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DETERMINATION OF THE
NUMBER AND SPACING OF SHELVES
INTRODUCTION
There are no specific rules to follow when deciding how many shelves to have in a shelving unit and when determining the vertical spacing between the shelves.
The following suggestions and observations are included for your consideration. After considering the approaches put forth to help you make a decision, you must make your own decision and choose the number of shelves and spacing based on your own shelving needs and what looks best to you.
When determining the number of shelves and the spacing between them, the following factors should be considered:
- Ceiling height,
- Maximum height of the uppermost shelf
- Minimum height of the lowermost shelf,
- Height of the objects you want to display in your shelving unit, and
- Shelf thickness - particularly with thick shelves, i.e., greater than 2" - close spacing of shelves can make the shelving unit look too crowded,
The relationship between these factors can be expressed in the equation below:
[(Shelf Thickness) X (Number of Shelves)] +
[(Distance Between Shelves, if the same) X (Number of Shelves)] = Total Height of the Shelving Unit (from the floor to the top surface of the uppermost shelf)
DETERMINING VERTICAL SPACE AVAILABLE
First, consider at what height you want the uppermost shelf to be. The uppermost shelf is usually no closer than 12" to the ceiling. In most shelving unit, 16" is the minimum distance from the ceiling. Keep in mind that the height of a shelf is the distance from the floor to the top surface of the shelf.
Next, determine the height of the bottom shelf. Some customers want to have the bottom shelf resting on the floor or very close to the floor, while others want to use the floor for storage and place the lowest shelf 14" to 16" from the floor.
Based on the decisions made in the two previous paragraphs, you can now determine the total vertical space available by subtracting the height of the lowermost shelf from the height of the uppermost shelf.
DETERMINING NUMBER OF SHELVES AND SHELF SPACING
There are several ways you can approach determining the number of shelves and the spacing between the shelves. The approach you use depends upon which, if any of the important aspects of the shelving unit you have already determined.
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If you know the number of shelves and the maximum and minimum heights of the shelves,
to determine the shelf spacing, follow the steps below:
- Multiply the number of shelves by the shelf thickness.
- Subtract the number obtained in the previous step from the total vertical distance available for shelves.
- Divide the number obtained in the previous step by the number of shelves. The result is the shelf spacing in inches.
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If you know the shelf spacing (distance between shelves) and perhaps either maximum and/or minimum heights of the shelves, to determine the number of shelves, follow the steps below:
- Add the shelf thickness in inches to the shelf spacing in inches. Use the resulting number as the height of shelf #1 (bottom shelf).
- Add this height again to determine the height of shelf #2, and so on.
- When the resulting shelf height is at or close to the maximum height you want for the top shelf, you have determined the number of shelves for your shelving unit.
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If you do not know the number of shelves needed or the spacing needed between shelves, and have no idea what the maximum or minimum heights of the shelves should be, follow the steps listed below:
Because you have two unknowns (number of shelves and space between shelves), start by assuming that you will use the most frequently requested specifications regarding shelf number and shelf spacing for units that HouseWerks sells.
Spacing of shelves, which is 14",
Thickness of shelves, which is 2",
Number of shelves, which is 5
Based on these assumptions, the hypothetical shelving unit we have specified will be 80" in height. This was determined by using the equation given in the Introduction.
[14" X 5] + [2" X5] = [70"] + [10"] = 80"
If the overall height of the shelving unit is acceptable for your needs, the number of shelves and the shelf spacing has been determined.
If, however, the shelving unit is too tall or too short, the spacing isn't right, or the number of shelves is not satisfactory, change any or all of the parameters specified. For most customers, this is a trial and error process.
Now refer back to the first bullet list given on this page, which is the list of factors to consider. After reviewing this list, perhaps there are additional changes that you wish to make. After you have what you think is the perfect arrangement, you may want to make a scale drawing on graph paper to make sure this is the design you want to use for your shelving order.
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