3 Alternative Shelf Ideas

I’ve never been a tools kind of girl. Anything that requires more than a hammer and some nails just does not sound appealing to me.

Of course, this has forced me to become pretty creative when it comes to making decorative shelves. I actually love it, because I’m required to think outside of the box and come up with something totally unique. If you’ve been on the lookout for some shelf inspiration, here are 3 ideas to help get your creativity flowing.

I’ve always loved the look of old radiator covers. When I spotted a spare one in my friend’s basement last week, you better believe I snatched that beauty right up. Of course it was covered in dirt and had some multi-colored letters of the alphabet stenciled all over it, but that was nothing a garden hose and a paintbrush couldn’t fix.

I absolutely love the way it looks against this brick wall, with its little white detailed texture playing off of the texture of the wall. A brick wall is also something that would be pretty difficult to install a typical shelf onto, so this radiator-cover shelf is perfect for this room! I kept it simple by topping it with some candles and a glass bottle with dried flowers, and then displaying a homemade wall hanging slightly off to the side to fill the negative space.

When I found this huge natural wooden slab at a salvage warehouse, I knew it had to be mine.

I was set on making it into some sort of shelf/table/bench, but was struggling with how to accomplish this. It was actually Jana’s mom who suggested I place it on top of two wooden stools (shout out FP Becks!) – and that’s exactly what I did.

I love how big and open this slab shelf is – it gives so much opportunity to decorate it as I please. It’s almost as if I have my own little shop, and I’m setting up all the pieces I’m selling.

Over the years I’ve accumulated quite the collection of glass carafes. I often come across them at flea markets and thrift stores, and always end up taking them home – they have so many decorative uses.

This time around, I turned three of them into a shelf using a piece of wood I found on the side of the road! Similarly to the previous idea, I just placed the wood on top of 3 evenly-spaced carafes for an instant shelf. If your bottles aren’t all exactly the same height, you can try placing something underneath the shorter bottles to get them to the desired height — I used a couple of wooden drink coasters.

What other ideas do you fellow decorators have for alternative shelves? I just moved into a new place, so it’d be great to hear what your minds have come up with!

Follow Brigette on Instagram, and have a look at her blog Hummusbird!