One obvious place to put shelves is in an alcove, perhaps one created by a chimneybreast. The advantage of alcoves for bookshelves is that the books are contained by the side walls, which gives them an orderly look. Alcoves need not be filled completely with shelves and look elegant if the lower third is filled with narrow shelves for, say, CD or tape storage, with the space above devoted to something purely decorative such as a painting or beautifully framed mirror.

        There are many other opportunities for providing shelving space. If there is no chimneybreast, bookcases can be fitted on either side of a window. This helps to frame the window and occupies space that is otherwise often unused. The shelves will jut out into the room below the window but you can turn this to advantage, if the window is the right height, by continuing the shelves under the window or building a window seat under it, with shelves under that, so that the whole wall becomes a ‘library’ with the window as its central feature. A foam cushion covered with an attractive fabric, sewn and piped or simply fixed in place with a staple gun, will make this a comfortable place to sit and read or sew, or gaze out of the window.

        Shelves can be put over radiators, partly to direct the warm air into the room rather than allowing it to escape up to the ceiling and partly to give a little extra shelf space, if only for a vase of flowers. It may be possible to place a narrow table so that one end is over a radiator, or a narrow console table or sideboard could be placed with two narrow radiators under each side. The whole of one wall will then not be dedicated to a radiator and will be that much more versatile.

        Try a bit of brainstorming and imagine shelves in every possible corner of the house. Many places will not be practical or desirable, but you will have thought about all the possibilities and some unlikely ideas may turn out to be useful. For example, if you have a window looking out onto a miserable view, which you don’t rely on to light the room, span it with glass shelves on which you can grow houseplants or display colored glass.
        Shelves can be invaluable in a passageway or hall, or even on a stair landing where pieces of furniture would dwarf the space. Rather than cover a whole wall, create a tall, narrow section which will not dominate the whole space, making the bottom shelves somewhat wider to hold thrown-down gloves, keys and letters; or create a long, low set of shelves, running along the whole length of the hallway, rather like a console table, but with useful shelves underneath. The top shelf will act as a table for post.
        If the room is high, don’t waste that height but put a shelf close to the ceiling to hold special china. This will give the impression of a decorative frieze as well as providing useful storage; it is a good substitute for stenciling, which looks charming but users up space rather than creating it. Nail a thin sliver of wood towards the back of the shelf to support plates.

        The easiest way of dealing with shelves round a deep-set window is probably to use one of the upright-and-bracket systems available. The bookcase sides can be nailed onto the shelves after you have adjusted the latter to your satisfaction. If you think you may want to move the shelves again later, fit adjustable strips to the inside and fix the shelves to these. A window seat can be made from chipboard or medium-density fiberboard and covered with foam cushions.
        In a bathroom, where there is often a lot of wasted wall space, you can fit a narrow shelf all round the room, just wide enough to hold jars and bottles and remove them from the windowsill where they are always getting in the way of curtains.
        There is often a blind space directly above a doorway where a wider shelf could be fixed to store magazines, family memorabilia and other bits and pieces which you don’t want to throw out, but which you aren’t actually going to do anything with.

        Steep, narrow stairs conceal dark caverns of unused space which can be opened up to take shelving. It is usually quite easy to remove the wall next to the stairs, which is unlikely to be a retaining wall (although, if in doubt, get advice). You can shelve and decorate the extra space as part of the main room. There may be enough room for a notice board on the opposite wall to the stairs. This space can be treated as if it were an alcove, and given a decorative character of its own, as well as providing substantial opportunities for storage.