apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We used the Elfa system (along with nearly all the other owners at The Gretsch in Williamsburg), and I have to say the system delivers exactly what they promise. It is easy to install, very stable and is can be reconfigured as needed. It has all the advantages of a custom closet and a fraction of the cost, and I think looks loads better than white melamine Califor.... well you know.

we got this last year when it was on sale, but only the hardware. We didn't like the laminate shelving options--they seemed expensive but kind of cheap-looking, too. Plus, we wanted the shelves to overhang the ends and float a bit.

So we had a friend custom-cut and finish a 10' sheet of high-grade birch ply for us, making three loong, one-piece shelves. Don't skimp on the vertical spacing; just ask the salesperson to help you calculate in another vertical bracket, and it should be just fine.

Greg,
Did you glue or fasten a notch onto your birch ply? I could be imagining this (perhaps I'm thinking of another modular shelf system), but don't the Elfa shelves have a notch that protrudes to keep the shelf from sliding?

The Elfa sale is for the top tracks, hardware, shelving, brackets, and closet rods. The drawers and drawer unit pieces are NOT ON SALE. The sale for those will be starting sometime in December and will go all the way through January. I was just at the Container Store in downtown San Francisco yesterday, and this was all explained to me.

Andy, that's some of the worst rumormongering I've ever read. Sounds like complete rubbish.

Hello there, I'm the Web Art Director at The Container Store and I have a couple of corrections on the elfa SALE at The Container Store going on right now. The elfa Drawer Solutions are ABSOLUTELY on SALE. everything elfa is actually 30% OFF not 25%.
If you sign up for emails at our home page you'll hear about this and other special events from the horse's mouth, shall we say...

Thanks for your time.

There's really strong rumors out there suggesting that the Container Store is about to go into bankruptcy. I've heard that they have already stopped wholesaling elfa to independent companies - maybe they could'nt handle the competition - because they've been losing money hand over foot. Hopefully they won't take elfa down with them and will sell it back to the swedes. It's a great product that I've used a few times, and it would be a real shame if it was lost due to the Container Store's failures.

i registered just to respond to andrew's comments. I do not know about corporate management, but I have been consistently impressed by the container store at a retail level. My wife and I have spent quite a bit there, mostly on the shelving. I would be very disappointed to see them nosedive, but also quite surprised given what appears to be very high morale, good management at the stores, and great product.