How many shelves do you need, and open or behind a door?

The number to work from is roughly 23-26 average hardbacks per linear metre of shelf, packed solid, spine to spine — the common library-science rule of thumb. Real-world capacity is lower than that: allow gaps, bookends, and books of different heights, and 65-75% of the solid-packed figure is what a shelf actually holds in practice, not the full number.

Open or cupboard-fronted is a separate decision from how many shelves — it's about whether you want the contents on display or hidden, for the same footprint. What follows covers both.

Rule one. Measure your own shelf run, don't guess it

Multiply a unit's shelf width by however many shelves it has for the total linear run, then apply the real-world figure above rather than the solid-packed one — a shelf that's never touched again after the first tidy-up is worth planning for at capacity you'll actually use, not the maximum a library would pack it to.

Paperbacks and thin reference books shift the number in opposite directions — paperbacks pack slightly denser than hardbacks, oversized reference books noticeably less dense — so treat the figure above as a starting point for a mixed collection rather than an exact count for either extreme.

Rule two. Open shelving displays; it also demands tidiness

An open unit shows everything on it, which is exactly why it works well for books, considered objects, or anything that looks intentional lined up — and exactly why it looks cluttered the moment it's storing things that aren't meant to be seen. It suits a room where what goes on the shelf is also part of the decoration.

It's also the easier piece to fill gradually — a half-empty open shelf still looks like a shelf, where a half-empty cupboard behind a closed door doesn't cost you anything visually either way.

Rule three. A cupboard hides the same footprint's worth of mess

A door-fronted piece — a sideboard, in most of our own range — takes up similar floor space to an open unit of the same width and gives you the option most open shelving doesn't: storing things that don't need to look good, chargers and spare bedding and the things that accumulate in every home, behind a door rather than on display.

The trade-off is upkeep of a different kind — a cupboard hides mess rather than preventing it, so a fully crammed one can be its own problem the next time you need to find something specific inside it.

Six open units and two closed cupboards, measured

Sorted so the choice between open and closed is a straight comparison, not a guess from photos.

The short version

Work from 23-26 hardbacks per linear metre solid-packed, then apply 65-75% for real-world capacity with gaps and mixed sizes. Open shelving displays its contents and wants them to look intentional; a cupboard-fronted piece hides the same footprint's worth of mess behind a door instead.