Legerdemain and PFM – 4

Fitting Shelves into a curved space.

Our new staircase is curved, so the understair storage area is also curved. It is off the kitchen, designed to be used as a pantry. So, how to put shelves in here…

There must be an easy way to transfer that curve on to shelving material so it can be cut to fit.  Hmmm.

Get out your trusty Sharpie marker, and grab something to use as a spacer.

Trap a piece of cardboard along the floor with your foot, and trace the contour of the wall on the cardboard. Cut along the line, and Voila!  You now have a pattern!

You can use the pattern to cut shelves out of any material you like. I used wire shelving because I had some on hand.

This is the actual pattern I used for this project, with both curves traced on the same piece, with the distance between corners known. The back wall of the space was flat, so it became the reference point for all measurements.

The shelf ends need support, and fortunately MDF is flexible enough that when bolted to the wall, it follows the curve without a lot of complicated lamination or machining.

Here I am checking the fit of a wire shelf I’ve cut. The pantry walls are covered with all kinds of black marks that look exactly like they played ice hockey in here. So I am mounting all the support hardware, and painting the walls and supports just before installing the shelves.  This has the added benefit of making the supports look like they’ve been there all along!

Success!
I also mounted the shelving upside down, so that the reinforcing run would form a lip to keep things from falling off the shelves.