The number one question I get asked, as a professional organizer, is “what should I buy to better organize my home?”  My number one essential for an organized home is shelving.

The most basic type of shelving you can buy is a standard bookcase.  But there are all kinds of shelves to consider like the floating shelves that are shown in this picture from Metropolitan Home, chrome  industrial shelving on wheels, wall mounted shelving, cube shelves and so on.

But before you purchase  any shelving, you’ll want to follow these simple guidelines to make sure you get the shelving  you need.

First, measure the space where you plan to put your shelving.  How high could you go? How wide could the shelving be?  And how deep of a shelf can you have in this space?

Also, what style of shelving will be the best match for your room’s decor so that it blends in with your room rather than stands out?

Do you want open shelving (everything on display), do you need glass doors to keep the dust off of precious collectibles, or do you want solid doors on the bottom to hide stuff ?

Next, decide what you plan to store on these shelves.  You’ll want your measuring tape out again to determine the height, depth, and width of the items you’ll be storing. A good match will ensure that there’s not too much space at the front of a shelf for other junk to collect and yet enough depth so things are not hanging over the edge of the shelf where they can get bumped off.  The shelving should be able to hold all your current items with “room to grow” if you will be adding more things to your collections.

One more thing to determine is the weight of the stuff you plan to put on your shelves so that you purchase a shelving unit that can bear that much weight safely.

Once you know what size your shelving unit should be  and what style you prefer,  and how sturdy it needs to be, you can choose a shelf system that will  maximize the space , suit your room’s decor and provide adequate space ans support to store and display your stuff.

When it comes to shelving, try to think outside the typical bookcase.  Shelves can be used to display photos and art, collectibles, oversized serving dishes and small appliances, games, toys, craft and hobby supplies to name a few.  You’ll find more ideas for using shelving in your home  on my post here.

So, look around your home and ask yourself if you have enough shelving for your storage needs.  If not, get out  your measuring tape , paper and pen and collect all the information you need to go shopping.