Can't see them.

I'm sorry! Here's the shelves.

Yes I would also rip them out

Looks like you keep office supplies there. Do you need them for work?

Luckily we don't need them, but we were just keeping them in case any ideas popped up. we are getting new floors soon, so we will have to remove them to switch the flooring underneath. We will probably just get rid of them. Thank you everyone!

Rip them out and but in a stair railing vs a half wall around the stairs. Will lighten the room.

Out!

OUT

Not worth salvaging. They add clutter. Replace with railing.

Definitely take them out.

laminate and cheap plywood and pine . remove them! it will look better.

Don’t rip them out. You can use them to store your tools. Put you drills and saws on one shelf. Put your wrenches and hammers on another shelf. And your Flashlights and shop rags on the other. Never waste anything is my motto!

Sayonara. I doubt you need office supplies in the living room. Get the carpet cleaned when you do that.

I would rip them out but could you repurpose in a garage? And I agree with adding a railing for the stairs.

I would keep them and just put books in them -- not stage just books like a library -- but then I adore books and have a large collection!

I was thinking of making it a bookshelf, but we have one in another room! Depending on how they're attached to the wall, we will try to repurpose them in the garage or basement laundry room! These are all wonderful ideas. As far as the floor- it was a mess when we moved in (we attempted to clean it numerous times) and we are not going to get it professionally cleaned because we are getting hard wood within the next month or so!

The shelves appear to be sitting on the carpet so there isn't any reason to wait to remove them.

I would carefully disassemble them, remove the nails & salvage the wood. I don't think they are going to remove as 'units'...look to have been built in place. At least, the narrow shelved part will need to come out in pieces. The longer, double unit may come out whole.

That lumber will be useful for any number of things. Not the greatest quality in some of the boards because of the large knots but worth saving to use for shelving in the garage, basement, closets, storage shed, etc.

Here's an update of the shelves! The top portion is one piece so we will have to cut that. A lot of the shelving was salvageable so that will be used for other projects. Thank you all for the suggestions! Will keep updates as big changes happen to the wall.

I would definitely take them out.

finished project!