Celerie Kemble used pieces of acrylic as shelving in her Kips Bay Show House room and I loved how modern it made the built-ins feel.
It reminded me of this photo from Domino, where they used acrylic shelving in the kitchen. It’s a great way to add storage without all the visual bulk.
PS I bet my friends at Plexi-Craft could help you if you’d like to do something similar in your home…
Acrylic is really nice but its a bit soft for large ou heavy shelving. It bends easily with weight and it's really easy to scratch, . For stronger transparent shelving, thick glass is really a good option.
I agree with Sao Joao. You can tell in the pictures that the shelves are sagging a bit.
Looks really neat, would you know a good way to mount it so it doesn't sag?
There was a little bit of sagging on the shelves with heavier books. I have a feeling it was only because the built-ins are antique and I'm sure they weren't allowed to drill extra holes in the millwork to add supports. They would not be sagging if there were extra supports.
xx
I have to agree with everyone else – the sagging looks horrible. It looks like cheap IKEA shelving. It really distracts from the fact that clear shelving could be a cool option.
When I was at Kips Bay with some of the blogfest bloggers we were all oohing and aahing over the acrylic shelves, they look great!
Fantastic idea! the shelves just vanish – great for display and for storage! brilliant!
xo Allison
SPICER + BANK
http://www.spicerandbank.blogspot.com
Wow! Sounds like Anon woke up on the wrong side of the bed again! Sheesh! I think it is a really cool idea and that's all Jenny was pointing out.
I love your eye, Jenny! Thanks for sharing with us every day!
love,
Hannah
Oh wow!! I LOVE THIS!!! I wonder how pricy it would be to replace my build-in shelving? Do you have a sense Jenny? This would really spice up my traditional dining room!
Lovely, what a fab idea!
STU-NNING!!!!!
Love it!
I saw the showhouse too and was concerned about the sagging, but I asked the rep from Kemble Interiors (probably one of her assistants?) and they said exactly what you thought Jenny – they couldn't add more supports to the shelves becasue of the antique nature of the wood work. I think it is amazing and very ingenious and would work just beautifully with the right number of shelf supports.
Love your blog, Jenny!!
Kelley.
Great idea! What a creative way to store things, while also having the visual appearance of more space!
I love your blog and read it daily, but where are the DIYs? It feels like you haven't been posting as many projects lately.
LOVING acrylic shelves. We just put a couple up in our nursery!
Love the way they look, but I would be concerned that they would bow worse than wood does. They looked a tiny bit saggy. There's some standard length to which a wood shelf can be cut where it won't bow. Wish I could remember the length.
I love this idea! I never would have thought of it :)
So funny – acrylic is everywhere but I haven't seen them as shelves yet. Do I have my head in the sand? I think the are SO cool!
Stacy
Jenny! Have you been reading my mind? I was looking a Plexi-Craft last night as I want to use an acrlyic shelf as my psuedo entry way table. I want the look of the cb2 Peekaboo table without having something everyone else has. I was waffeling a bit on the idea but I'm going for it! I'll let you know how it turns out.
Why not just use thick glass? Is it a huge price difference? My mom had 1/2 in glass cut for the shelves in her open kitchen cabinets & it looks awesome. The guy at the glass shop said a 300 lb. person could stand on them without them breaking!
This is so beautiful and unique. I wish I could have seen it with my own eyes. Great Post!