Spending more time at home means turning kitchens into offices, living rooms into day-care centres, and, in the process, cleanliness into clutter.
If it’s time for a clean-out at your place, Melbourne shelving company Plank has just released a set of minimalist floating shelves that’ll beautify your walls and help tidy your home at the same time.
Former visual merchandiser Anita Thorley founded Plank early last year after designing a similar piece to display products while working for The Modern Furniture Store in Melbourne.
“Customers would come in and repeatedly ask if these shelves were for sale, so eventually I asked the manager if I could make my own and sell them,” she says. “He was really supportive of the idea, and after a couple of years researching and tweaking designs, I started Plank.”
The wall-mounted shelves are made from natural timber and finished with soft edges – all hallmarks of minimalist Scandinavian design, which is intended to help furniture blend seamlessly into any room.
They’re made in Melbourne from Tasmanian oak, which Thorley chose for its soft finish and “subtle pinkish hue” that adds warmth. Each set can hold up to 30 kilos. The shelves are as much a place for your things as they are a minimalist wall feature in their own right.
“[It] looks its best when you’re highlighting a few of your favourite items on it – a plant, some books, plates or anything else,” says Thorley. “It comes from the principles you apply in visual merchandising. You want to see what’s on the shelf more than the structure itself.”
Installation and removal are pretty straightforward – the shelves are mounted onto wall studs with screws, and horizontal pieces sit in place without any attachments.
Aside from being visually pleasing, investing in solid timber pieces means investing in longer-lasting furniture. While fast-furniture brands are making commitments to more sustainable practices, many companies make furniture with laminate-coated particle board, which can contain harmful chemicals. This means some pieces can’t be recycled or sanded back to fix wear and tear over the years, and they’re more likely to end up in landfill.
Thorley hopes Plank’s solid oak frames will help people invest in “forever furniture”.
“I see so many flat-pack pieces end up in hard rubbish and it always upsets me,” she says. “It’s more sustainable to invest in something long-term.”
Plank’s shelves are currently available in two sizes: large (2250 millimetres wide) is $1250 and small (1200 millimetres wide) is $995. A smaller single shelf is also in the works for $495. Shipping is charged based on location.
