Increase Wall-Mounted Bookshelf Capacity by 25% With Planning Hack.

This is about as basic as Instructables get in that it doesn't really go beyond routine DIY in terms of its implementation. However, it does involve a handy re-imagining of how a standard shelving system can be used by bibliophiles in a very advantageous way and I've never seen this done anywhere else, so hopefully it's an idea worth sharing.

The procedure works with any of the standard wall-mounted multi-slot-uprights-plus-support-brackets shelving systems routinely available from DIY suppliers. By re-thinking the way in which a bookshelf actually needs to function, it's possible to reduce the 'wallprint' (as opposed to footprint) of such a system by 25%, so you can store more books in a given space. This also works with anything else that lends itself to library-style shelf storage, such as CDs and DVDs or even 12" vinyl records if you can work with the space requirements and can find a sufficiently heavy-duty shelving system. If you have an existing system of this kind and can obtain further components for it (see the Supplies section below), you can just modify it without starting from scratch.

The basic premise will be clear from the two photos above. The idea is to alternate narrow shelves with wider shelves, but rather than spacing all the shelves one book height apart, they are effectively mounted in pairs: a narrow shelf above and a wider shelf below, the latter positioned at roughly half a book height from the narrow shelf above it, leaving enough of the book spines on the upper (narrow) shelf visible to allow identification. Working from top to bottom, the second narrow shelf will be a full book height from the wider shelf above it, then the second wider shelf will be half a book height below the second narrow shelf and so on. See step 1 for an explanatory doodle!

The alternative many library owners use is simply to double-park books, front and back, on suitably deep shelving. However, this then obliges you to have small books in the front row and larger books at the back, assuming you want to at least see where everything is. This will play havoc with whatever classification system you use as you're obliged to shelve the contents according to size. That sound you hear is Melvil Dewey turning in his grave!

The actual work involved is routine DIY rather than Instructablism, so if you're new to such tasks there are helpful YouTube videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvm4wwcx3M8 is a good one). For this reason I won't go into the supplies aspect in detail - just get however many uprights, mounting brackets, shelf boards, screws and wall plugs as you need from whatever range you prefer from a suitable DIY supplier and ensure you have the necessary drills, screwdrivers etc. to hand.

Some ranges of wall-mount shelving systems are intercompatible while others aren't, so bear this in mind if you think you might want to modify a new installation at some point and maybe choose an established brand that's widely available and less likely to suddenly become unobtainable, such as Spur (by way of a UK example). There are twin-slot and single-slot variants, with different load capacities and spacing requirements. You should check the manufacturer's specifications in this regard, but I'll just mention that I've found single-slot uprights spaced at a relatively tight 17"/43cm (to avoid sagging shelves) to be ideal for books because the relatively thin brackets allow closer shelf spacing without causing gaps between adjacent books.

The photos here are just generic shots for information, but there's one essential specification you'll need to get right, which is the shelf depth (and hence also the corresponding bracket sizes). Your needs may vary according to the kind of books you have, but I've found that shelf depths of 6"/153mm and 12"/305mm are ideal for standard hardbacks and paperbacks.

The measurements you'll need in general will of course depend on your individual requirements, the slot spacing of your chosen system, the thickness of your shelf boards and the height of your books. The easiest thing to do is to make a temporary installation of one pair of narrow and wide shelves, then just adjust the position of the lower shelf until it works for your books. You can then take the necessary measurements and simply replicate them (and/or vary them as and if required) for the rest of the installation.

It's worth adding that if working with an existing installation of shelves that are all 6" (or whatever) deep, you could simply buy larger brackets for alternate shelves, attach the boards at the front and leave a gap behind them, assuming the brackets can be securely attached to the shelf boards (double-sided adhesive tape can work well in the absence of screwholes); it's less neat, but saves on materials.

So, having worked out your requirements, you can now install your shelving in the usual way, but alternating the shelf sizes and spacing as shown. Add some suitable bookends and edging for any exposed shelf ends then start loading!

Not so much a further step as the project is now complete, but more an analysis of why this is worth doing. I'm currently modifying an existing bookshelf wall using this approach. At present the total shelf length is 41ft/12.5m, holding a total of around 650 books. Increasing the capacity of these shelves by 25% will allow the storage of 810 books in total in the same amount of wall space; that's 160 additional books. What's not to like?

This idea works well in most situations, but is particularly good in the recesses on either side of chimney breasts/fireplaces. These are traditional locations for shelving, but now there's no need not to use the otherwise useless space between the front edge of conventional shelving and the corners of the chimney structure. In most other locations (behind a door may be difficult) having shelves that protrude 12" rather than 6" into a room is unlikely to be problematic.

One final bonus, in a sense, is the long, box-shaped void you now get behind the rows of books on the wide shelves (see above photo). There are ways in which this space can be put to use, such as concealing valuables (all you have to do is remember which books you need to remove in order to access them) or perhaps you'll have some slightly more leftfield ideas. You've always needed a storage space for your pool cue...

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[One last thought: you could of course do this by using a sufficient quantity of individual shelf brackets of the appropriate sizes rather than an uprights-based system, but you'd need to do a lot more drilling, leveling and screwdriving and the end result would be awkward and messy to modify, so I wouldn't recommend it.]