For Better or Worse: Shelving

Loyal designklub member Nate sent an email wanting some suggestions for bookshelves. While there are quite a few options out there for the bulky, typical box shapes (if that's what you want see Brave Space Design's tetris shelves), here at designklub we have a different vision. We want our design to be functional, beautiful, well-polished and fun. Every piece should make you smile or inspire you in some way.

Here are two great examples of shelves that fit the bill. At the top we have Frederik Roije's 'Storylines' shelving, which shakes up the standard flatliner we're all used to and gives it a little life. Next is the 'Tangram' series from the brilliant Italian furniture company Lago. Just like in elementary school, you can use the shapes to create geometric people, animals, letters or whatever else your inner math genius can imagine.

While both these options are good examples of creative design - they are kind of pricey and certainly don't fit within my decorating budget. November's ReadyMade had a great bookcase made from scavenged drawers, which had all the charm of the shelves above (and for under $50)! In the end, I'm a big proponent of finding a good starter piece and painting, slicing or gluing to make it your own. Hopefully these shelves just give you an idea of the wonderful possibilities.