Ain't Just Hanging Around – Shelves As You've Never Seen Them Before
The humble shelf. We don’t pay much attention to it, but it’s there in our everyday lives, hanging around, making a substantial difference to the way our homes, business and warehouses are structured.
More than just a simple device on which to place ornaments, though it is extremely useful in this department and can be attractively done too, shelves are designed in such a way as to store items neatly, safely and securely, allowing for freedom of movement within passages, floor spaces and even wholesale divisions.
Getting back to ornamentation, shelves can be extremely useful as a cost-saving, space-saving decorative device in a small flat or studio. Allowing for a variety of staggered shelves allows the occupant to neatly store items, such as books, in an attractive yet functional way.
Imagine what a lawyer’s office would like without row upon row of leather-bound volumes? Or an accountant with file upon file of numerical records? Shelves allow for regulated storage, enabling us to easily find what we are looking for, all the while keeping the items out of harm’s way and neatly so, in the process.
Warehouses make use of sturdy shelves that are designed to carry extremely heavy weights. Think of the last time you picked up a box of paper and you will know just what kind of weight I’m talking about! It quickly adds up, and shelves have to be designed in such a way to carry these loads, otherwise the shelving just lands up buckling in the middle. Which brings me to the manufacturing materials: While in the home we might make use of a number of attractive options such as various woods or chrome, industrial uses dictate a hygienic, strong option, such as fortified steel frames, usually with steel shelves.
Imagine a catering facility where food items are handled, and you will immediately realise that hygiene in such an area is a serious cause for concern. Materials that can be wiped clean, kept free from floor spaces, and lightweight in order to move around with ease is paramount. We have all been in supermarkets where shelves line the aisles, trying to tempt us with an assortment of goods and products. There is an art to stocking those shelves, and those shelves are kept stocked and packed by an army of late-night workers, who come in and ensure that the items are not past their sell-buy date, or that the newest items are packed behind the good that will expire first.
Shelves are normally modular in structure, are easy to assemble and extremely versatile across a wide range of platforms. There are even a number of expressions in the English language, such as being “on the shelf” which is quite an old fashioned expression used to describe a spinster. Environmentally, we also find the term in a shelf of ice.
So shelves are more than just something upon which your DVD is resting, there’s a lot more to it, and a lot of thinking, planning and designing went into that simple yet functional product that greatly enhances our homes, offices and shopping malls.
