Artists and craftsmen, on purpose, become great respecters of shelves as a protective means to organize all the seemingly insignificant objects that they consider necessary to carry out creative endeavors. There is a method to their madness of saving those Amazon delivery boxes or empty cereal boxes because those junk items that others would daily toss in a recycle bin are thoughtfully scrutinized for size and calculated for appropriate use in some future projects.
Renovating old houses gave me valuable insight into the easiest way for a novice to construct a series of freestanding shelves. It occurred to me that building something was just like sewing, only I would use hammer, wood, and nails instead of the needle, thread, and thimble as taught to me by my mother.
From then on, I feared no task involving hammer and nails and frequented the lumber aisles of local hardware stores with determined lists and confident plans.
By attaching 1×2 strips matched on two wood panels, I discovered that a plywood shelf could be stretched across and nailed in place to make a handy unit. To get fancy, a door could be mounted on the front to transform said shelves into a closet!
And for those who do not have access to a healthy supply of lumber, Amazon boxes can be lined up along a wall and stacked one on top of the other, open area facing out, to make compartment shelves. That’s a quiet way to make a storage unit with no hammering noises to annoy the neighbors!
Such life-changing events are interesting and helpful but not entertaining for neighbors and relatives who would prefer witnessing a more dignified lifestyle and less cluttered collections.