Questions before you order, answered.

Mestra is a wall-mounted modular shelving system made from 18 mm Baltic birch plywood. Vertical rails are fixed to the wall, and shelves, cupboards, drawer cabinets, and open cabinets hang from steel pins set every 100 mm along them.

The space between two rails is a bay. You choose how many bays you want, how wide each one is (600 or 800 mm as standard, or made to measure from 500 to 800 mm), and how tall the rails are (900 or 1800 mm). See the whole system on the Mestra shelving page.

Modular shelving is built from a set of standard parts that you combine, rearrange, and add to over time. With Mestra, those parts are rails, shelves, and cabinets.

Shelves and cabinets lift off their pins and hang again at a new height. A new bay needs one more rail. A shelf can later become a drawer, and a drawer a cupboard. Read more about modular shelving units.

Mestra is made to measure within a modular system. Our standard bay widths are 600 and 800 mm. If your wall needs something else, you can set any width from 500 to 800 mm, in 1 mm steps, and we make the parts to that width. The parts made for a bay of your own width are made to your specification, so the 14-day right to cancel doesn't apply to them (terms).

It isn't bespoke joinery, though. Heights and depths come from a set range, and each bay is straight and square rather than scribed to the wall. Every part stays part of a system you can rearrange, add to, or repair. Compare the two on our made-to-measure shelving and bespoke shelving alternative pages.

You can hang shelves, cupboards, drawer cabinets, and open cabinets on the rails, in any mix. Shelves sit on arms (220 or 300 mm deep) or between bookends (220, 300, or 360 mm deep). Cabinets come as a one-drawer cabinet, a two-drawer cabinet, a two-door cupboard, or an open cabinet with a shelf inside, and every cabinet has a back panel.

Drawer and cupboard fronts have a capsule slot (vertical on cupboards) or a circular hole, or no pull at all with push to open. For anything else, such as a different pull in one bay, add it to Notes for Mestra in the configurator.

Not yet. Today every Mestra rail is screwed to the wall, so it can't stand on its own or work as a room divider. We're working on a semi-freestanding version: get in touch if you'd like to hear when it's ready.

If you can't drill into your wall, a freestanding unit is the better choice for now. Our guide to wall-mounted and freestanding shelving sets out the trade-offs.

Yes, with help from one of our planners. The configurator builds straight runs, so a corner is planned with us and priced by quote. Send your design to our team from the configurator, or send a quote request with photos and measurements, and a planner will work out the corner with you.

Shelving scribed tight to uneven walls, and floor-standing built-ins, are work for a joiner.

Mestra is 18 mm Baltic birch plywood, with the layered edge on show and no MDF, veneer, or laminate.

Most modular shelving only comes in fixed widths. Mestra bays come in standard 600 and 800 mm widths, or made to measure anywhere from 500 to 800 mm, so the system is sized to your wall. Parts are sold one at a time if you need to replace or add something. Each order comes with a ten-year warranty and a 60-day Home Trial.

Mestra is for people who'd rather buy once and keep it for decades. You notice how things are made, you want things at home you'll still be glad of years from now, and you'd choose birch plywood made in Norfolk over something mass-produced.

Because it's modular, it changes with you. You can rearrange it, add to it, repair a single part, or take it with you when you move.

It isn't for you if you want something cheap to replace in a few years. It also needs a wall you can drill into, so check which walls Mestra works on.

Yes. There are eight pre-configured layouts, in 20 sizes and versions: Open shelving, With a cupboard, With one drawer, With two drawers, Hallway shoe storage, Floating cabinet, Eye-level storage wall, and Media wall. They use 600 mm bays and come in the Natural finish.

The first four come one, two, or three bays wide (632, 1234, or 1836 mm). Floating cabinet comes two, three, or four bays wide, Hallway shoe storage on 900 mm or low 395 mm rails, and Media wall with drawers or open boxes.

Each layout opens in the configurator, where you can change the widths, finish, pulls, and contents. Browse them on the Mestra shelving page.

Yes. A media wall is built from the same parts as the rest of the system, with cabinets low down, open space for the TV, and shelves around it. Because shelves and cabinets hang on pins every 100 mm, you can size that space to your TV, and add bays to go wider. Start from the pre-configured Media wall layout, or use the Floating cabinet layout as a floating TV unit.

Send your design to our team from the configurator with your TV's size and weight, and we'll check it with you before you order. See the Media wall layout and our living room shelving page.

Yes. In a living room it works as bookshelves, as alcove shelving either side of a chimney breast, or as a media wall round the TV. See living room shelving, alcove shelving, and the Media wall layout.

Yes. Mestra suits open shelves for books, or a storage wall with cupboards and drawers that keeps things out of sight. The Eye-level storage wall is a good place to start.

Yes. The Hallway shoe storage layout is made for it: 1234 mm wide and 334 mm deep, with 300 mm bookended shelves, three on 900 mm rails or two on low 395 mm rails.

Yes. Open shelves hold books and files, and cupboards or drawer cabinets keep the rest out of sight. Build it in the configurator or start from a ready-made layout.

Yes, away from the hob, oven, sink, and kettle. Mestra is made for normal indoor use. Our terms exclude direct water, strong heat, and extreme or fast-changing humidity, and the warranty doesn't cover damage from them.

We don't recommend it. Mestra is made for dry indoor rooms, and our terms exclude damp rooms and direct water, so damage from them isn't covered by the warranty.

Start with our free planning guide. It covers measuring your wall, checking it can take shelving, and turning it into a bay plan, in an eleven-page PDF that downloads as soon as you enter your name and email. Get the free planning guide.

With your measurements, design your system in the configurator, or send us photos for a free fit review and we'll suggest a layout.

Measure the width and height of the space, and work from the narrowest width. Bays are 600 or 800 mm wide as standard, or made to measure from 500 to 800 mm, and rails are 900 or 1800 mm tall. For the full method, with diagrams, get the free planning guide.

Measure the alcove's width at its narrowest point and size the bay to fit, remembering the rails add to the overall width. Mestra bays are straight and square, not scribed to the wall, so where alcove walls lean or bow you'll see small gaps at the sides.

The free planning guide takes you through the rest, with diagrams. More on alcove shelving.

Our standard bay widths are 600 and 800 mm. If those don't suit your wall, choose any other width from 500 to 800 mm, in 1 mm steps, and we make it to measure. The configurator prices any width from 500 to 800 mm straight away, and one design can have up to six bays.

If the standard widths don't quite fill your wall, you don't have to resize everything. Keep the other bays at 600 or 800 mm and make just one bay to measure.

Bays narrower than 500 mm or wider than 800 mm are priced by quote.

In the configurator, up to 1800 mm. Each rail is 900 mm long, so you choose one rail (900 mm) or two stacked (1800 mm). For a taller space, rails can stack higher: send a quote request and we'll plan it with you.

Some layouts use a low 395 mm rail instead, such as the Floating cabinet and the lower Hallway shoe storage.

Shelves come 220, 300, or 360 mm deep, and every cabinet is 360 mm deep and 395 mm high. Shelves on arms are 220 or 300 mm deep; the 360 mm shelf sits between bookends only. The standard shelf is 220 mm.

A layout with cabinets is about 415 mm deep overall.

Most paperbacks and hardbacks fit a 220 mm shelf. Large hardbacks and art books need 300 mm, and oversized books and records the 360 mm bookended shelf.

The free planning guide shows the spacing books and records need, with diagrams. More on bookcases.

Shelves and cabinets hang on steel pins at positions every 100 mm along the rails, so shelf spacing moves in 100 mm steps.

Our free planning guide shows how much space books and records need. More on adjustable shelves.

Put several bays side by side. The configurator takes up to six bays in one design, each 600 or 800 mm as standard or made to measure from 500 to 800 mm, and neighbouring bays share a rail. A bay narrower than 500 mm or wider than 800 mm is priced by quote.

The free planning guide shows how to turn your wall into a bay plan, with diagrams.

Plan your layout around them so they stay within reach. Every cabinet has a back panel, so a socket behind one would be covered.

The free planning guide shows how to plan around them. If you're unsure, send a photo for a free fit review.

Yes, with our free fit and layout review. Send one to five photos of the room and rough wall measurements. Within forty-eight hours we reply with suggested bays and widths, a starting arrangement, an indicative price or range, and any obvious fit issues.

There's no obligation, and it isn't a sales call. Final measurements, fixings, configuration, and price are confirmed before anything is made. Start a fit review.

Yes. Email hello@mestrashelving.com or use our contact page, and we reply within forty-eight hours. You can also call 07348 946835, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. We can help with measurements, wall suitability, samples, configurator choices, and whether a formal quote is the better route.

You can also send a design from the configurator straight to our team.

Order the £15 sample pack to see the finishes at home. You can also see customer projects on Instagram (@mestra.shelving).

Once your shelving is up, the 60-day Home Trial gives you time to live with it before you decide.

Yes, as long as it stays outside the distance your fire or stove needs from combustible materials, which the appliance's instructions give. Heat damage isn't covered by the warranty.

The free planning guide covers measuring and planning your wall. More on living room shelving.

The wood is 18 mm Baltic birch plywood, with the layered edges left visible. There's no MDF, veneer, or laminate.

The birch is finished to protect it while letting the grain show, in Natural or Cocoa as standard. A melamine finish is also available by quote.

Because it's nicer to look at and it lasts longer. Compared with most MDF and particle board, birch plywood is more durable, less easily damaged by water, and easier to trace back to where it came from. We leave its layered edge on show, with no veneer or laminate over the top.

If a part is damaged, you can replace it on its own. Compare the boards in birch plywood vs MDF vs laminate, or read about our materials.

Natural and Cocoa are our standard finishes. Other colours are available on request: get in touch and we'll talk you through the options.

Pre-configured layouts come in Natural. For a solid colour, ask about melamine. The sample pack has both Natural and Cocoa.

Yes, in melamine: a solid, wipe-clean colour over the plywood. We confirm the colour and price with you, so melamine is quoted rather than added straight to the basket. Send a quote request to start.

Yes. The sample pack has our two standard finishes, Natural and Cocoa, for £15 including VAT. The samples are yours to keep.

For another colour, ask us for a sample. Order the pack from the samples page.

Yes, a little. Wood mellows with light and moves slightly with temperature and humidity, and colour and grain vary between boards and batches.

That's how birch behaves, and the warranty doesn't treat it as a defect.

How much a shelf sags depends on its span and load, so Mestra keeps spans short, with bays 500 to 800 mm wide. Thickness, rail spacing, and the wall fixing matter too, so we plan each configuration as a whole.

Shelves are 18 mm birch plywood. Our free planning guide covers planning for heavy things like books and records.

We design Mestra to be circular. If a part breaks, send it back to us: we repair it or send you a new one, and the part you return goes into another product where we can, or is recycled responsibly.

We use high-quality, traceable birch plywood with no veneer or MDF, and cut every part to size for its order. Parts are sold one at a time, and the system can be rearranged or moved to a new home.

We're not perfect, and we keep looking for ways to do better. Right now we're looking at using our offcuts for samples and for future product ranges.

The price depends on your layout, and you see it before you order. The configurator shows a live price as you change the number and width of bays, the rail height, and the shelves, drawers, cabinets, and doors.

Pre-configured layouts show their price on the Mestra shelving page. Prices include VAT and delivery to mainland UK. If you'd rather start from a photo, a free fit review comes back with an indicative price.

VAT, delivery to a mainland UK address, and the fixings and fitting tools for your wall. We check your wall type with you before sending them.

The fitting kit includes an alignment spacer with a built-in level, a PZ2 driver bit, and the drill bit for your wall. For solid masonry, four screws and plugs per rail are built into the price. You supply the drill.

Because it's made to last for decades, not a few years. It's 18 mm Baltic birch plywood with no MDF core or veneer, made to order and cut to your sizes rather than taken from stock.

It can be repaired, rearranged, and reassembled again and again, so you're buying a shelving system you can keep for life. You can replace or add single parts later, and each order comes with a ten-year warranty and a 60-day Home Trial.

It's also made in Norfolk, so you're supporting UK workmanship and a small business.

A joiner builds fixed shelving scribed to your walls. Mestra is a modular system made to your bay widths, with a price you can see before you order.

Joinery can turn corners and hug uneven walls, which Mestra can't. Mestra's shelves move, bays can be added, and the whole system can come with you when you move. See the full comparison on our bespoke shelving alternative page.

Yes. Bays narrower than 500 mm or wider than 800 mm, corners, melamine finishes, and other colours are all priced by quote. We're happy to look at bespoke pieces too, including shelving we don't usually make.

Send a quote request and we reply within forty-eight hours. A designer talks it through with you, then you get a detailed quote with drawings and specifications.

There are three ways: add a pre-configured layout to your basket, design your own in the configurator, or plan it with us through a free fit review.

You pay when you order, in full or, on orders of £2,000 or more after any discount, as a 50% deposit with the balance due seven days before delivery. The contract starts when we email your order confirmation.

Yes. In the configurator you can save a design, share it, download it as a PDF, or send it to our team to look over.

By card or another method shown at checkout. You pay in full when you order, or on orders of £2,000 or more after any discount you can pay a 50% deposit and the balance seven days before delivery. You can pay the balance from your account, or with the link we email you. Payments go through Stripe, so we never see or store your card details.

Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Link appear as express buttons when your device supports them.

No. You can check out as a guest with just an email address, or sign in if you have an account. If you create an account later with the same email, your guest order appears in it.

Yes, one percentage code per order, entered at checkout. Codes don't apply to sample packs.

No. Once we've confirmed your order, later price changes don't affect it.

Checkout also charges only the total you were shown. If a price changes while you're checking out, checkout stops and shows you the new total before you pay.

Each system is made to order in Norfolk, with a lead time of 2 to 10 weeks from order. When delivery is booked, we email you the courier and the estimated delivery date.

Yes, to mainland UK addresses. There's no separate delivery charge in the basket or at checkout.

Islands and other remote addresses can cost more to reach, so get in touch before you order.

Yes, but email hello@mestrashelving.com before you order. Checkout only takes UK addresses, so we arrange delivery outside the UK with you directly.

Because each system is made to your bay widths: 600 or 800 mm as standard, or any width from 500 to 800 mm made to measure. Parts are cut to size once your order is confirmed.

Making to order also means we don't overproduce things that won't sell or hold stock that could go to waste, which is part of keeping Mestra sustainable.

We email you. After you order you get an order confirmation. When delivery is booked, we email the courier, the estimated delivery window, your delivery address, and a link to the installation guide.

The timing is an estimate, and the courier may send its own tracking. If you have an account, your order page shows when payment is confirmed and delivery is arranged.

We contact you. If we can't deliver within the timeframe in our terms, we tell you, and if the delay is significant you can cancel for a full refund.

If we announce a planned closure after you've ordered, we email you in advance, and you can cancel for a full refund before it starts. The details are in our terms.

Email hello@mestrashelving.com within forty-eight hours of delivery. If you can, photograph the damage before you unpack. We'll arrange a repair, a replacement, or a refund.

Someone needs to be in to take delivery. It won't be left if no one is there to receive it.

If tracking shows it as delivered and you haven't received it, tell us no later than 28 days from the estimated delivery date. If it's confirmed lost, we offer a replacement or a full refund.

Re-delivery charges may apply if the address given was wrong or incomplete.

Yes. You fit it yourself, following our installation manual, and we help before and after delivery. Nothing needs cutting or finishing at home.

If you'd rather not fit it yourself, we're happy to help arrange someone to fit it for you. Say so in Notes for Mestra when you design your order in the configurator, or email hello@mestrashelving.com before or after you order.

You fix and level the first rail, set the next with the spacing tool, add any upper rails, then hang the shelves and cabinets on their pins and fit the doors. Lifting a cabinet into place may need a second person. Your delivery email links to the installation guide.

Your parts, the fixings for your wall, and the tools to fit them: an alignment spacer with a built-in level, a PZ2 driver bit, and the drill bit for your wall type. A solid masonry kit has four screws and plugs per rail.

Cabinets arrive built and ready to hang. Hallway shelves come flat-packed and slot together. Door hinges are fitted at home.

A drill and a screwdriver. We send the alignment spacer, driver bit, and drill bit. You'll also need a tape measure, a pencil, a spirit level, and a vacuum.

It works on solid masonry, and on plasterboard and dot-and-dab walls once we've checked them with you. Lath and plaster isn't suitable.

If you're unsure, contact us before you order and we'll walk you through how to check. Our free planning guide explains wall types. More on wall-mounted shelving.

Yes, once we've checked the wall with you. Tell us what's behind the board and we send fixings to suit; the standard plugs are for solid walls and must not be used in plasterboard.

Our free planning guide covers plasterboard walls and what they can hold.

No. Lath and plaster isn't suitable for the Mestra rail system. If that's what you have, a freestanding unit is the better choice. If you're not sure what your wall is, email hello@mestrashelving.com and we'll walk you through how to check, or see the wall checks in our free planning guide.

Ask us. Contact us with what you know about the wall, and we'll walk you through how to check it before you order. The free planning guide covers wall checks too.

After you order, we may also email a short wall survey about what the wall is made of, any insulation, obstructions, and hidden pipes or cables, so the right fixings go in the box.

There's no single kilogram rating, because safe loading depends on your wall, the fixings, the installation, the bay width, and how the weight is spread. Our free planning guide covers wall types and loading.

We recommend keeping heavy items off the top and bottom holes of each rail.

For a TV, tell us its weight before you order and we'll check it with you.

Only if you can drill into the wall. Every rail is screwed into the wall, so check with your landlord first. Mestra comes with you when you move.

If drilling isn't allowed, a freestanding unit will suit you better.

Keep it dry, and keep the shelving away from damp, direct water, strong heat, and extreme or fast-changing humidity. Melamine finishes wipe clean.

For advice on a particular mark, ask us.

Yes. Shelves and cabinets lift off their pins and hook back on at another position, in 100 mm steps, with no new holes in the wall. More on adjustable shelves.

Yes. A new bay needs one more rail, and nothing already on the wall has to come down. You can also add shelves, swap a shelf for a drawer, or swap a drawer for a cupboard.

New parts are made to the width of the bay they go in, so order them at that width. Bay widths stay as they were made.

Yes. Parts are sold individually, down to a single shelf, rail, or door, made to the width of your bay. Contact us with your order details to arrange one.

If a part failed because of a defect, it's covered by the ten-year warranty and handled separately from paid parts.

Yes. Mestra is built to outlive a house move or a change of use. Lift the shelves and cabinets off, take the rails down, fix them to the new wall, and hang everything back on.

Bay widths stay as they were made, so if the new wall is wider, add a bay with one more rail.

It's our extended returns window: 60 days from delivery to decide whether Mestra is right for you, on top of your statutory rights. If it isn't, email us with your order number and reason, and we arrange collection at no extra cost.

Parts need to come back resalable, meaning unused, or reassembled without damage. Full details are in our terms.

Email hello@mestrashelving.com within 60 days of delivery with your order number and your reason, and we arrange collection at no extra cost.

We refund you within 14 days of receiving the return, to your original payment method. Refunds usually reach your bank in 5 to 10 working days. A part that can't be resold is charged at its replacement cost, taken from the refund.

Damage from misuse, negligence, or changes made after delivery, and returns after 60 days unless the item is faulty. Parts that come back unfit to resell are charged at replacement cost. Your statutory rights still apply.

Yes. You can cancel within 14 days of delivery without giving a reason, by email, and the 60-day Home Trial gives you longer than that. You can also cancel for a full refund if your order is significantly delayed.

The 14-day right doesn't cover made-to-measure or custom parts: the parts made for a bay of any width other than 600 or 800 mm, anything in a finish or colour outside our standard range (such as melamine or a custom pull backing colour), and anything else we make differently at your request. The rest of your order keeps it. If you ask us to cancel those parts before delivery, we refund what you've paid for them less the costs we've already incurred making them.

The full cancellation terms are in our terms.

Defects in materials and workmanship, for ten years from delivery, on top of your statutory rights. That includes structural defects in the birch plywood parts, and manufacturing faults in the joints, fixings, and hardware we supply.

See our terms for the full wording.

Normal wear and tear, natural variation, movement, and colour change in the wood, and minor variations in the finish. Damage from misuse, negligence, or changes after delivery isn't covered, and nor is damage from extreme moisture, heat, or conditions beyond normal indoor use.

Email hello@mestrashelving.com with your order number and a description of the problem. Warranty replacements are handled separately from parts you buy.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, you're entitled to a repair, replacement, or refund if goods are faulty, not as described, or not fit for purpose, and those rights last six years from delivery. Our ten-year warranty sits on top of them.

You replace just that part. Parts are sold one at a time and made to your bay width, so contact us to arrange one.

Yes. Designers can plan a system in the configurator, save it, download it as a PDF for a client, or send it to our team.

For work outside the configurator, the quote route gives you a detailed quote with drawings and specifications.

Mestra was founded in 2025 by Josh, an industrial designer from Norfolk with a degree from Loughborough University. Mestra is the trading name of JDWorks LTD, a company registered in England and Wales. Read more about us.

Not yet. Mestra is sold online at mestrashelving.com, but we're working on getting it into shops, around Norfolk at least and ideally around the country, so you can see it in person. Until then, get a sample pack to see the finishes at home.

Email hello@mestrashelving.com or use our contact page. We reply within forty-eight hours. You can also call 07348 946835, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. The contact form asks for your name, email, and message, and a phone number if you'd like to add one.