The drawback of this is the reduced usable shelf room because of the deeper ‘joist’ that supports the shelf.
It protects the surrounding areas about the faucet and the bowl from splashed water to keep the areas clean and dry, while providing extra shelf room for other articles needed.
There is plenty of shelf room.
My Marilyn books have their own shelf and even though I could desperately use that shelf room for other books as I'm out of room anywhere else, I refuse to compromise the look of it.
There were some great ‘vintage’ books available but alas, I do not have enough shelf room for them.
They only have so much shelf room, and they need to know what they place on the shelf is going to make it to the register (preferably at full price.)
Those writing in, for instance, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Gujurati, Bengali, or Kannada have a much tougher time obtaining recognition and shelf room in British bookshops.