I have these shelves as clothing storage in my house. My opinion is that they would definitely not hold books. I have a few of the shleves above a hanging bar for clothes and the bent slightly when I hung a few pairs of jeans close together. I would go for something that has more structure... these metal shelves are not very thick.

Good luck :)

I cannot attest to the strength of the antonius brackets. That is not to say they definitely no good for books. Much of the security of the system will depend on how much your wall anchors can hold and what type of anchoring strategy you use.

Are you interested in the antonius because you would like to use other accessories within that line? Because if you are looking for just basic, wall-hung bookshelves you buy the same types of pieces from Home Depot ala carte. I did that here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_chel/1874086992/in/set-72157603018898056/

The Elfa system from the Container Store also has a similar system to that of the antonius and I have found the elfa system to be pretty sturdy.

I looked on the Ikea site and was surprised not to find weight limitations on the antonius. I use their broder system for bookshelves and that one lists weight limits.

By the looks of it, you're looking for adjustable shelves, so I'd check out the Elfa system from the Container Store (they have solid shelves that would be good for books) and Bed Bath's and Beyond's similar version, Schulte's Freedom Rail (slightly cheaper and more customizable). I just installed the latter in my hallway closet and am really happy with it. Bed Bath helps you design (just like CS), cuts the pieces to fit your space, and delivers!

If you have studs 16" on center, and are drilling into the studs it may work, though as someone above said they may sag. You'd also probably want to make sure you have adequate supports near the end of the shelves.

If you do use the antonius system suggest using a shelf with better strength than the Antonius shelves made of MDF. A material like birch plywood or solid pine would help limit sagging between shelves.

I'll try to remember to pull down on one of my antonius brackets to see if it sags much. Another option for you may be hungarian shelves like the ones I built here.

Like Art said, a lot, but not all, depends on how it is anchored to the wall. However, if you call (or visit) IKEA customer sevice, their computer system should provide a weight limit for each shelf.

We used this for our cookbooks... but the shelves are quite short. Howewer, some of the cookbooks are very thick and heavy and there is no problem. We used Ikea´s wooden shelves (trygve) and these are firm enough. The vertical thing (don´t know how to call it) that´s connected to the wall is firm metal, so that shouldn´t be a problem, if you mount it well. But I find different problem with this system: the whole design is not very good, as the holes in the "vertical things" are bigger than is needed for the brackets. It´s always a bit wobbly. Howewer, when there is certain weight on the shelf, you may not notice this.

I love IKEA and I have Antonius shelves in my shoe closet (and I definitely know how to anchor things properly!), but I would suggest spending the extra cash and going with Elfa shelving for books if you like that look. That's what I use for my library, and it's excellent.

Those are striking shelves baltimorerowhouse.

That is a technique I would like to employ in the future.

It looks like the shelves are notched into the brackets or standards.

I had a wall of these shelves in my old apartment - tension rod floor to ceiling - and used them for books and they worked fine. I kept the heaviest books on the ends close to the posts and never had a problem!

I used the system for books and sundry. It held fine for over 2 years. That's when we moved out of the apartment, leaving the shelves. I think it's more an issue of attractiveness and cost. Ikea has other things they want you to buy for book storage.

As long as you use the correct hardware for your wall I really don't see any reason why you couldn't use the antonius system for books.

You can also ask an Ikea employee to look in the Intranet at the store to see if there are any weight restriction on the system. I don't recall there being any (and I did displays for Ikea for 2 years), but check it out first.

I was looking at these for books, too, as well as the Elfa systems. For about the same price as the Elfa (or maybe just a little more), I decided to go with Rakks. As long as you get the wall-mounted ones, they're really rather affordable.

Mine just came via UPS today, so I'll put them up this weekend. We're just going to make our own shelves because they only carry aluminum and I want wood.

I've just installed a bank of Elfa shelves (7' high by 30'' across with six individual shelves) and have been extremely happy with the results.

They are rated for 125 lbs per bracket (which, for me, comes to 250 lbs per shelf) and 100 lbs per linear foot.

I'm not certain if the latter measurement is for the top track or for the vertical runners. Assuming the latter, they should - assuming I've anchored the top track properly - handle all the books I've loaded them with.

If my math is wrong, I'm in for a big mess and will undoubtedly lose my deposit. So far, everything is holding up beautifully.

The upshot: If the Ikea shelves are structured in more or less the same way and use similar materials, you'll probably be OK. But you should definitely get the actual numbers before you commit.

They should hold the books, but you should make sure you use shorter shelves, and I think they might bend under the weight. We have 3 shelves that hold books, toys, etc. The kiddo climbs them sometimes. They are fine so far.

thanks everybody...
I did check out the elfa, but they were 3x the cost of the antonius and I'm a bit short on cash. But I'll take everybody's advice and check out the bed bath & beyond and home depot options. Or maybe I'll mix it up with quality standards and brackets and cheapo shelves. thx again-Kim

Kimmo,

My husband and I just installed the BRODER shelves from Ikea. We live in a rental and are not supposed to make huge holes in the walls. They are held up by supporting L-shape feet that stand on the floor and the top is held in balance through a supporting piece that goes throught the middle.

We did not use it for books but put other heavy elements on it such as tools and cleaning products.

We put the heavier items on the bottom to hold the weight down and prevent the shelves from toppling (you never know!). The lighter things such as linens and towels are on the top.

So far - so good! And it's really easy to install!

I'm going to check the ANTONIUS 2 sections/ shelves out today. $92- vs $400 - $500-. The shelf's look short enough at about 31 1/4" wide x 2. Worth a look for sure.