Our modern millennial homes have many virtues, but one thing they lack is…space! Space constraint is a major issue in the cramped apartments most of us end up in today. Although smart storage solutions can be a lifesaver in such tricky and compact situations. But let’s be honest, some of the shelf designs in the markets these days can be downright hideous. They may rate high on form and functionality and even manage to do their job pretty well, but when it comes to aesthetics, they can be an eyesore. But there are some ingenious furniture designers out there who have incorporated Scandinavian aesthetics + functionality into the simple shelf. Have you ever come across Scandinavian designs? There’s something so simply minimal, quaint, and awe-spiring about them. They manage to speak volumes without being loud, nor saying much. They always leave you with a warm feeling in your heart, and intense admiration for the attention to detail, and the delicate touches each design consists of. And these Scandinavian-inspired shelving designs promise to do exactly that! Modern and minimal, these shelving units are the storage solutions you’ve been looking for.
Designed by Julien Renault for Cruso, the NOTES Shelves is “an invitation to play with compositions and colors”. The artfully crafted slabs of light oak slide into a steel frame, creating a clean and minimal wall-mounted shelf that provides a wonderful storage space, while also allowing you to proudly display your favorite objects and artifacts. The shelves are so simple to set up, that you can do it by yourself at home, with the help of a standard tool (which is provided along with the shelving unit). The NOTES Shelves’ edges have been uniquely sanded and rounded, making them soft and smooth to touch.
The Corner Shelves by Dose of Modern is a pair of square-shaped shelves that smoothly intertwine with one another, creating a cute little matrix of shelves! The shelves have been designed to be fitted into the corners of your home, thereby ensuring they do not take too much space, while they faithfully store your belongings. The wall shelves come in two color options – a clean white, and light beige. Their minimal aesthetics and colors help them artfully merge into any living space or room they are placed into.
Designed by Pierre Charrié for Junddo Furniture, the Tana Modular Shelves is a configurable bookshelf whose dimensions can be selected and customized via an online configurator! So you can pick and create the ideal bookshelf for your home, according to your books and space requirements. Solid wood planks with soft rounded edges that are held together by a strong joinery system constitute the modular shelving unit.
Student designers Calvin and Bence recently created their own interpretation of entryway storage with Bügal, a piece of fusion furniture that’s one half coat rack and one half shelf system. When conceptualizing Bügal, the student designers relied on 3D printing to establish a mold for the unit’s body before grinding, smoothing, and painting it over to achieve its finished, semi-matte, silicone-style look. The hybrid unit of furniture hangs from a wooden peg in a similar fashion to the traditional clothes hanger, but it ditches the hook grip for a more secure peg and socket.
Designed by Maximilian Lötzer, the MYX shelf comprises of three elongated slabs of varying lengths, each crafted from birch wood. The slabs are held together by orange-colored leather straps, creating a product that combines the modern and traditional principles of carpentry and saddlery. The leather and wood complement each other, and merge with one another seamlessly, leading to a minimal shelving unit inspired by the functionality and aesthetics of Scandinavian design.
The SMĪLE Shelf may officially be an acronym for Sustainable Module for your Inspired Living Environment, but I’d like to believe it’s called SMĪLE because it literally puts smiles on peoples’ faces with its minimalist design and unique back-story. This modular shelf, designed for practically any interior aesthetic, any room, and for any scenario, comes made from recycled bamboo chopsticks. It is a modular system that relies on recycled steel frames that fix to a wall, holding shelves in between. The steel frames can be arranged practically in any orientation and arrangement, giving you the freedom to create your own shelving design that can even be expanded if you want to, in the future!
The Looped Shelf by We Do Wood is a true example of authentic Nordish design. Crafted from smoked oak, the shelf features looped-shaped brackets. The smoked oak brings an element of warmth to any living space, with the brass mounting brackets perfectly contrasting against it. You can set up multiple Looped Shelves to build a sturdy shelving system that creates its own powerful presence in any room.
The Sena Wall Shelf by Vitamin Design is made up of narrow elements constructed from solid wood. Subtle and reduced lines characterize the body of the wooden shelf. The shelf can be built made to measure, and configured according to your personal preferences. It’s also available in a wide variety of wood – ash, beech, core beech, cherry, maple, oak, knotty oak, walnut, knotty walnut. The extensive material and customization options help you create a shelving unit that’ll perfectly meet your storage needs.
Designed by Martin Keller, the Pereire Bookshelf is an elegant and simple shelving unit that stores your books and other items quite spaciously and artfully. A long solid wooden pole on one side of the bookshelf supports the entire unit, while elongated wooden slabs function as the storage platforms for your belongings. The other end of the bookshelf is meant to be supported by a wall, making it partially wall-mounted.
The Up-Cycled Cat Shelf use discarded pieces of wood that are finished, sanded, and smoothened to a standardized shape before being clad in a felt carpet for the cat to comfortably rest on without their nails digging into the wood. The shelf rests on two sturdy brackets sourced from IKEA, creating a setup that isn’t just robust and reliable but is literally just made out of 3 parts. Designed to look chic, but also be functionally sound for your neurotic cat, the Up-Cycled Cat Shelf can be placed anywhere at home, from the living room or bedroom to even the bathroom. It’s a shelving unit for your kitties!
