Hello AT,
I have just recently moved into a beautiful new apartment with a very interesting bedroom - its is completely round - about 11 feet in diameter! (see pics). my friends have suggested the stolmen line of storage from ikea for shelving options (for books and the tv and my computer) - but Ikea appears to be out of stock and i was wondering if you could pose this question to the fine readers of AT: have any of you dealt with a room-in-the-round?...
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i am on a budget and in need of shelving that can hopefully take advantage of the architecture surROUNDing me. Are there any other solutions to this besides getting multiple poles to create a geometric shape that will fill into the circular walls, or paying for custom made shelving!?
thanks! bryan
Dear Bryan,
We've spent a great deal of time living in a round yurt during the summer months and faced this exact problem.
The simplest thing is to lay in standing shelving and wait for the Stolmen to come back into the stores.
For not a lot of money, however, you could easily install Elfa track and brackets on the wall and get simple pine boards cut at your local lumber yard. Without a great deal of trouble, they (or you) can cut a gentle curve along the back of each shelf so that it fits closely to the wall. The pine shelving could then be painted a gloss white to match your trim. This will take a bit more time, but it may even turn out to be cheaper.
Anyone else?
What a fantastic bedroom! Im curious to see others' suggestions, as I have no clue how I'd tackle this...
YES!
Ok, now an explanation...
The curve is such a nice feature that you certainly don't want to hide it with boxy shelves...
Even cheaper than Elfa (which is great- I own a ton) are the standard shelving brackets systems from home depot- they come in white/black/silver...
Get some of them, have boards cut with that curve and set it up... I built a similar system fo >$80:
4 x 7 ft wall brackets
30 or so shelf brackets
maybe 30ft of pine
Very easy, very cheap!
I'd have the storage under the bed. The bed would be the only furniture in the room besides a lamp and a tv on rollers?
How much space is there in the rest of the apartment?
It would be so great if you could leave the walls bare.
Are you changing out the blinds?
I think this kind of cable-mounting system might also work, with the same custom-cut boards that Maxwell described... and I love the idea of a high-gloss white paint on them. Might go well with how modern your desk is - and still very low-profile.
http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=13395&PRODID=60615
Not sure that the Stolman system will work for you since it is a tension rod system and from the looks of your ceiling there is no flat surface with which to create the needed tension, no doubt causing you... much tension. The Stolman system does come with brackets to attach them to your wall, but I've looked at them closely and don't quite trust them.
Plus they kind of kill the streamlined look of the system.
I don't know what's happening with the H & H section but I don't like it. Why does everything have to have a human interest angle. Over 2000 words to say that bratty kids won't sleep in their own beds - and here's pictures of the beds. A TV writer lost her job & wrote a book - and here's pictures of her too-big house. Stop with the inane big sociological paintbush approach & just show me the goods!!
Feng Shui says storage under the bed is bad Ju Ju
I personally would not mind a big drawer under there for spare blankets / sheets etc
wasn't this a post earlier in the week? February 23rd?
I'm sorry to say that I don't have a helpful suggestion, but I want to congratulate you on your wonderful room! I have a friend with a round sitting room (easier to deal with, as you might imagine) and it's the most romantic, cozy spot--you can see the sunrise AND the sunset from her windows!
I saw a curved shelving unit at Dane Decor, a scandinavian furniture store on Route 73 in Marlton, NJ. The unit is normally configured in an S, but if I'm remembering this right, one of the two cresent pieces can be flipped to make a single curve. Perhaps this might work for you.
Otherwise figure out the radius of your curved walls, get a sheet of 3/4" plywood, and either get a sabre saw or borrow someone's bandsaw and cut out some curved shelves. Then follow Julian's suggestion of hanging normal standards and brackets on the wall.
For a more finished look, get shelf brackets that are slightly shorter than the width of your shelves, and some plain 1 1/2" - 2" wide, 1/4-3/8" thick wood strips, or moulding cut to the length of your shelves. If you nail/glue the strips to the front edge of your shelves, they hide the metal support brackets behind a fascia and give the shelves a look similar to the Ikea "Lack" series of wall shelving.
Good Luck