Leaning Bookshelves

I needed some shelves.  

One idea was to screw some shelf standards to the wall, hang brackets onto them, and set shelf boards onto the brackets.  Pitfalls of this idea include the need to screw standards into the wall. This also results in shelves that are adjustable in height but stuck in one location. 

Another idea was to make a book case. A box with a face frame, sides, bottom and top, and back to house the shelves. Pitfalls of this idea was all the material needed that didn't actually help to hold up the shelves, and relatively complex construction.

My compromise solution is a simple 2ft wide and 6ft tall face frame with shelf standards screwed to the back of the 2" wide sides. At the center of the 2.75" tall top stretcher a 1.5" x 1.5" post runs from the frame to the wall.  10" deep oak shelves rest on brackets hooked into the standards. The face frame stands vertically and is kept 10.5" from the wall by the top post.  The shelf "leans" because with all the weight behind the face frame the loaded shelves are truly leaning against the wall.  Shelf positions are adjustable up or down. No connection to the wall is required.  Bottom stretcher is 4" tall. Stretcher ends tenon into mortises in the sides. 

Post and shelf standards

This shelf has seen regular use since it was built.  Being just 2 feet wide there are several minimally 2' wide wall sections in my house where this shelf could be placed.  Right now the shelves are installed in the corner of my bedroom next to the door to the closet. That corner, blocked by the closet door when it is opened, had no other potential value or use. These shelves perfectly fill that space. 

Shelves shown.

Four shelves, 17" on-center, are show.  For just books another shelf could be added with 13" on-center spacing. Shelves for books could be U-shaped with vertical ends to prop the books against. The wall behind is the backstop for anything put on the shelves. 

Carpeted floors usually have a tack strip under the carpet next to each wall. Furniture set next to the wall will tip forward slightly due to their back feet resting on that tack strip.  These leaning shelves don't have back feet.  They avoid dealing with the tack strip and any baseboard trim.   The bottom shelf can be placed just above any baseboards. 

Amazon link:  60" Standards and Brackets.  Choose brackets for 9" wide shelves.  I drilled a hole in the bottom of my shelves, roughly one inch from the back edge, for the tip of the brackets to register into.  Black brackets and standards hide in the shadows for a more discrete look.  I also made two notches in the front edge of each shelf to slip around the projecting shelf standards.

Shelf with front edge notches

The images above are generated by my CNC software which has limits on how detailed the parts shapes can be and combined.  Missing are the fairly standard shelf brackets that would be hooked into the vertical standards and support each shelf from below. 

If there is a safety concern that children might try climbing up the shelves then the top post end can be fastened to the wall with an L bracket so the shelves can't fall back.

4D

Comments or questions welcome and encouraged.