Bookcases, Bookshelves and Shelving Units

Two related pieces sit here. A bookcase or bookshelf has a back panel and sides, so what goes on the shelves sits against something solid. An open shelving unit has neither, so the wall shows through and the piece reads as a frame rather than a box.

Anything fronted with glass doors is a display cabinet and lives separately. Everything on this page is open at the front, though some have a cupboard in the base.

Tall bookcases and bookshelves

A tall bookcase holds more in the same floor space than anything else in a room, which is the whole point of going up rather than along. It also does something to the wall: a full-height run of shelves makes a ceiling look higher.

Two practical things. The top shelf will be above comfortable reach for most people, so it becomes the place for things you take down twice a year rather than twice a week. And a tall bookshelf loaded with books is one of the heaviest and most top-heavy objects in a house, so it should be fixed to the wall behind it. Every one of them, not just the ones in a child's room.

Small, narrow and low bookshelves

Low bookshelves give you a surface as well as storage, which tall ones do not. Under a window, behind a sofa or along a hallway, a low unit holds books at the height where you can see the spines and gives you a top for a lamp.

Narrow ones fit the gaps: beside a chimney breast, between a door and a corner, or in the strip of wall a full-width unit would overshoot. Depth is the figure to check rather than width. Around 12in (30cm) takes hardbacks comfortably; anything shallower is a paperback and ornament shelf, which is fine if that is what you own.

Open shelving units

An open unit with no back panel weighs less, both actually and visually. In a small room that matters: the wall colour carries straight through the piece, so it does not block the space the way a solid carcass does.

It also works where a bookcase cannot, standing away from a wall as a low divider between a sitting area and a dining end without presenting a blank back to one side.

The trade-offs are honest ones. Things pushed too far back fall off, so open shelves suit books, boxes and objects with some depth rather than loose small items. And there is more surface to dust, because dust settles on the shelf and on everything on it rather than being contained.

Cube and arch shelving units

Cube units divide the space into square openings rather than long runs, which changes what fits and what it looks like. A cube takes a stack of books, a box or a plant, and the grid does the arranging for you.

Arched and half-moon frames do the opposite job, softening a wall of straight lines. On a piece that is mostly empty frame, the shape of that frame is the design, so an arched bookshelf is worth choosing on outline rather than capacity.

Oak, mango and wooden bookcases

Oak is the steadiest choice and the one that goes with most things already in a room. Light and natural finishes keep a tall piece from dominating; darker stains give it more presence.

Mango wood is more varied, often with noticeable colour differences between boards in the same unit. That variation is the character of it and worth expecting rather than being surprised by. Recycled and reclaimed timber goes further again, with marks and tone changes that were there before the piece was made.

White, grey and black bookshelves

Colour does more on a bookshelf than on most furniture, because so much of what you see is the frame around the books rather than the frame itself.

White disappears and lets the contents do the talking, which suits a room where the books are colourful. Grey does the same with a little more weight. Black goes the other way: the shelves become a dark grid and everything on them reads as a display, which works in a room with pale walls and looks heavy in a dark one.

Metal and industrial shelving units

Metal uprights are thinner than timber ones, so a metal bookshelf gives more usable shelf in the same footprint and looks lighter doing it. Frames combining a metal structure with wooden or rattan shelves are the common version, and they take knocks better than a veneered carcass.

Bookcase and bookshelf FAQs

What is the difference between a bookcase and a bookshelf?

Nothing, in practice. Both words describe the same freestanding piece with a back and sides, and different makers use different ones. An open shelving unit is the genuinely different thing, because it has no back panel.

What is the difference between a bookcase and a display cabinet?

Glass doors. A display cabinet is enclosed, so what is inside stays clean and behind something. Everything on this page is open at the front, though some units have a cupboard in the base.

Should a bookshelf be fixed to the wall?

Yes, and particularly a tall one. Books are heavy and the weight sits forward on the shelves, so a loaded bookcase is far less stable than it looks. Fixing it takes one bracket and five minutes.

How deep should a bookcase be?

Around 12in (30cm) takes hardbacks and most box files. Paperbacks need about 6in (15cm), so a shallow bookshelf holds a paperback library comfortably and will not take much else.

Can you use a shelving unit as a room divider?

An open one, yes, since it has no blank back to present to whichever side it faces away from. A bookcase with a back panel is made to go against a wall.