actually, nothing yet! it's still a mess 'o boxes. although i love ed's idea, i think it might end up being the IKEA shelves, for affordability, ease of assembly, and small footprint. we'll see though......

I know this comment comes a week later, but did you come up with a solution yet? Although the IKEA shelf is "the least stylish" it would have my vote because I *LOVE* mine. And I wish that I had the space above it like you do to hange really super huge pictures, fabric panels, whatever. The shelf is easy to put together and easy to keep organized, has amazing lighting effects possible, and it will go with you to another home, where the floating boxes would be much more effort. (Gosh, when did I get so lazy???) Anyway, What did you decide?

#2, the floating boxes, is aesthetically coolest, but for function, i would probably attempt a combination of either #1 and #3 or #2 and #3 -- having a loft top off the stepped bookcase or floating boxes seems feasible.

well folks, we have a new contender.....These would take up floor space (unless I wall-mounted them) and would require some DIY....but I'd be guaranteed to have the only ones on the block!

i personally like #2 with the wooden boxes, but if it were me, i'd tweak it a bit to my own tastes.  i'm just a big fan of stuff that looks like it 'floats' on a wall

ED the ARCHITECT!