Joy and Corey loved their downtown Los Angeles loft, but its small footprint made finding storage space pretty challenging. So they figured out a way to take advantage of their 13' ceilings by going vertical.
From Joy:
The whole project was inspired by the need to get stuff up and off the floor; with limited square footage, every inch counts. Also, I really wanted a way to consolidate all our media elements. Before the shelves, printers were floating around, the record player seemed like an afterthought, books were everywhere, and our TV looked trapped. Also, my crafting supplies were scattered all over the place and difficult to access. Now it's all right in front of me.
The shelves are from ISS Designs and were installed with the help of a contractor. The double desk is a clever Ikea hack made from butcher block countertops and hairpin legs, and finished with a homemade polish of linseed oil and beeswax (sourced from their own urban beehive).
And they're not quite done yet. Next on the agenda is a system to wrangle the visible cords and the addition of a library ladder to easily access the higher shelves (naturally they plan to DIY).
(Images: Joy Osmanski)
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This is my kind of shelving. Great job!
Nice idea, I am all for using vertical space! I have to wonder though, why didn't they go all the way to the walls, and higher up to the ceiling? Seems like a bit of space was left on the table, and that would have given them a more permanent, built-in look.
I'm wondering what they use to reach the books on the uppermost shelf. Or maybe Joy and Corey are really tall. ;-)
I always love it when people organize vertically.
Hide all the electrical chords
"Next on the agenda is a system to wrangle the visible chords..."
Do you people not read the posts and simply look at the photos? #rant
Urban_handyman - most of them just look at the photos and comment. Reading requires more effort than they are willing to exert.
Regarding the length, I'm guessing they used standard-length shelves rather than custom-built shelves. There might not have been enough depth on the side near the door, also. It's a little difficult to judge the depth on that side from the photo :)
Absolutely brilliant and beautiful transformation!
dig the cb2 filing cabinets!
I have a very similar space and dilemma! I might just have to copy this a little... LOVE the Ikea-hack desks and the cb2 file cabinets.
Wonderful! But I have to ask,is it a requirement to have huge gorgeous windows to be featured on here? Seems like nearly every single post has them! Dont get me wrong,I LOVE windows,but it would be imteresting to see a place once in a while with normal ones!LOL!
Beautiful! Re: Ikea hack; are the butcher block countertops from Ikea?
Joy and Corey, You did a great job! The more you live with it, the more you'll fine tune it to fit your needs. Everything looks so much more pulled together. I thank you for sharing ISS Designs. I went to their site and I just kept saying...oh...oh... Thanks.
Thanks so much for the kind comments, folks! The shelves have really transformed the space - people come in and look UP, which is fun. @kathleet.carl - yup! Countertops from IKEA. Just so happened that we could fit two pre-cut tops along the wall. As for the sizing issues, we went with the standard sizes, instead of spending more to customize to the wall. Also, since we don't plan on being in the loft forever, it seemed wise to order the shelves in a more flexible configuration so we can take them with us when we go. Cheers!
Yes, the cords are a little bit distracting, but not nearly as much as the "before" picture. You really demonstrated how a little bit of organization can make a HUGE difference!
Yeah I agree with the above, a little cord camouflage goes a long way, and it's generally pretty cheap.
Looks great. I plan on using Ikea butcher block countertops and legs from hairpinlegs.com to make my dining room table. Do I detect a slight droop in the middle of the desk or is that just a photo angle. Do you feel it is sturdy enough? Just wondering before I make my own table cuz I do love it.
Well, they're shelves. Holding stuff. I guess points should be givien for looking 'real life' and not severely purged and designed to the max. Johncb may have a point that you also have to have great windows above street level w/o ugly miniblinds or a fantastic fireplace in view. Plus, Apple products.
Kaleb, it's a real-human space. Thoughtful living can be not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. I find spaces like this helpful.
I'm looking at the butcher block countertops on IKEA. Can you let me know what we're looking at in that photo above - is it the 25 5/8" depth version or the 39 3/8" version of the countertop? (or did you custom cut the depth of the desk?) Thanks!
I have IKEA countertop material as my desktop. A 73" length and a 93" length abutted in an L shape. I affixed them in the back to the wall studs with a cleat and also added legs. I and others have been leaning on, sitting on, and typing on this gigantic "desk" for seven years with no issues.
Thanks Jukesgrrl, so glad to hear that. My plan will work and I hope it looks great paired with eames style fiberglass chairs. In my head it does.
I have two walls (9' and 16') where I had floor to ceiling shelves put in for books. The next owner of this house can easily add wider shelves to accommodate whatever they want and the initial structure is there. I needed space for books (have a spare bedroom to use as an office and another closet was turned into an office). Love white shelves. No, I'm not tall . . . that's what stepladders are for!!
I think it's a great improvement and a way to have more storage. But personally, I try not to keep stuff that I don't ever use, and if I am going to use it, I don't want to have climb onto my desk to get to it.
Now look, I'm one of those people who has criticism without a solution - I can't think of anything better I would have done for the wall other than stencil or something from wallflowers.com ? No idea.
I've always loved the idea of shelves, but I've been too afraid of doing it poorly. Never thought of hiring a contractor who can actually do this without causing disaster. Great idea!
As simple as cords are, they are maddening to hide well and be easy to change. I'm trying to find someone with a strong enough sewing machine to make a canvas tube with a zipper on the side to run my cords shelf to floor. I envisioned the tube to be wide enough to loosely hang the cords inside it, so it will be easy to remove a particular cord.
May need to go to a sail maker for that.
Mike in Hawaii. Try your local dry cleaner. Mine does random sewing projects for me frequently and is not very expensive (relative to a tailor or others).
cheers!
Love the shelves!!
This is great - I need to do the same thing with my kitchen and bathroom. What I love is the new lap you have on your duplicate desks. Where is that lamp from?
@joyo What about the customized evacuation plan that was near the fire alarm pull? Haha.
The loft looks lovely!
@urban_handyman, my thoughts exactly! The article clearly states "And they're not quite done yet. Next on the agenda is a system to wrangle the visible cords and the addition of a library ladder to easily access the higher shelves." Read before commenting, please. :)
Love it! I think that it'll look even better with a cord wrangler like you mentioned (or simply painting cords white and then optionally using those 3M Command adhesive wall cord hooks to make straight lines), and the library ladder would look super awesome. I was thinking that either the guitar is hung too low on the doorframe (cool placing btw), or that you need one other thing hung on that doorframe, above the guitar... balance it out visually. (unless that's where the ladder will go?) Lastly, I like your elephant at the bottom right.