Help with spacing ledge shelves please!

[eks6426]

As many of you have probably read on my other threads I''m redoing my bedroom. I bought a padded headboard and I''ve been trying to figure out what to put above it. I wanted to do something more than just a picture or 2. My bedroom is loosely tropical themed (not tiki) and I wanted to have a place to display some sea shells my hubby collected on our honeymoon without being tiki. So, I saw this display from Pottery Barn that combines what I want perfectly.

My question is spacing on the ledge shelves. Headboard is 62" wide. I was thinking 2 4'' shelves centered over the bed. Issue is if I put the bottom of the first shelf about 6" above the top of the headboard and then space the 2nd shelf bottom roughly 14" above the top of the lower shelf, I only have 14" to the bottom of my ceiling crown molding. Is this too close to the ceiling to look right?

I really like the idea of 2 shelves rather than just one ledge shelf but I don''t want them to look crowded. The other thing I considered is one 4'' shelf on the bottom and a 3'' centered above. I''d love to get some and hold them up but I don''t live anywhere near Pottery Barn and none of my local stores carry 4'' shelves....

What would look best?

 

[eks6426]

Here''s the Pottery Barn inspiration picture.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Just eyeballing, from the bottom of the bottom shelf to the top of the top shelf the distance appears to be about 23-26 inches.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

LOL just actually READ your question and realized that my post had nothing to do with it.

 

[sumbride]

I''d just be careful putting shelves like that over the bed. What if something falls on your head???

 

[blondie23]

i agree with sumbride, i mean the shelves might be stable on the wall but what about the pictures??? what if they fell?

 

[lyra]

Date: 11/7/2007 2:01:11 PM
Author: sumbride
I''d just be careful putting shelves like that over the bed. What if something falls on your head???

Thritto? I''m OCD about that sort of thing. When we lived in earthquake territory it was hard for me to have any pictures up at all because of this fear.

What about doing shadow box displays with your shells and some photos or similar mementos? Either custom done, or do them yourself. One benefit is no dusting. That''s another problem with the ledges. I have one in my bathroom and it gets dusty so quick it drives me crazy, so now I only have 3 things on it so it''s easier to dust.

 

[eks6426]

I hadn''t thought much about the dusting issue on the ledge shelves......

I don''t live in earthquake country but I was planning on securing items with museum putty. I''m not too afraid of anything dropping on my head.

I like the idea of shadow boxes but the shells I want to display are bigger like conch shells that we actually found on the beach. The cubes are cute but too modern for my room.

So, I think I''m going to buy the ledge shelves and at least try them. The ones in my picture are from Pottery Barn. I want the mahogany color in 4 feet. But Pottery Barn''s shipping prices really bother me... it''s $17 to ship 2 shelves. Does anyone know of other places that carry these kind of shelves?