Classic 90's home design: built-in CD shelves

[sassenach]

What would you do with a hallway that features built-in CD shelves? These shelves are not adjustable, span the whole length of the hallway, and are truly CD sized, which makes them fairly useless for books.

 

I'm at a loss. We won't be able to afford a whole wall redo anytime soon. I have no knick-knacks, CDs or other small display items. I really don't want to put our DVDs on display in the hallway, though that would be a practical storage solution.

 

I'm going to attempt to add pictures.

[sassenach]

Photo deleted because hackers are now messing with my FB account.  :cursing:

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Edited March 16, 2017 by Sassenach

[sassenach]

Ditto above

Edited March 16, 2017 by Sassenach

[Catwoman]

I can't think of anything other than DVDs because of the depth of the shelves. Even if you cut out every other shelf for more height, that still wouldn't help with the shallow depth.

[matrips]

Wow. That's a lot of cds!

 

Any chance of cutting out every other shelf (vertically)? To make shelves high enough for books?

[Guest]

I'd use them for my fabric and yarn, both of which fit beautifully into short cubbies.

Edited March 16, 2017 by Arctic Mama

[KungFuPanda]

If it's those shallow between-the-studs shelves, I'd cover them with drywall. If they're deep enough for books, I'd remove every other board to make them taller. If you want to use them for hidden storage you could put a curtain over them and pretend it's a window? Or mini blinds? I'm sure I'd find something to put there, but not necessarily on display. It could be extra pantry or toiletry storage depending upon the location. Or you could just stack your books sideways and deal with it later.

[Catwoman]

I didn't even think about the depth! Jeez, I don't know what you can do, other than maybe knickknacks and pics. Do you collect anything that might fit there? You don't have to fill it up or even use every shelf. You could just space it out. And you could add some small books, maybe.

I'm at a loss, too. The only things I can think of that would be narrow enough would be something like fancy plates or trays, and I think they might look odd in a hallway. Decorative boxes and bins are probably the wrong depth, too, and the ones that would fit would probably look too dinky on their own and too cluttered in a group.

 

If someone in the family collected little figurines or model trains, those could fit on the shelves, but it doesn't sound like that's the case.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Well for me it would work as a gigantic spice rack.  :laugh:

 

 

[Carrie12345]

Hinged frames (or painted boards) to cover, and store canned goods, bathroom stuff, etc.?

 

http://digthisdesign.net/interior-design/hidden-storage/  Example a little more than half way down.

Edited March 16, 2017 by Carrie12345

[shawthorne44]

Shouldn't paperbacks work?  
Also, you could lay them flat and stack them.   

[Garga]

I was going to say books lying down, stacked on top, but the shelves are too shallow.

 

I'm a whimsical person.  Looking around my house, I do have a bunch of knick knacks I could put in there, but probably not enough for all the selves, so I'd make it a project to find things at yard sales to put on the shelves.  It would take some time for the shelves to be filled, but it would be fun to search for the items.  Actually, I'd LOVE that project.  I love finding little doo-dads, but have nowhere to put them, so I can never buy them.

 

I have a collection of piggy banks that my parents started when the kids were born.  They put all their spare pennies in piggy banks and as the banks get full they mail them to us.  I have over 50 piggy banks high on the wall right now on a beam.  If I had those little shelves, the piggy banks would live there instead of on the beam where they're hard to see and admire.

 

I would consider using a few shelves to display some kid stuff--some Lego creations or a few Playmobile characters or a few Thomas trains or a few wooden block buildings.  Those are things my kids have outgrown, but I'm keeping in the attic for grandkids.   

 

Edited March 16, 2017 by Garga

[gardenmom5]

can you remove any of the 'shelves' so that they're taller and you can use them for books?

 

that sounds like an awful lot of cds.

[Catwoman]

Well for me it would work as a gigantic spice rack. :laugh:

"Her name is Sparkly, and she is a spice addict." ;)

[sassenach]

I love all of the ideas. Spices and yarn.  :lol:

 

They're wood. I guess we could cut them, but they're definitely still too shallow for books. But maybe I could fit some framed pictures. The hinged doors are a new thought. That may work. Ultimately, I would like to pull them out and drywall over the whole hallway. 

 

 

For those of you who followed my 1 bathroom, no dishwasher threads, this is the home that we're in contract on. It has 1 and a half baths  :hurray:  and a dishwasher, :party:  so this is a small price to pay.

[Garga]

Actually, I realize I have a bunch of collections!

 

There is the piggy bank collection.

There is a collection of ball jars.  Each ball jar is filled with little things:  coins, broken crayons, candy, little rubber balls, etc.

There is a collection of sugar bowls, sort of.  I have a bunch of white (has to be white), covered (has to be covered), glass (has to be glass) serving ware that's all roughly the size of a sugar bowl.  

 

Any of those things would work well on those little shelves.  If that sort of thing is fun to you: collecting a similar item and displaying it, those CD shelves would be loads of fun.  You just have to come up with something that you want to collect.  I like the banks and the white bowls a lot, but the ball jars sort of fell flat for me, so I keep them on a book shelf in an out-of-the-way place.

 

(Oh, and I'd paint the inside of the CD shelves.)

Edited March 16, 2017 by Garga

[shawthorne44]

You can never have too much storage.  
Maybe after you put doors on the front just wait to see what gravitates to there.   Maybe spare toilet paper rolls.    The replacement toiletries, shampoos, etc.  

[Guest]

Hinged frames (or painted boards) to cover, and store canned goods, bathroom stuff, etc.?

 

http://digthisdesign.net/interior-design/hidden-storage/ Example a little more than half way down.

That is s fantastic idea!

[LucyStoner]

Well, I would put my CDs there but it may be said that I am living in the past audio visual media wise. 😂

[Bluegoat]

I have bookshelves that size, I use them mostly for novels, stacked sideways.  Also Cds, and some basets of things like math cards.

 

ETA - oh, also I have one in the kitchen which is filled with anything that fits - canned goods, baking powder, lard, egg cups....

Edited March 16, 2017 by Bluegoat

[Rachel]

How old are your kids? If you could cut every other shelf maybe you could display picture books facing out.

[Sherry in OH]

I would remove the shelves and install coat hooks.   If there are electrical outlets below some of the shelves, I might leave those.  I would drill holes in those shelves for power cords and make a designed phone/tablet charging area.

[Seasider]

I'd remove them and sand & paint the wall. That's not expensive. Eliminate the dusting of a billion small objects and the surface they're sitting on.

 

Caveat: I'm in minimalist mode. You may actually have something to put in there.

Edited March 16, 2017 by Seasider

[Outdoorsy Type]

Maybe a photo wall with 4x4 or 4x6 photos in cheap frames of some sort?

[kroe1]

I would paint each shelf a daring color. Then I would spend the kids' art class for the year making cute projects to fill up the tiny shelves. For example, you could use Shutterfly to print out cute cubes of the children's artwork, or print on tiny canvasses.

 

Another thing you could do is have the kids build a Lego town to put in there, or build a town of clay.

 

How about buying a bunch of small, colored pots, vases, and bowls?

 

Photographs on small easels?

 

My favorite go to for ideas is Houzz.com. I am sure if you type in CD Shelf, someone has already tacked the problem.

[displace]

Small indoor plants like succulents or cacti.

 

Lego creations.

 

Spices

 

Playdoh containers

 

Small containers of manipulatives

 

Random office supplies

 

I would get containers to fit the space or remove shelves for organizing.

 

If you're a knick knack person, perfect for that.

[Farrar]

If they're next to the kitchen, I'd use them for storage of kitcheny things. I have an odd belief that spices and canned goods look pretty.

 

If they were next to a kid space, I'd make them overflow for art supplies and kid supplies. I'd probably need to take out some of them to make them taller though.

 

I agree that they could take paperbacks though. Perhaps you don't have enough paperbacks to make it worth it.

[Wheres Toto]

Shouldn't paperbacks work?  

Also, you could lay them flat and stack them.   

 

This is what I was thinking.  I have some built in shelves in my living room that are the perfect size for CD's.  Wooden shelves that can't be adjusted.  I've used them for DVD's, video games, and paperback books lying on their side in stacks, and knickknacks.

[gstharr]

that little dry-walling is really cheap and d-i-y friendly.   to cover and paint around $100 (a cheap texture for small job, putty mixed with water to a consistency a little thicker than pancake batter, and rolled on with a  course nap, or texture  roller) , and no more than a few hours of time.

[Guest]

I was going to say spices but Sparkly beat me...but even I don't have that many spices.  However, it could be a. nice adjacent pantry, especially if you either hung a curtain over it or got interesting (and smallish) storage for pasta or whatever and made the arrangement appealing.  

 

Also, paperbacks on their sides will fit, depth-wise.  One look I like is *some* books, *some* crap (what I call knick-knacks after packing about 20 boxes of them for my MIL recently), and some space.  

 

[gardenmom5]

are you positive there isn't already drywall behind the cd shelves?

[Seasider]

If they're next to the kitchen, I'd use them for storage of kitcheny things. I have an odd belief that spices and canned goods look pretty.

 

 

it.

Not odd! Some canned good labels are actually great art! Also, dry beans and grains, baking ingredients (sugar, flour, chocolate squares/chips), that sort of thing looks nice in glass mason jars.

[sassenach]

are you positive there isn't already drywall behind the cd shelves?

That's a good question. No, I'm not. It indents into the wall, so I assumed that the drywall was cut into to build the shelf in. What would the other possibility be?

[Janeway]

I would take out all shelves. Smooth the wall, which is easy to do. Then, you just have a wall inset. In this inset, put family photos. It will be great!!!

[dirty ethel rackham]

I would use it for books, laid on their side ... or, I could use it to display dd's ceramics creations (lots of cups and bowls from her first foray into using the wheel.)  The colors are gorgeous! 

[sassenach]

that little dry-walling is really cheap and d-i-y friendly.   to cover and paint around $100 (a cheap texture for small job, putty mixed with water to a consistency a little thicker than pancake batter, and rolled on with a  course nap, or texture  roller) , and no more than a few hours of time.

DH and I are the LEAST handy people you will meet. That's less expensive than I thought it would be, but I still feel like we could botch it.

 

 

 

 

The kids are all teens. No picture books, legos, crafty stuff. I don't own a lot of paperbacks. I have very few knick knacks.

 

So far the front runners are small framed pictures, add a door for storage, figure out how to take them out soon, or ignore them.

[gstharr]

DH and I are the LEAST handy people you will meet. That's less expensive than I thought it would be, but I still feel like we could botch it.

 

 

 

 

The kids are all teens. No picture books, legos, crafty stuff. I don't own a lot of paperbacks. I have very few knick knacks.

 

So far the front runners are small framed pictures, add a door for storage, figure out how to take them out soon, or ignore them.

 

 

Well, since you know materials are $100 (1 or 2 sheets of board (can't tell from your pictures), a drop of putty, a few  of feet of tape, and something for texture (if your other wall have texture), and a quart of paint, look into a handyman doing it.  I would try to  pay $50 for labor, no more than $100 tops. It really is a small job, especially for someone with any experience, and the few tools required ( a broad spreader, saw, and paint brushes).