Decorative wall shelves come in different materials and styles. They can be a wooden board with scrolled supports, glass shelves with contemporary brushed nickel supports, an all-wood shelf with a carved shell motif in the front, or all-metal wrought iron. The style of your decor will influence where you start the hunt for the perfect shelving for your home. Does this Spark an idea?
Contemporary
Contemporary shelves go in a modern, more sparsely furnished home. Typically the lines are simple and angular, and they are often in darker woods or glass or chrome. Pottery Barn has wine shelves in a contemporary black or espresso wood that hold the wine horizontally from back to front, with a little round cutout to hold the bottles in place. Amore Designs offers a sleek glass shelf in its Glace collection. It is a thick piece of tempered glass, held up by a metal strip. Ethan Allen's industrial-style shelving unit is a mix of wooden vertical supports, steel brackets, and tempered glass shelves.
Traditional
Traditional styles are classic and have been around for centuries. Shelves in this style could be made of cherry, mahogany, and sometimes oak. They have decorative molding trim, such as dentil and curved, and might even have some carvings on the front facing. Amore Designs also offers a more tradtitional style in its Atherton ledge that has a wide molding and comes in a variety of widths. Try JCPenney's wall ledges with three-tier molding and twisted rope detailing in three sizes and four finishes: dark mahogany, oak, black or off-white.
Asian
Asian styling has bamboo, rattan, woven wood-product matting, and fretwork. Ethan Allen offers a very elegant three-shelf chinoiserie-inspired wall shelf that has three drawers at the bottom. Its Asian styling is evident in the fretwork. A bamboo corner shelf set (of two) is available at Touch of Class.
Country
Country shelves show up in homes that feature Americana accessories or homes that have a more primitive look. Shelves with hooks, pegs, and quilt bars are available at Sawdust City. Ethan Allen, JCPenney, and Touch of Class all offer a bead-board-backed shelf unit for your country home.
Old World/European
Old World/European styles typically come in softer woods like pine and often have curved shelves, wrought iron supports and trim, and sometimes crude carving. Touch of Class offers the Benedetto Wall Ledge, featuring a wooden shelf with crackle motifs in an English walnut finish. Metal scrolling accents are done in an aged bronze finish with copper and gold highlights. Bellacor offers a Southern Rail Shelf in a green-finish wrought iron.
Tags: Ethan Allen, Touch Class, wrought iron, Amore Designs, Asian styling, glass shelves, homes that
