2022 Tension Shelves
Handmade balancing shelves held together by the tension of cotton ropes and the compressive strength of timber. Creating a small haven for house plants littered with keepsakes, messages from loved ones, and receipts.
Started in 2021 this became something of a home project whilst the country was in and out of national COVID Lockdowns.
Created to fill three requirements:
//1
Able to house an ever increasing collection of plants
//2
Low Cost
//3
Easily flat packed and able to modify the level of shelves.
Materials:
Whitewood Spruce
Legs: 2No. 3000 x 100 x 25mm
Shelves: 1No. 2400 x 200 x 25mm (4No. lengths of 600mm
(Total £30)
Pine Dowel
900m x 18mm Dia.
(Total £4)
Cotton Rope
12m x 10mm Dia.
(Total £10)
With a little technical assistance from my brother (a furniture designer by trade) we agreed on dimensions and angles which would work and produce a stable set of shelves.
Down the centreline of each 2.4m long leg 18mm Dia. holes are drilled at 50mm centres.
These holes a snug fit for the the 18mm Dia. dowels which form the primary structural support for the balancing shelves.
Cotton ropes then stabilise the shelves from rocking on the axis of the dowels and additionally provide the tension which holds the legs in place.
Plants thrive upon the thin shelves which allow light to the levels below; protruding pegs act as handy tote bag hangers; and as we inhabit it the small spaces in and around the pots become perfect nooks to be littered with keepsakes, messages from loved ones and receipts.
At the time of writing this the shelves have now lived in two houses and have become an integral part of the experience of what home means to us.
