Orthodoxy began to return to the homes of ordinary inhabitants of the former Soviet Union from the very beginning of perestroika. It has helped many to get through difficult and even hopeless times. But when it entered our home, it largely left open questions that either had no time to ask, or at one time there was nowhere to find the answer.
First of all, according to Orthodox rules, icons should have their own corner, called red, in which a shelf for icons is placed. Just like a church altar, such an angle is oriented to the east. By the way, "corner" is just a name, icons can also be placed on the eastern wall.
Of course, a corner shelf for icons would be ideal. It is more conspicuous and at the same time more secluded, more comfortable for prayers and more harmonious for the general appearance of the apartment (although these are already vain motives). But in modern apartment conditions, it is almost impossible to achieve the ideal. Modern Orthodoxy allows - if the size of housing and the accompanying arrangement of furniture does not provide another opportunity - to use inas a sideboard or closet. A prerequisite - in this case, the shelf for icons should be separate, other items should not be placed on it. In the most unfortunate case, you can use a nightstand, piano, chest of drawers or bookshelf as such.
In no case can a place that is used as a shelf for icons be used to store secular (or even sinful) things - cosmetics, trinkets, fiction, family photos; posters hanging nearby are unacceptable, paintings (even with biblical scenes) and photographs of monks, priests and the righteous are undesirable (the photo still captures momentary moments).
As for how the shelves for the icons should look - it all depends on who lovingly equips his home red corner. It is a good idea to make such shelves yourself - this will be an additional incentive for pious thoughts. At the same time, fantasy can tell you the most unexpected options for icon shelves. Sawing with a jigsaw, burning out, woodcarving - everything can be applied in this case. An ultra-modern design of icons is also possible: let it be glass, metal or stone. Just do not forget that the shelf being created is for icons, so it is worth providing it with Orthodox motifs: domes, floral ornaments, crosses. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting not nice shelves for icons, but something more suitable for a biker or hard rock fan.
By the way, shelvesunder the icons they can be multi-tiered, but then you should talk with the priest in the church about the correct placement of the images - there are rules about this.
We repeat: shelves for icons, corner ones in particular, are still preferable to other ways to keep holy images in the room. It seems that even in the smallest apartment, a true believer will be able to allocate a small place for a home iconostasis. And even if it is not on the canonical eastern wall (the orientation of our houses to the cardinal points is quite bizarre), the church allows this. If only faith was sincere.
