Bookcases & storage

Bookcase buyer’s guide

Good living room storage is vital to create an uncluttered space that’s home to everything that needs to be in that area. A bookcase – or a series – is a must-have, and not just for your collection of novels and non-fiction, but also to provide storage for documents, decorative accessories and more. You’ll discover both large and small bookcases in our selection. Opt for a design that goes halfway up the wall to keep everything readily accessible, or turn otherwise neglected areas into storage by going for a tall bookcase. As well as our great range of standard bookcase designs, you’ll also find modular bookcases on offer that allow you to create a design of the proportions you need for your books and everything else you’re going to stash here. Before you buy, think about the size of the books and other things you want to accommodate on a bookcase. Standard shelf heights could suit just fine for your collection, but you might prefer to opt for bookcase with adjustable shelves so you can create room for sizeable books then stash paperbacks in a smaller area.

Our range of bookcases

You can pick a design that works whatever size your room from our collection of bookcases. For small spaces, check out the New Hampshire mini bookcase, which is just W:70cm D:30cm H:100cm, but still has plenty of room for your favourite reads. With more floor space on offer, the New Hampshire bookcase (W:95cm D:30cm H:122cm), which provides extra width for the books you need to fit as well as the height for an additional shelf, could suit. Our taller designs include the New Hampshire double bookcase with doors which offers cupboard space below the bookshelving. If you need to sneak more books in but space is at a premium, you might find an answer in the New Hampshire single bookcase with shelves, which is W:50cm D:34cm H:217cm and will fit into a nook where other bookcases just won’t go. For large collections, check out both our library wall of storage, and the New Hampshire 7-way bookcase – either will look spectacular along one side of a room. Or you could design your bookcase to fit with a build your own modular bookcase or modular wall storage configured just how you need it. 


Design of bookcases and storage

When you’re choosing a bookcase, think about whether it really will be a space to keep books alone and offer open shelving throughout, or whether you’d also like a piece of furniture that includes some concealed storage as part of the design. Cupboards and drawers can be extremely useful as part of a bookcase design, letting you tidy away items that would be unsightly on the shelves or in cubbyholes. Both our bookcases and other book storage options include shelves-only versions, as well as shelves plus drawers and/or cupboards designs. In other words, you can get the storage that hides as well as shows off your things if you need to. When you’re choosing it can help to review your existing collections, but bear in mind, too, that collections of both books and decorative pieces can grow and you might like to plan the size of bookcases and storage with this in mind.

Display on a bookcase

There are plenty of options when it comes to showing off both books and other pieces on shelving that can enhance the look. Some people like to arrange books in blocks of colour, which can be very impactful. We’ve heard of people taking the opposite approach, though, and turning books round so that only the white of the pages shows. Each to their own, but it’s not an option we’d take (and how would you find the book you want?) If your shelves are packed with books, moving them to the front of shelving to align them looks a whole lot neater than putting them at the back and having an uneven front to the display. When paperwork needs to be kept on a bookcase, the easiest way to make it fit for display is to put it all into attractive and colour co-ordinated box and lever arch files like those in our collection. They’ll keep things tidy and smart.