My First World shelf problem. Please help.

[slowmotion]

I'm making a three foot high row of built-in shelves, about eight feet long. They will start at about four feet off the ground and end near the ceiling, and store loads of books and widgets and stuff, all needing different heights to accommodate them. I need a total of three shelves. Do I put the tall shelves at the bottom or the top?

Thank you.

{BTW, please don't suggest a trip to IKEA}

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Well, if the tall compartments contain the heavier items, then you'd want something like this, I guess:

+-------+-------+
| light | light |
+-------+-------+
| light |       |
+-------+ heavy |
| light |       |
+-------+-------+

In other words, heavy down the bottom, light up near the top where it doesn't get squished.

 

[slowmotion]

Well, if the tall compartments contain the heavier items, then you'd want something like this, I guess:

+-------+-------+
| light | light |
+-------+-------+
| light |       |
+-------+ heavy |
| light |       |
+-------+-------+

In other words, heavy down the bottom, light up near the top where it doesn't get squished.

It's being built to withstand The Apocalypse, so strength isn't an issue. My guess is that Big Stuff is used less frequently than Small Stuff, so the Bigs should be up top. If they are down on the lowest shelf, that shelf just gets cluttered up with Small Stuff that blocks the storage for Big Stuff. It's a worry.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Perhaps you could build slots into the sides of the vertical boards, where the slot-and-pin arrangement is more than strong enough to support heavy weights? You could then change the arrangement if it doesn't look right.

 

[slowmotion]

Perhaps you could build slots into the sides of the vertical boards, where the slot-and-pin arrangement is more than strong enough to support heavy weights? You could then change the arrangement if it doesn't look right.

Thanks for the suggestion. I went through that loop and decided that, in the real world, adjustable shelves never actually get adjusted. Besides, they are far, far less strong than shelves fixed at the ends and at the back.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Thanks for the suggestion. I went through that loop and decided that, in the real world, adjustable shelves never actually get adjusted. Besides, they are far, far less strong than shelves fixed at the ends and at the back.

Wouldn't that depend on what wood you used? For example, if you used solid pine instead of, say, chipboard, it would be a lot stronger, even supported by slot-and-pins.

 

[slowmotion]

Wouldn't that depend on what wood you used? For example, if you used solid pine instead of, say, chipboard, it would be a lot stronger, even supported by slot-and-pins.

That's a fair point, but I don't need them to be adjustable. I guess I'm seeking advice about how Big Stuff and Small Stuff is used on a day-to-day basis, and how best to store it efficiently and conveniently. I'm sure that there are endless algorithms that warehouse managers use when programming their hi-bay pickers.

 

[Aperitif]

Use doors. Then you can put up and shut up!
Bottom shelf for your copy of The Times Universal Atlas of the World et al, and get some shelf dividers to split the width - until time passes and the accumulation becomes self-supporting. If they're wide shelves then they could have a half height / half shelf width box (removable/ repositionable etc) behind narrower items, 'backstopping' smaller stuff and offering a mix of small/big storage at each level. Buy a metal Kickstep too!

 

[Salty seadog]

you may need to create your own data based algorithm, put everything in a pile and record usage stats over a suitable time period so as to iron out spikes. You can then couple the critical control path this data suggests with size of object as this is your prefered sorting criteria. I suspect the arrival of the Apocalypse before the shelves though even though you are in control of both.

 

[Hill Wimp]

Use doors. Then you can put up and shut up!
Bottom shelf for your copy of The Times Universal Atlas of the World et al, and get some shelf dividers to split the width - until time passes and the accumulation becomes self-supporting. If they're wide shelves then they could have a half height / half shelf width box (removable/ repositionable etc) behind narrower items, 'backstopping' smaller stuff and offering a mix of small/big storage at each level. Buy a metal Kickstep too!

No go for the whizz around library ladder. Great fun.

 

[raleighnut]

Big stuff lower down, you don't really want to be hoicking that up to near ceiling height.

 

[Hill Wimp]

Plus big stuff will hurt if it falls down on you

 

[Globalti]

The rules of visual balance say that the big spaces should be at the bottom and the small at the top. The other way around will look wrong.

 

[slowmotion]

The rules of visual balance say that the big spaces should be at the bottom and the small at the top. The other way around will look wrong.

Yebbut, that pediment at the top of the building looks like Big Stuff at the top, doesn't it?

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Why not use the Dewey Decimal System?

All the best libraries do