Bookcase depth: how deep should shelves be?

Bookcase depth should match your deepest books. Most paperbacks and hardbacks sit well on a shelf about 220 mm deep, large art and photography books need about 300 mm, and 12-inch records need about 360 mm. A shelf much deeper than its books wastes floor space and lets books slide to the back.

This guide covers how to measure your books, the depths that suit each kind, how far a bookcase stands out from the wall, and how our shelves are sized.

How deep should a bookcase be?

A bookcase should be a little deeper than the books it holds. Measure the width of your largest books, from spine to fore-edge, because that is the dimension that runs front to back on the shelf.

There is no single standard. The furniture reference Dimensions.com puts typical bookcase depth at 26 to 31 cm for medium-sized books, 17 cm for paperbacks and novels, and 35 cm for records and larger-format books.

How to measure your books

Take five minutes with a tape measure before you choose anything.

1. Pull out the three or four biggest books you own: an atlas, a cookbook, an art book.
2. Measure each one from the spine to the open edge. The largest figure is the depth your deepest shelf needs.
3. Measure their height too. Height decides how far apart the shelves go, which is a separate choice from depth.
4. Group the rest of the collection roughly by size. You rarely need every shelf to be the deepest one.

What bookcase depth suits each kind of book?

Paperbacks

UK paperbacks come in three standard formats: A-format is 110 by 178 mm, B-format is 129 by 198 mm, and C-format is 135 by 216 mm, with B-format a common UK size. All three are under 140 mm wide, so a 220 mm shelf holds them with room to spare.

Hardbacks and novels

Most hardback fiction and non-fiction fits a 220 mm shelf too. Check your largest hardbacks before you decide, because sizes vary more than paperbacks do.

Art books, cookbooks, and atlases

Large-format books are the ones that set the depth. If your biggest books are close to or over 220 mm from spine to edge, choose about 300 mm for those shelves.

Vinyl records

A typical 12-inch LP sleeve is 314 mm square, so records need a shelf of about 360 mm. Our planning guide counts vinyl across most of a shelf as heavy loading and recommends bays no wider than 600 mm for heavy loads. Check the wall first: the guide rates solid masonry for heavy loading, stud and dot-and-dab walls for light to medium loading only, and lath and plaster as unsuitable for our system.

If you are unsure what your wall is made of, check before you drill, and ask a professional if it is still unclear.

Is a deeper bookcase better?

No. Depth beyond your books has costs.

On a deep shelf, books get pushed towards the wall and the front edge looks empty. A deep shelf also invites a second row behind the first, and the back row is easy to forget. Every extra centimetre of depth comes out of the room, which matters in a hallway or a narrow alcove.

If only a few of your books are large, give them the deep shelves, put those shelves low, and keep the rest shallower.

How far does a bookcase stand out from the wall?

Further than the shelf depth alone. A freestanding bookcase adds any back panel and any gap behind it, often from skirting boards. A wall-hung bookcase has the fixing hardware between the shelf and the wall.

Our shelves stand 20 mm off the wall, or 34 mm when bookended. So a 220 mm shelf on arms comes 240 mm into the room, and a bookended one 254 mm.

Our cabinets are 360 mm deep and their fronts sit 414.5 mm from the wall. When you plan a bookcase beside a door, a radiator, or a walkway, measure from the wall to the front of the deepest part.

How far apart should bookshelves be?

Shelf spacing depends on the height of your books, and you plan it alongside depth. Our planning guide puts most books at 300 mm spacing and 12-inch records at 400 mm, measured from the top of one shelf to the top of the next. Between shelves of the same style, spacing on our system changes in 100 mm steps because the shelves hang on steel pins every 100 mm, and each gap loses the 18 mm board above it.

How deep are Mestra bookcase shelves?

Our shelves are 18 mm birch plywood, made in three depths. This is how each depth is fitted and what it suits:

You choose the depth shelf by shelf, so one bay can hold records at the bottom and paperbacks above. Drawer cabinets and cupboards are 360 mm deep, which suits a bookcase with closed storage at the base.

Each bay can be any width from 500 mm to 800 mm in 1 mm steps. Our bookcases page shows how the shelves, bookends, and cupboards fit together.

If the bookcase is going into an alcove, measure its depth on both sides first; our guide to measuring an alcove covers it.

Next step

Design your bookcase in our configurator, choosing the depth of each shelf as you go. The configurator shows the price as you design.

Frequently asked questions

Is 20 cm deep enough for a bookshelf?

For paperbacks, yes: UK paperback formats are 110 to 135 mm wide. Many hardbacks fit too, but measure your largest ones first. Art books and records need deeper shelves.

How deep should a shelf be for vinyl records?

About 360 mm. A typical 12-inch LP sleeve is 314 mm square, so a 300 mm shelf leaves the sleeves overhanging. Allow 400 mm between shelves for the height.

Sources

• Bookcases dimensions and drawings (Dimensions.com): typical bookcase depths of 26 to 31 cm, 17 cm for paperbacks, and 35 cm for records and large-format books.
• Book size (Wikipedia): British paperback formats A (110 by 178 mm), B (129 by 198 mm), and C (135 by 216 mm), and B-format as a common UK size.
• Album cover (Wikipedia): the typical LP sleeve at 12.375 in (31.43 cm) square.
• Mestra shelving planning guide: how far our shelves and cabinets stand from the wall, shelf spacing for books and records, vinyl as heavy loading, bays no wider than 600 mm for heavy loads, and wall types. The guide is a free download.