apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Too cluttered in my opinion.

when i first saw these in the catalog i was in love with the idea... i never thought about the possibility of it falling... but now that the idea is in my anxiety-prone little head...

I said no because of a statistic I once read about the number of insects a person ingests over their lifetime, mostly while they sleep. I don't remember the exact number, but it was traumatizingly high (blech). Having cabinets overhead would make me paranoid about a spider dropping down into my mouth while I snooze (shudder).

It would be hotter if you could recess light into the overhead cabinets for reading/ambiance

I think anyone who lives/lived in an earthquake zone would be uncomfortable with this. I used to live on a fault line and through all the drills they put us through, I'm petrified to even have a picture hanging above my head.

I've got an Ikea Lack Shelf over my bed currently w/ a framed print and some decorative vases, bowls, etc. on it. I sometimes worry about it crashing down on me, but it's been there for 6 years now...

... your light fixture or fan could fall on you when you sleep, the plaster can fall from the ceiling, the roof could collapse! I think the answer to this paranoid question will depend on HOW WELL you think you can install/build something and whether or not you live in an earthquake zone.

i love it... but i'm handy and trust my skills.

...yes, foog... but the worst fears are the irrational ones :) the handiest, most talented, trustworthy person in the world could install those over my bed... but now that the idea of it crushing me is in my head, i'd still be paranoid.

I bought a modular media storage unit, I only bought the bottom section (drawers and cabinets), but tall bookshleves and an over the top cabinet connecting the bookshelves (like above) are available. When the delivery men came to install it they were relieved that i didn't have the overhead connecting piece, they said they can't tell me how many homes they had to go back to because the center portion fell and destroyed the whole unit. - scary

I've never seen professionally installed cabinets come crashing down. I'm using professional loosely, to mean someone who knows what they're doing, as opposed to me.

Good use of space, but bad feng shui.

BAD FENG SHUI! BAD!

My mother had a serious head injury last year, from which she thankfully recovered - but the memory of other people in the ward has opened me up to realisation of how irreversable head damage can be - even from what would otherwise be a very small accident... I can barely climb a ladder now. I would sleep in this bed with my head at the end of the bed. Legs can mend...

Wouldn't this be bad feng shui?

In theory, I love the idea, but for me it's a big no-no. As others have mentioned, this would be bad feng shui. Plus, I'm waaaay too risk averse; I don't even have ceiling fans because I'm afraid they'll come crashing down.

I like the look of it--reminds me of ship's berth, and there's something cozy to being nestled in like that. Of course, I've never lived in an earthquake zone--I'd not do this in that case.

It may be bad feng shui, but I did this in my bedroom with Ikea Billy bookcases and a large, sturdy plank of painted wood and added a recessed light. I put large wicker baskets over my head and everything is mounted to the wall (except for the baskets). It's been through two earthquakes and nothing's fallen over/on top of me yet. Needless to say, I love this solution!

This particular example doesn't bother me because those cabinets would appear to be affixed to the wall (like kitchen cabinets). Also, there is a good amount of space between the bed and the bottom of the cabinets, so no claustrophobic feeling. HOWEVER, I am against regular shelves of any type over a bed and also bunk beds for children. When we were kids, my sister had a top bunk (with a kid in it) fall on her at a sleepover and broke her nose. I always get nervious when I see bookshelves or decorative shelves over people's beds -- it is so easy for stuff to fall off of them.

I know storage is one thing, but do those of you who fear things falling on your head have anything hung on the walls above your bed?

While facing your wall, pull your elbow back, take a deep breath, and throw your fist forward as hard as you can, as far as you can. Don't hit a stud.

What is most likely to happen is that your hand will go through your dry wall or lathe and plaster, and you will see that your entire home, your entire material life is suspended or cantilevered - even in a ranch house.

I guess if you spend enough of your life in a state of not knowing why the floor beneath you is reliable, you may not want to start in the middle and discover backward all the dependencies.

But you should know, because when you know, you will sleep better and deeper. Ignorance undermines security.

Remember, as always in life, avoid the stud.

I would never be able to really relax if there were something like this over my head. I agree, bad energy. I don't hate the way it looks, but I certainly prefer other looks.

t8
www.strangeclosets.com

When design takes priority, the result is often strange closets.

easyenough... i don't think it's really fair to essentially claim those of us who are irrationally afraid of this crashing down on us in our sleep (or lack thereof) ignorant.

like i said, irrational fears are the worst kind. i know it is incredibly unlikely that these would fall. and i'm not ignorant to the various interdependences throughout a home and what makes it all work... i've helped build homes, sheds, etc and understand it all from foundations to framing and how the meat sits on the bones...

but i also know a fair amount about the physics that bridges rely on, and that doesn't keep me from being terrified of them.

irrational are fears get their name because we're still afraid, even though we know better.

The idea has been around a long time:
http://www.bhg.com/decorating/small-spaces/strategies/smart-decorating-ideas-for-small-spaces/?page=4

They maxed it out with under-bed drawers:
http://www.bhg.com/decorating/small-spaces/strategies/smart-decorating-ideas-for-small-spaces/?page=5

I don't follow feng shui.

The cabinets on this apartment wall have held up some 30 years (since the building was built) and through many earthquakes.

I imagine there are cabinets that have held up a 100 years in old homes. Unless one is installing the cabinets above the bed with dorm-style-duct-tape, I don't see what there is to worry about.

If the cabinets start falling off the walls, the cabinets falling off the walls will be not the only problem. If they are mounted to wall studs, that means the studs are giving out, or they weren't installed properly.

And as most folks don't have their bookcases mounted to the walls, I'd be a lot more worried about hundreds of books and a bookcase falling on me. I sat here last earthquake and watched the shelves above this monitor sway side to side. And it's only holding things like pencils and some small books.

All sorts of stuff could fall...like lamps...
Or one of those giant leaning mirrors...
Or some huge framed artwork with glass shards...
Or a big curtain rod...
Or...if I happened to be lying on the floor in the kitchen when a big one comes, and the metal thing that holds fruit falls off the top of the fridge, by golly, that could really smart.

I don't know why I'd be lying on the floor in the kitchen, but stranger things have happened.
;)

seems very british. I personally don't like how heavy they always look.

It's bad feng-shui.

Because I had no other choice, my last apt. had books on shelves already installed when I moved my futon/bed under it and I hated it. Not because I thought they might possibly fall, although the thought crossed my mind, but it was really bad feng sheui and I never felt like I was getting a truly restful sleep with things above my head. Of course, it didn't help that I had outgrown my space before my husband moved in and we had continued living there together with mine and his new things for 3 more years. I couldn't wait to not sleep below shelves anymore. If I was starting over in a new apt. I would do everything I could do avoid this scenario pictured above.

I've seen it lots of places -- don't think it is particularly British (even IKEA does this) -- but have always hated it. Just don't like storage on top of my head...

In my childhood bedroom, I had a bookshelf - I think it was actually the hutch to the desk that matched the bedroom - attached to the wall above the head of my bed. It had all kinds of things on it, stuffed animals, figurines, glass objects or objets. Nothing ever fell on me, but that is not to say nothing would ever fall on anyone ever. I don't fear this storage alternative, and I have theories about feng shui, some of which I feel validate it or invalidate it in the non-mystical world. Neither of these reasons people give are what bother me about this. Access to them seems a lot awkward, and so, what are they for? Some kind of hidden out in the open attic space, to store things hardly ever needed?

Say you wake up in the morning and make your bed. Then later on in the day, you need something from the storage. You'll have to step on the bed and ruin the made bed just to get to them. No thanks but thanks.

Looks like bad 80's decor. Not sure how convenient it is to have to stand on your bed to get stuff out.

I do not think THOSE shelves will fall, but I have had shelves fall on me.

Spiders will drop from shelves too........