substantially thicker boards, so a support in the middle is probably a good idea.
That depends very much on your books. I reckon about an inch deeper than the books and a couple of inches higher. It's common to have larger spaces between the lower shelves, progressively smaller towards the top.
If you want minimalist why not use MDF for the shelves and paint it the same colour as the walls? There's not really much to think about with basic bookcase design.
My floor is raised joists with a wooden floor laid on them. The joists sit on foundation blocks at the sides. Can this take the weight of a bookshelf?
My instinct is to go with sides running from the top of the skirting to the bottom of the cornice and attach some adjustable system to them. This would mean the wall supporting the shelves.
But, what kind of adjustable centre support can I attach to the back wall, to support the middle of the shelves, that will look OK?
Most books will fit happily onto shelves that are 20 cm deep with a 30 cm gap between shelves. Coffee table and other large picture books (including most of the d-i-y type books in my library) need deeper shelves and wider spacing. Shelves higher than about 180 cm above floor level should be reserved for objets d'art - including books which won't be reread - since it's a pain to have to climb to get a book. If you've got some big picture books, consider having a section of shelving with vertical partitioning at about 20cm intervals to hold them upright.
I'm not convinced about adjustable book shelving - better to measure your books and build fixed shelving to suit. You are unlikely to move your shelves after the books are in place!
A batten fixed to the bottom edge of the shelf where it butts against the back wall will stop sagging for quite wide lengths. However I would suggest that you don't make the bay width too great (I normally use 80-90 cm) as it's a nuisance when the books topple over; those people with an inbuilt librarian (not me!) find it helps with organisation too.
For a completely different idea, have a look at the floating shelves in Terence Conran's DIY Book (probably out of print now but you might be able to track doen a s/h copy). There are some 5 cm thick floating shelves which are constructed from a softwood frame which has steel rods run through it into the wall. The frame is then clad in hardboard and painted to match the wall, and the facing edge has a 5cm diameter half round dowel pinned and glued, and then stained and varnished. I'm not describing this too well, but the effect is, I think, rather effective, though it might need some minor additions to function as effective book shelving. One day I'm going to have the right wall in the right room to do this myself.
Well no: this type of (adjustable) system works by screwing vertical bars to the *back* (only) of the alcove; you use as many of these (with accompanying supports) as required to provide adequate support and prevent sagging; I'd have thought they would definitely be the strongest type of adjustable shelves (even if not the most attractive?!):
Other than that, I suppose you can use the bookcase strips I mentioned previously to provide support in the middle, but IMHO it's a bit unonventional.
Well, I've just had a quick flick through the Ikea catalogue and can't find the ones I mean. I was incorrect to describe them as "floating" shelves, since the book shows them wall-to-wall - but obviously, from the construction, they *could* be floating shelves. Anyway, I'm home now, with my copy of the book, and so can give chapter and verse:
"Wall of display shelving
"This project features shelving without any means of support, giving clean lines without any ugly brackets. It is all done by making a hollow box section shelf comprising top and bottom plywood-skin panels over a sturdy timber framework, creating the appearance of a thick timber shelf. For added strength on long shelf runs [/or coping with the weight of books - Ed/], protruding steel rods are fitted into drill holes in the rear wall. They slide into the box frame of the shelf....."
TC painted his shelves to match the wall, but I think they'd look good if the rounded front edge was solid hardwood - for example medium stained oak against just off-white.
"Terence Conran's DIY Book", first published in 1994 by Conran Octopus. The shelves are on pp 76-81. There are four copies available on abebooks from =A38 to =A316, but if you're anywhere near mid-Somerset you'll probably find a cheaper copy in the Bookbarn at the A37/A39 junction at Hallatrow. Some other yummy projects (to my taste anyway), especially the Japanese wardrobe.... As an aging hippy I can also recommend the original (1970's) version of his "House Book" - far superior to the 90's reworking - apart from the awful bathrooms and the models' clothes!
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