@heavylee-again: My thoughts exactly. I'm wondering what holds the drawers in place vertically, as well. Simple tension/torsion? What's to stop that top (third from bottom) drawer from just teetering off the back?

With a couple braces, some ball-bearing slide arms, and some manner of locking mechanism to keep the drawers from pulling out too far, this could go from "exceptionally cool idea" to "exceptionally cool idea that's also safe."

CountryJustice

That's a fantastic idea. I wonder though, how do the bottom shelves attach to each other in such a way that they are sturdy enough to stand on and won't move unpredictably when being used as a step, but yet roll in/out easily enough for the shelf to step transformation?

heavylee-again

simple - the bottom three would be separate from the top shelves...that way only two shelves would bear down on the bottom one.

coswine

@CountryJustice: I'm a retard. Ignore last non-sentence.

CountryJustice

Also, I wanted to throw out a big thanks to the author of this article. It seems like most of the articles here lately have leaned heavily to the technological. I can get updates about the latest PC/Mac gewgaws from a hundred different places, but topics that involve real-world solutions (as opposed to the virtual-world) are what sparked my attention the first time around and keep me coming back to Lifehacker. Thumbs up.

Thumbs up. I'd like

CountryJustice

I can envision popped ball bearings, creaky joints and a very heavy bottom shelf that will take a troupe of strongmen to pull out.

icedicicle

no offence intended, but what is the weight limit? It seems only a small child would be able to ascend the steps safely. And what would a small child be doing on those steps anyway.

as far as the idea itself - i think it is great.

gforster

If you are in a location like the one shown, I'd attach them solidly, and make the area behind the bottom ones side-accessable storage.

tgrantt

This concept would actually work quite well. If you used heavy-duty roller tracks (like those found in industrial drawers) and put rollers on the bottom shelf (so it wasn't floating), the shelves would be quite secure.

The bottom shelves wouldn't necessarily have to bear the weight of the upper. As long as the Upper were secure to the wall, the Bottom shelves/steps would "hang" down.

You can also get roller tracks that have a locking mechanism, so they wouldn't slide back in unintentionally.

This looks like a fun weekend project. I just need to find a place to install them.

KTMitch

If you look closely, you can see on the 2nd step that the surface space available for your feet is completely supported by the bottom (1st) step. The 3rd step's surface area is even smaller and appears to be supported by both the 1st and 2nd steps. I'm guessing the designer put in small pegs or other device that limit the maximum distance each step can be pulled out.

GA TechWriter

I agree with KTMitch - the roller tracks are the key. Also, the top of the rolling shelves need to be stiff and not saggy. Perhaps some metal reinforcement would reduce the bulk required to do this.

Alternatively, one could build this shelf to have non-rolling steps. Either make the lower shelves deeper, or build nooks behind them that are accessible from the side.

elsifer

@CountryJustice: Agreed. This one made me smile.

jonny6pak

I think it would be better if it slid back at the top from the face plane into steps to an upper level, such as a loft or attic.

I had never thought of going the other way though, but that's probably b/c I'm tall.

freshjulius

As an added bonus, this also appears to shrink the users boobs.

virgilstar

very creative ^_^

metalmarious

Small folding steps to reach high places: 10$

Building something that will eventually break your back : mucho costly.

While this looks neat, it takes a lot of know how to make it sturdy enough to be safe.

holyspidoo

These shelves appear to be able to handle the weight of the ghost that haunts them.

nffcnnr

Will it work on a carpeted (high friction)surface?

aeronaut

it won't work this way, needs enhancements to make it stand and not drill through your floor leaving 4 line-like marks

Crescent

@elsifer: "Alternatively, one could build this shelf to have non-rolling steps. Either make the lower shelves deeper, or build nooks behind them that are accessible from the side."

Absolutely the way I would go. Probably with supports in the middle of each of the bottom two shelves, too.

Cool idea!

Wally East

Oh, just sweet.

Reminds me of the trick of putting drawers in each of the steps in a staircase.

aharris

I tried something like this when I was 5. The dresser drawers fell on me. If the top drawer didn't fall out and prop the rest up, well, things would have been mich worse.

Dragonis

I am planning on reorganizing my garage soon and this might be the perfect project to help with that.

I wonder how easy it would be to pull out the bottom drawers/shelves if they are loaded down with stuff? I guess you could add casters, but you definitely wouldn't want it to roll around while you are standing on it.

eeefresh

Someone seriously needs to make a DIY for this. I love the idea, but I don't think I have the skills to create one from scratch.

2-7offsuit

@holyspidoo:
"Small folding steps to reach high places: 10$"

Being tall enough not to need the folding step: priceless

Seriously though, with both the weight of the books and the weight of a grown person over 200lbs this thing would need some serious reinforcement and attachment to the wall.

jccalhoun

This idea is pretty cool. It's also pretty useless and dangerous. It seems to me that you can pull out the stepladder or folding stairs on the rare occasion that you need to retrieve something from high shelves. If, however, you find yourself needing to access those items rather frequently, move them to lower shelves.

Terry

@Terry:

Basically sums this idea up. Though I think it would just be cool to have one of these bad boys in your house.

Myles

Ok, so what happens when I load books in the bottom three levels. And put shutters to protect from dust… glass doors, for example…
How / will I be able to get this stairs moving? It will become heavy…

valexeev

I am in the middle of building a nursery for our first ... i just found the sweetest solution evar to fill that gap between the window and wall ... so amazing

VSGinc.

If you have awfully small space and want to keep a lot of books, my suggestion is "don't".

zhangyu