One of the most common complaints house owners have is they don’t have enough space in their rooms. Well, one way to add storage space to your home is by installing wall shelves on a vacant wall. While wall shelves are simple pieces of furniture, they are not able to support very heavy weights. So why are you buying a wall shelf? What kind of items do you need to store?

The most important part of a shelf is the large flat board that supports the items kept on it. If you are planning to keep your compact disks on it, then a six inch wide shelf should be good. For books, a nine to twelve inch width should be fine. However, if you are planning to put your clothes or reasonably large keepsake items on it, twelve inches should be sufficient, but it really depends on the size of the items. Whatever kind of shelf you are planning to use, the width should depend on the largest item or items it is going to hold.

You can buy readymade shelves from any DIY store. Made from particle board with laminate or wood veneer, these are pre-finished and all you need to do is install them. They don’t need any sanding or painting and you choose from the standard units sold.

Many of you may like to build a shelf instead of buying readymade from a shop. You can buy boards from a timber yard and cut them, or have them cut for you, to the desired length. While it is cheaper to buy boards, constructing shelves this way entails a lot of work.

Here are the three basic types of wall shelving that you may consider.

1. Adjustable: The most common adjustable types consist of metal tracks that can be directly screwed into the wall. The shelves lie across them.

2. Bracket: This is the simplest type. Here the brackets are screwed into the wall and the shelf rests on these brackets.

3. Floating: These have a minimalist look. They are attached to the wall with fixings that are hidden by the shelf itself.

If you are looking to reorganize your office or home, then wall shelves are the best option. You can store many different items such as files, books or CDs. If you want to give your bathroom a utilitarian look, then you can install an adjustable shelf to make the best use of the area. Wall shelves impart a clean look to your home décor and really clear the clutter.