Cube Shelves

Making your home unique to you is no small task.  It takes a lot of work and effort to find that special, distinctive look, and during the process, you should not be afraid to try anything new.  In this Hub I'm going to write about cube shelves - which essentially are either shelving designed to look like a series of cubes or actual cube units attached or stacked up against each other.  They create a unique look that is excellent at making 'compartments' where none really exist.  It's a visual effect that can add a very nice look and feel to your home.

Cube shelving is a beautiful addition to a home.  If you're lazy about it, it can look tacky, but in reality, that's true about any kind of home decoration.  When done right, the cubes draw peoples' eyes to them, and create the effect of little TVs in a sense, drawing focus to whatever you have inside them.

I'm sure at some point you've had an entertainment center in your home of some kind where the TV is set into one cube unit, the DVD player or even VCR is put into a smaller slot underneath it, and perhaps there are other units on the sides for speakers, or a CD player.  These are a simple version of the cube shelving I'm talking about - each item gets it own little focal point, and if you're looking at it, then you're really looking at it.

It's not really necessary to worry about this with a TV and DVD player, but it is an effect to be aware of when it comes to using them for design purposes.  If you have a 3 x 3 block of cubes against your wall, peoples' eyes are going to be drawn from one box to the next, until they've looked at everything there.

For better or worse, this is the effect that cube shelves have, so you're going to want to work with this.  If you ignore it, or try to fight it, it's not going to add much to your home.

This is where things get pretty.

As you can see from the pictures on this Hub, there are a variety of ways to go with these wall shelves.  They can look like a Tic-Tac-Toe board, they can be a mesh of boxes, or have hexagonal shapes, or anything else you want really.  You can use a plain looking wood to make more traditional looking cubes, or you can modern it up with a unique paint job and shape.

You don't even need to stop with wood.  If you think plastic would fit with your home design, you could get any shape you could possibly want.  A local contractor could point you in the right direction towards someone who could do that for you.

Wall shelves are good for decoration, but if you remember back in your college days (or you're still there) then you probably remember using cube storage as actual storage.  It works because they save room so nicely - a few stacked cubes will fit in the back of the closet and keep a remarkable amount of clothing organized for you.

If this is what you're using your cubes for, then you may want to think carefully about how many cubes you want to set up in your home.  If you have a lot of them they can make your room cluttered, and it might start to look like a frat house a little bit.  But a few carefully chosen and placed storage shelves can fit in very well with the rest of your room.  Experiment a bit, and see if you can find where this line is for your own home design.

Cube storage looks good and is unique, but of course there are other alternatives available too.  If you're looking for something a little more traditional, then you can consider large wicker storage baskets that will do the same thing that storage cubes will, but with a different, more natural look to them.  They may also do the trick if the design of your home isn't quite fitting with the cubes.

Another option is to ditch the cube shape and go with simple wood storage shelves instead.  These will also provide you the same storage benefit of the storage cubes with a more traditional look.  They may also work if you want some carved or decorated wood that you usually can't find in cubes.

Regardless of where you plan on arranging them, or what the design of your home is, shelving cubes can be that 'something extra' that will really make your home shine.  The best part is, they're cheap to buy, so you can do some experimenting without spending a fortune.  Happy designing!