Bookcase for small apartment: picks and how to choose

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A bookcase for a small apartment has to earn its floor space. It must fit a narrow wall, clear a door or a hallway, and suit a home you may leave in a year. This guide explains how to choose one by floor space, height, storage type, fixing method and stated weight limit. Be clear about the picks first. The three shelves below are children’s bookshelves that suit a small apartment with a young reader’s books. None is an adult bookcase.

Quick answer

Start with the wall and the walkway, not the style. Measure the open wall, the path to the door and the height you can use without blocking a window. A low, light shelf fits most small apartments and keeps the room open. A tall unit must be anchored to the wall, and a renter should check the lease before drilling. For a child’s books, the picks below suit a small space. For adult books, choose a taller unit with a stated weight limit, and keep the heaviest books on the lowest shelf. If the listing does not state a weight figure, do not treat the shelf as rated.

What matters for a bookcase in a small apartment

Floor space and the walkway

A small apartment leaves little room for a shelf that projects into the walkway. Measure the depth of the wall you plan to use, then measure how far the shelf will stand into the room. Leave space for a chair to pull out and for a door to open fully. A shelf 14 inches deep looks modest on a plan, but it can block a hallway that is only a little wider. Walk the route with a tape measure in hand before you order.

Height and the window line

A bookcase that stands below the window line keeps light flowing and makes the room look larger. A tall unit can break the line of a window and feel crowded. A low shelf also suits a child who reaches for books alone. Choose the height that suits your reader and your room, not the tallest shelf that fits the wall.

Open, double-sided or enclosed

An open shelf shows what is on it and suits picture books. A double-sided shelf puts books on two faces and sometimes adds a pocket for small toys. An enclosed unit hides clutter, but it takes more room and is harder to load. In a small apartment, the shelf type affects how much the room feels full. Choose the storage type that keeps your space uncluttered.

Renter-friendly fixing

Many renters cannot drill into walls, and many leases forbid it. A freestanding shelf avoids drilling, but it can still tip, so it needs to be stable on its own base. Check the lease, and ask the landlord before you fix anything. Where drilling is allowed, locate a wall stud first with a stud finder, which detects framing behind the wall surface. Where a stud is not available, use the anchor type the maker names and follow the maker’s instructions.

Weight and what the rating covers

Books are heavy, and a small shelf holds fewer of them than a wide one. A weight figure helps only when it says what it covers. Check whether the figure is per shelf or for the whole unit, and whether it assumes the unit is fixed to a wall. If the listing gives no figure, treat the shelf as unrated. A common rule of thumb is to keep the heaviest books on the lowest shelf, where a fall does the least damage.

Anchoring and tip-over

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Anchor It! campaign was created because furniture tip-overs can seriously injure children. Its advice is to anchor furniture with anti-tip brackets, to install any anti-tip devices that new furniture ships with, and to remove toys and remote controls from the top of furniture. Those steps apply to a bookcase in an apartment, whatever its size. A small apartment often puts a shelf close to a bed or a sofa, so the anchoring step matters as much as the size.

How to choose

• Choose a low, open-front shelf if the room is small and the reader is young, and the shelf will stand in the open.
• Choose a double-sided design if the books share space with toys or papers.
• Choose a taller unit only if it has a stated weight limit, anchoring hardware and a base wide enough to stand stable.
• Choose a freestanding shelf if your lease forbids drilling, and keep it on a flat floor.
• Skip any listing whose size or weight contradicts itself until the seller clarifies.

If you have a larger room, compare bookcase ideas for small rooms and bookcases for small spaces before you commit. If you want a living room option, see apartment living room bookshelves.

Measuring the apartment

Start with a plan of the room. Mark the doors, the windows, the radiator, the outlets and the light switches. Then mark the places where a bookcase would block one of them. A bookcase should not sit in front of a radiator, a socket or a switch, and it should not block a window that needs to open.

Next, measure the wall you have chosen. Take the width at the height of the shelf, and the depth from the wall to the front edge. Measure the path between the bookcase and the nearest door, and the space in front of the bookcase for a person to stand and reach the shelves. Write the figures down in one place, so you can compare them with each listing.

Finally, measure the stairs or the lift if you will carry the shelf up to the apartment. The item weight and the package size matter when the building has narrow stairs or a small lift. A shelf that fits the wall but not the stairwell is still a bad purchase.

Adult or child reader: which criteria change

The same shelf can serve different readers, but the criteria change. For a child, the key questions are height, reach, an open front and rounded edges. For an adult, the key questions are interior height for hardcovers, a stated weight rating, a stable base and enough shelves for the collection. A small apartment with a child and two adults may need both kinds of shelf, placed in different rooms.

Adult hardcovers are heavier and taller than picture books. A shelf sized for picture books can be too short for a large art book or a cookbook, and a shelf with a narrow interior can strain a spine if books are forced in. Measure your tallest book and count the books you own, then compare the interior height in the listing with that figure. If the listing gives no interior height, measure the shelf opening yourself, using a photograph with a tape measure in view if the shelf is not in the room.

Children’s shelves do other jobs well. A low, front-facing display lets a child choose a book alone, and rounded edges reduce the risk of a bump. A double-sided shelf can hold books on one face and small toys on the other, which keeps a small room tidy. These features are useful, but they do not make a shelf rated for adult loads. Do not use a children’s shelf for heavy adult books unless its listing states a rating that covers them.

If you share a small apartment, consider splitting the shelf work. One low shelf in the child’s space and one taller, anchored unit in the adult space uses the wall better than a single compromise shelf. Plan the placement before you buy, so that each shelf has its own wall and its own walkway.

Living with a small bookcase

Once the shelf is in place, the way you load it matters. Put the heaviest books on the lowest shelf and the lightest items on the top. Leave a little room above each row of books, so that you can lift a book out without tilting the shelf or pulling its neighbours. If you use the shelf for display, turn the books now and then, so that the spines near a window do not fade faster than the rest.

Dust collects on the top of a shelf and along its back edge. Wipe the top and the front when you clean the room, and check the base or any anchor at least once a year. A shelf that has moved, rocked or loosened should be checked before it is loaded again, and the maker’s instructions should guide any repair.

A bookcase 16.5 inches wide would leave 67.5 inches. 84 minus 16.5 equals 67.5. A second bookcase of the same width would leave 51 inches. 67.5 minus 16.5 equals 51. The room still has space, but the walkway from the door to the window must stay clear, so keep both bookcases against the same wall and avoid placing them at the corner. Repeat the calculation with the width you choose and the wall you have measured.

Mistakes to avoid

• Choosing by style alone. A pleasing shelf can still block a walkway in a small apartment.
• Ignoring the lease. Drilling into a wall without permission can cost a deposit.
• Trusting a weight figure without reading what it covers. A per-shelf figure and a total figure are not the same.
• Placing a tall shelf near a bed or a sofa without anchoring it.
• Buying a children’s bookshelf for adult hardcovers without checking the interior height and the rating.
• Measuring the wall but not the stairs or the lift. The shelf must reach the apartment as well as fit it.

Worked example: wall space for a second bookcase

A 16.5-inch bookcase leaves 67.5 inches of wall, and a second bookcase of the same width leaves 67.5 – 16.5 = 51 inches. Measure the full wall before you commit, because a shelf 14 inches deep can block a hallway that is only a little wider.

FAQ

What size bookcase suits a small apartment?

Choose the size that fits the wall and the walkway you measured. In a small room, a low shelf with a narrow footprint keeps the space open. A taller unit suits a wall that has room for it, provided it is anchored and has a stated weight limit.

Can I put a bookcase in a rented apartment without drilling?

Yes, if the shelf is freestanding and stable on its own base. Check the lease first. Choose a shelf whose listing describes a stable base, and keep it away from places where a fall would hurt someone.

Do I need to anchor a small bookcase?

Anchor any shelf that is tall for its width, any shelf a child could climb, and any shelf that stands near a bed or a sofa. Use a stud where you can, and a rated anchor where a stud is not available. Follow the maker’s instructions.

How many books does a small bookcase hold?

It depends on the shelf height, the width and the book size. Many listings give a figure for picture books, which are lighter and thinner than hardcovers. Check the listing’s figure and the interior height before you fill the shelves.

Are these picks suitable for adult books?

The three picks are children’s shelves, so they suit a child’s books better than adult hardcovers. For adult books, look at taller units with a stated weight rating and anchoring hardware.

Should I choose open shelves or a closed unit?

Choose open shelves if you want the room to feel light and the books to be easy to reach. Choose a closed unit if you need to hide clutter, and accept that it takes more room and is harder to load.

What should I check if the listing gives two different sizes?

Ask the seller which figure is correct before you order. Measure the wall using the larger figure as a safe planning number, and confirm the fit once the shelf arrives.

Bottom line

A bookcase for a small apartment should fit the wall, clear the walkway and suit the lease. Choose a low, open shelf for a child’s books, and a taller unit with a stated weight rating for adult books. Anchor anything tall, check the stairs before you order, and skip any listing whose figures disagree until the seller explains them.

Sources

• CPSC: Anchor It!: tip-over risk for furniture, anti-tip brackets and removing tempting objects from the top of furniture
• Bookcase, Wikipedia: what a bookcase is and how fixed and adjustable shelves differ
• Stud finder, Wikipedia: what a stud finder detects behind a wall