How deep and how tall should a vinyl record shelf be?

A shelf for vinyl records should be 13 in (33 cm) deep with 13.25 in (34 cm) of clear height, which on a 3/4 in board is 14 in (36 cm) from the top of one shelf to the top of the next. It carries about 35 lb per foot (52 kg per metre), more than the cube units sold for records are rated to hold. The figures below come from jacket templates, pressing weights and a record box's capacity, with singles, CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays alongside. Books have their own page, shelf depth and vertical spacing, on the same datum.

Measure the sleeve, not the record, and measure the opening, not the unit#

A 12 in record is not 12 in on a shelf. The shelf has to take the largest thing around the disc.

• The jacket. Coral Graphics' templates for a 12 in single LP jacket finish at 12.375 in (314 mm) wide and 12.328 to 12.375 in tall, with a spine of 0.125 in or 0.25 in (3 or 6 mm), on board 0.018 to 0.024 in thick.
• The outer sleeve. Bags Unlimited's 3 mil polythene sleeve is 12 3/4 x 12 3/4 in (324 mm square) and is listed as taking a single 180 g record in a jacket or gatefold, or a double 180 g set in a gatefold. That 12.75 in is the size to plan for.

The shelf has the same trap: a cube sold by its outside size is smaller inside by two panel thicknesses. Measure the opening, as the site's measuring method asks. Clear height runs from the top of one shelf to the underside of the next; pitch from the top of one shelf to the top of the next, which is clear height plus one board. Depth runs from the back panel to the front edge.

12.75 in plus half an inch: where 13.25 in clear and 14 in centres come from#

A book is tipped out by its head, so it needs 1.6 in (4 cm) above it. A record is pulled straight forward by its spine and needs only enough room that the sleeve does not drag on the shelf above. Half an inch does that; the allowance is the site's own:

clear height = 12.75 in sleeve + 0.5 in = 13.25 in (34 cm)

pitch = 13.25 in + 0.75 in board = 14 in (36 cm)

The absolute minimum is 13 in (33 cm) clear; below it a sleeved record will not stand upright. Depth works the same way: 12.75 in of sleeve plus a little air is 13 in (33 cm). Past 14 in (36 cm) deep the extra space sits behind the records, where nothing usable goes.

On a cabinet drilled on the 32 mm system, the nearest step is 352 mm (13.9 in). With an 18 mm board it leaves 334 mm (13.1 in) clear, 10 mm over the sleeve: the same step the book page gives to 8.5 x 11 in hardcovers. For once the two systems agree, too: 13 in is 330.2 mm, so a 330 mm opening and a 13 in one are the same shelf, unlike most pairs in imperial and metric: the dimension systems that collide.

Case sizes are Vinpower Digital's, as height, depth and thickness standing spine-out; the 7 in jacket is Duplication.com's. Disc clear heights add the same half inch, rounded up. Counts divide 12 in by the case thickness.

65 LPs in 13 1/8 in: how many records a shelf takes#

No standard fixes how thick an LP is on the shelf, because the spine is sized to its contents. A record box gives a real figure: BCW's 33 RPM storage box holds up to 65 LPs in an interior 13 1/8 in (333 mm) long. That is 0.2 in (5.1 mm) a record, about 60 LPs per foot and 195 per metre, packed tight.

The loose column takes off about 15 per cent, the site's allowance for a shelf that is used rather than archived. Double albums and thick gatefolds hold fewer.

The Library of Congress tells archives to store discs upright, on edge, with "sturdy, immovable dividers every 4-6 inches that support the entire face of the disc in its sleeve": 20 to 30 LPs a section. A shelf without dividers works only if it is kept full enough that nothing leans. The same guidance says not to store discs of different diameters together, so singles get their own shelf.

About 35 lb per foot: the archive figure and the arithmetic agree#

The Library of Congress says grooved discs "average 35+ pounds per shelf-foot". That can be checked from the parts.

• The vinyl. Disc Makers puts a standard 12 in record at about 140 g and heavyweight pressings at 180 g.
• The jacket. The Coral Graphics blank is 24.875 x 14.078 in, or 0.226 m². Duplication.com gives 18 point board as approximately 350 gsm, so an 18 point jacket weighs about 79 g. At 24 point, the heaviest stock on the template, the site scales that to about 105 g.
• The count. About 59 records per foot, from the record box.

Inner sleeves and polythene outers add a little, so the two agree: plan for about 35 lb per foot (52 kg/m), toward 40 lb (60 kg/m) for heavyweight reissues. That is about 1.5 times a shelf of mixed hardbacks at 20 to 25 lb (30 to 37 kg/m).

The 45 to 55 lb per foot (67 to 82 kg/m) this site used to give is too high: at 60 records a foot every LP would have to weigh 340 to 420 g (0.75 to 0.9 lb), more than a 180 g record in a 24 point jacket. Singles, at about 40 g a disc by Disc Makers' figure, are light enough that span does not matter.

The KALLAX cube holds 64 LPs and is rated for about 45 to 59#

IKEA's US listing for the KALLAX gives 29 lb (13 kg) as the maximum load per shelf. A KALLAX unit is 15 3/8 in (39 cm) deep and its compartments take IKEA's 13 in (33 cm) inserts, so the compartment is about 13 in square: just enough for a 12.75 in sleeve. At 0.2 in a record that is 64 LPs, weighing 31 lb (14 kg) in 140 g pressings and 41 lb (18 kg) in 180 g ones.

The same arithmetic runs on other IKEA pieces. An EKET cabinet 13 3/4 in (35 cm) deep is rated at 15 lb (6.8 kg) a shelf, which is 24 to 31 LPs. A BILLY 80 cm (31 1/2 in) bookcase has a shelf 29 7/8 in (76 cm) long, rated at 66 lb (30 kg). Full, it holds about 148 LPs at 71 to 93 lb (32 to 42 kg); the rating allows 105 to 137. It also fails on depth: the shelf is 10 1/4 in (26 cm), so a 12.375 in jacket stands about 2 in (5 cm) proud. Record-depth carcasses are in bookcase dimensions.

Spans fall by about a sixth for records, not by half#

A shelf sags in proportion to its load, and the site's shelf span, thickness and sag page holds sag to 1/180 of the span. Against that limit the allowable span goes as the cube root of the load. Records at 35 lb per foot are 1.75 times the 20 lb per foot the book spans assume, and the cube root of 1.75 is 1.21, so each span shrinks to 0.83 of its book value:

That is a sixth off, not a half: halving would need eight times the load. The shelf span calculator runs the check for any board and stiffener. A 30 in (76 cm) melamine bay, fine for paperbacks, is 7 in too long for records, and because creep roughly doubles long-term sag in chipboard, plywood or hardwood is the better buy for a record wall.

7 in singles, CDs and DVDs: an 8 in shelf takes almost all of them#

7 in singles. The jacket is 7 1/4 in (184 mm) square, so the shelf wants 8 in (20 cm) of depth and 7.75 to 8 in (20 cm) clear, on a shelf or in a box of their own.

CDs. A jewel case stands 125 mm (4.9 in) tall spine-out and runs 142 mm (5.6 in) deep: a 6 in (15 cm) shelf with 5.5 in (14 cm) clear, 29 cases a foot. Slim cases double the count.

DVDs and Blu-rays. Both are 135 mm (5.3 in) deep and share the 6 in shelf. A DVD case is 190 mm (7.5 in) tall and needs 8 in (20 cm) clear, a Blu-ray 170 mm (6.7 in) and 7.25 in (18 cm). Game cases vary by console and are not covered here; their place near the screen is in gaming setup dimensions.

The useful pattern is that one 8 in (20 cm) clear opening, 8 in deep, takes singles, DVDs, Blu-rays and CDs, wasting about 2.5 in of height on CDs and nothing on the rest. A media wall can therefore be planned in two shelf types only: 13 in deep at a 14 in pitch for LPs, and 8 in deep at an 8.75 in pitch for everything smaller. CDs also suit drawers, spines up; inside depths of standard drawer boxes are in drawer sizes, depths and internal capacity.

What changes the record figures: gatefolds, boxes, cabinets and turntables#

Gatefolds and box sets. A gatefold is the same 12.375 in square; only the count per foot falls. Measure a box set before shelving it: one larger than the jacket belongs on a deeper bottom shelf.

Cabinets and consoles. A cabinet with doors needs the 13 in clear behind the door. A console that also holds a receiver or amplifier needs the ventilation and cable space in media console and equipment rack dimensions, and a record alcove beside a chimney breast shares depth with the rest of that wall, as in fireplace and TV wall layouts. A unit used as a turntable stand is sized to the deck's footprint and lid, not to the records.

Small rooms. A row of KALLAX-style cubes takes 15 in (39 cm) of floor depth, weighed against other storage in storage dimensions for small spaces.

Where these figures stop applying#

78s and archives. The Library of Congress average covers grooved discs in general, shellac 78s included, which this page does not otherwise address. Everything here is for a home collection that is played; an archive follows the Library of Congress guidance in full.

Books on the same wall. A bookcase can carry records on one shelf and books on the rest, but its spans have to be set for the records. A study wall that mixes the two is planned in bookshelf and shelving dimensions, and the wider principles of depth, span and pitch on the storage and shelving hub.

Terms such as pitch and clear height are defined in the glossary, the reference works behind the site's figures are listed under standards and codes, and the unit converter turns any of these into the other system.