apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

How about milk crates? You can get a couple and stack them in a corner.

Milk crates rule for LPs. Cheap, easy to move (hide) when necessary. And the perfect size.

Never "stack" LPs though. Un-stack them and store them vertically till you find a solution.

we recently went through this with a fairly large record collection -- we had some ikea shelving and something similar to that to store records, but it was really unattractive and the shelving from ikea in particular was wide and each shelf ended up bowing in the middle under the weight. 55 lbs will honestly not be enough if one fills even that small of a shelf.

we ended up getting a few of these from R&B. pricey, yes, but this was a permanent solution that we intend on keeping forever. plus, one of our beagles had learned to pull things off of the shelves, so we needed a solution with a closed bottom as well to keep her from deciding records were delicious while we were at work. this particular line of shelving will be strong enough, so maybe even a small bookcase would work out, depending on your needs.

I was in the container store yesterday and they have magazine-file looking boxes specifically for records! I was thrilled since records are an issue for me too.

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?searchId=8989090&itemIndex=3&CATID=228&PRODID=10016794

As long as you adjust the height on a bookshelf to accommodate the boxes, you're fine.

milk crates these days are no longer large enough for records, fyi. i have some terrible cheap crate from a back to school sale at target or something from years ago, and it's cracked.

a friend of mine has some wooden crates, though i'm not sure if they're from wine or what. flea markets are probably good to check out for that sort of thing.

Ikea Expedit shelves. Used by literally 99.99% of vinyl nerds in Chicagoland. Inexpensive, (relatively) non-offensive and very sturdy, even when loaded full of 12"s. They currently come in white (choice), black/brown and your typical generic light wood veneer.

Inexpensive enough to buy and modify for the non-lazy. A completely sprayed/lacquered Expedit would be stupid crazy wicked awesome.

I use Cubits from DWR, too. Have more than 200 records stored, and they look perfect.

Another vote for Ikea.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spins_lps/371327181/in/set-72157594503395945/

re record boxes, etc. bags unlimited is pretty reasonable if you're looking for pretty utilitarian boxes. we've gotten both cardboard and a corrugated plastic kind (used during a move from sf to chicago for extra protection) from them and have been pretty happy. they also sell the clear plastic sleeves to protect the covers.

btw, here's our furniture-y solution.

Nattles - great link! For someone serious about their vinyl I think those shelves would make an awesome statement.

Here are some more options:

1. Tony's Woodshop - custom made storage boxes

2. StoreYourMedia.com - real wood LP stands

3. Botlz - one, two, three, and four shelf units

I forgot about these guys:

http://www.musicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=AMD%2D300MAPLE

They come with maple or cherry wood shelves and with either black or silver uprights.

Gothic Cabinet Craft makes old school LP storage shelves with dividers so your records won't tilt and eventually warp. They have a few different sizes and are stackable.

Have you checked out Stacks and Stacks (www.stacksandstacks.com)? I just typed "cube" in the search line, and found a million options for just this sort of thing. I've never bought anything from them, but it looks like they have some great products for good prices.

General consensus at (warning: shameless plug ahead) http://www.recordcollectorsguild.org is that the Expedit shelving is a great way to go. Inexpensive, attractive, expandable, perfect shape, etc. I use a Gorilla Rack for my vinyl, which is even cheaper, but much more utilitarian looking.

How about transferring all of the vinyl onto your computer and sellling the actual records? :) I have finally convinced my husband to do this (but couldn't tell you what program he's using). Hurray!

How about transferring all of the vinyl onto your computer and sellling the actual records?

Heretic!

Nattles, where did you get the furniture you keep your records in?

I'm surprised to hear the Expedit shelves can handle being filled with LPs - do you recommend bolting them to the wall? Unfortunately, our LPs must remain in storage as our cd collection takes precedence. We are using the 40" wide Pax wardrobes, stacked inside with the 6 3/4" high drawers, in case anyone is looking for cd storage ideas.

I have not one but two Expedit units packed to the brim with records. They have been in service for about 5 years now and handle the weight of the records very well. They also survived a move recently. Both were taken apart and reassembled without a hitch. I would recommend bolting them to the wall if you have a slanty floor, however, if you have a level surface, they don't need to be bolted.. in fact, one of mine is actually in the middle of a big room acting as a cool-looking record-filled room divider. Neat. One thing I will say is that if it's not up against a wall there is an issue with records falling out the back and not staying even with the other records. This is not much of an issue when the unit is placed flush up against a wall.

One other small issue is that if you intend to fill the unit up with records from the top down. (i.e. perhaps only use the top 2 or 3 rows for records), then you WILL have an issue with the unit being top-heavy, and I'd then bolt it to the wall.

We use Ikea "Lack" shelves (standing vertical) for our records. They fit just right, with enough space to easily pluck out what one wants. They have been stored this way for several years now, with no bowing or other issues.

We have two 5x5 expedits, some crates, and bookcase full. The expedits have been through two moves and hold up just fine. I've never bothered to bolt them to the wall, they are stable once you fill them up. I'm currently looking into getting the 2x4 expedit and getting rid off all the crates.