BH | Studio Grasmere Ladder Bookcases, Set of 2

Shelves on slender, leaning frames had their moment in the mid-twentieth century, when designers stripped the bookcase back to a few uprights and boards so the wall behind could show through. It suited smaller, lighter mid-century homes, where a bookcase had to hold plenty without filling the room.

The set pairs two leaning bookcases of different widths, one slim and one wider, made to stand side by side. Each has three open shelves stepping up its tilted frame for books and things you love to look at, above a closed cupboard at the base for what you would rather hide: a single door on the slim one, two doors on the wider. The almond wood grain is pale and natural against the clean lines of the shelves, and both are made from sturdy engineered wood.

Stand them together in a living room with novels, records and a trailing plant on top, chargers and spare cables in the cupboards, or split them between a home office and a bedroom. Side by side they make a library wall without built-ins. Almond suits a light Scandinavian room: style the shelves with white pottery, a few books laid flat and a small framed print propped at the back. This listing is for a set of two bookcases.