Shelves for Life

Designer William Warren has mastered the art of multifunctional design with the Shelves for Life, a self-initiated project to further explore ideas of built-in sentimentality in our possessions. The product is designed to encourage strong emotional relationships with our belongings and to ensure life-long use.

From the artist:

“These shelves are designed to last you a lifetime. The wood will colour, the surfaces will mark and stain and over the years and the furniture will become a part of you.

“When you die, the shelves can be taken apart and reassembled as a coffin. The brass plate under the bottom shelf, that tells the story about this transformation, is then flipped over and your dates inscribed on it.

“The shelves were first launched at the British Library during the 2005 London Design Festival.”

What a way to create a homemade memorial to a life well-lived!