ISS there another choice? Yes there is. We have used Elfa Shelving (inexpensive and beautiful) from the Container Store time and time again, and once installed Vitsoe Shelving (expensive and beautiful), but we have yet to find a great shelving solution that fills a mid range price point. Luckily we recieved this tip from Adam yesterday, who wrote in recommending ISS Designs, saying he had bought it and set it up himself, and that you could buy it online. All of this is true.
ISS Designs, or Infinite Storage Solutions, is located in Richard Nixon's old hometown of San Clemente, California, and they offer very stylish, minimal and modern system shelving that can be configured in any number of ways, from housing a large library of books to a small shelving and desk work area. Like Elfa, Vitsoe and Rakks, there system is based on standards and brackets that easily lock into place and can be mounted at any height. Shelving can either be mounted behind compression pole standards or in front of wall mounted standards.
We have contacted them to see where their dealers are in NYC, but we would trust ordering online. This is pretty straightforward stuff. Prices look good, and right now they are having a sale on some of their predesigned solutions. For example the arrangement at right is $621 instead of $828. (Thanks, Adam!) MGR
Two other good-looking compression pole shelving designs: Pendiente from Julian Sander Objekte, available through [link]http://www.thisisauto.com[/link], and Pogo from [link]http://www.urbanworkshop.us.[/link]
My challenge is finding a system that will allow shelves of 18'' depth. So far, it seems like Rakks and Vitsoe will both work, but I've been afraid to ask how much they cost...
If you want something similar and don't insist on the sleek look of metal, you might also try building your own shelves out of wood, which is what I did.
Instead of compression poles, I used 2x2 poles, cut to fit my 8' ceilings. I tightened them in between my floor and ceiling using adjustable glide levellers.
I had the folks at Wood-o-Rama (where I got all the lumber, standards, and brackets) cut a groove on one side of each pole into which I fit and screwed your basic 1-slot standards.
The result is perfect for a rental apartment and won't break the bank: adjustable shelving for my office, with no drilling into the wall, floor, or ceiling. I made a set of 6' by 12" shelves for a total of $250.
See them at http://www.johnmccrory.com/i/new_shelves_in_office.jpg
John McCrory: those look great!
If you have a moment, could you explain how the glide levellers work? I'd like to undertake a similar project, but mounting via compression mystifies me.
And at $250, you could regain that "sleek look of metal" by silver-leafing the whole thing! Nice job. I look forward to the glide leveller tutorial too, and I wonder if using heavy duty shelf brackets would allow for the poles to be mounted on the sides of the shelves rather than on the front.
About those adjustable glide levellers: I didn't know what they were called until recently, either!
They are the round metal or plastic or rubber "feet" that you sometimes find on the bottom of cafe table legs; they screw up or down to keep the table level.
Here's an example from Rockler Woodworking :
http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=385&sid=AFC00
You can get them at most hardware stores in sets of 4 for about 3 bucks. I got metal ones at the wonderful Grand Metro Hardware on 94th and Broadway. They come with plastic sleeves that fit into a 3/8" hole.
To prevent the metal from making a mark on my ceilings, I covered the metal surface with a small circle of felt backed by adhesive -- the cheap felt that you put on the bottom of furniture legs to protect wood floors.
For my shelves, I drilled a short 1-inch deep hole in the top end of each pole using a 3/8-inch drill bit. I then tapped in the plastic sleeves. Then I screwed in the levellers. When it was time to position the poles for my shelves, I just put each pole in place, then "unscrewed" the levellers until the pole was nice and tight between floor and ceiling. Once I put stuff on the shelves, I tightened them a bit more, since the weight bent the poles ever so slightly.
I hope that clarifies what I was talking about! Sorry for the confusion.
Too much to read, but got the gist. Great creation!!!!
tHE SHLEVES U MADE LOOK GREAT. IF IT'S NOT TO MUCH TROUBLE, COULD YOU POST A CLOSE UP PIC OF WHERE THE SHELF BRACKETS ARE CONNECTED TO THE POLES VIA THE 1 " STANDARDS. THANKS. GOOD JOB!!
This website is personal, physically and mentally. It is deep and inspiring to be a better person. You guys are my reason for living. I love it. LOVE IT. Thanks for being there.
x0 hunn!
I emailed ISS Designs with detailed measurements, pictures of my current closet (so you can see how much/what size stuff I need to store) and specific requests (number of drawers, etc.) to get some design assistance. I hadn't heard back for a week, so I resent the email to their sales email address (instead of the info email address). I got an email back (I think both addresses go to the same account) that explained that he'd been on vacation, but would get to my email soon. I didn't hear anything for about another week, and so I called on a friday. The guy seemed to know who I was, but clearly was reading my email in detail for the first time. We spent almost a half hour on the phone going over what I needed, and he said he'd get me a quote that monday. It's been almost a month now, and no quote. In the mean time I've had time to purchase and install a more conventional closet system (Easy Track - typical boring melamine) - curious to see if I ever actually get a quote.
John McCrory, you are wonderful. Many thanks!
AT, you are wonderful, too.
One warning about the ISS Designs 2-bay "complete" system that is currently on sale. It is not quite complete as they omit shelf-connectors, which you need for the system. Other than that the shelves seem nice and are tool-free assembly, although you will also need a heavy-duty steel clipper of some sort to cut the metal straps the shelves are wrapped in also.
This is great!!! I've been looking for a way to circumvent rakks, iss, etc. because of the expense. I have 13 foot ceilings So here's my plan: I am going to use 2 X 4's (with the 2 in surface facing out toward the room). I am going to use the shelf brackets on the inside, the 4 in surface facing in so the shelf floats in the middle, like pessoa suggested. Thank you John for coming up with this idea. Ps. I think I am going to stain the 2 x 4 with a dark black color and the shelves a walnuty color for a two tone mid century look.
Any suggestions/ comments. I am a total novice and concerned about a unit this high bowing out.
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Sounds like something must have changed at ISS Designs since 2004. We were very careful to design our wall system based on items ISS Designs already had in their online gallery. We submitted a detailed drawing with colors, sizes, and quantities of items clearly defined. The first parts that arrived were the poles that hold up the system. They sent silver poles instead of the black poles we had specified. We picked the black poles based on their online gallery. They said a customer had customized those poles and that for "additional money" they could have the poles powder coated for us. We decided to work with the silver poles to avoid delays. Also some screws were missing. After some phone calls customer service said they would send the missing parts before the cabinets and shelves arrived (they sent us the wrong screws but we couldn't tell until we tried to build the system). When the cabinets and shelves did arrive nearly everything was damaged from poor packaging and we rejected the shipment. When a new system arrived a few weeks later it was packed very well, but I noticed that the orange door faces were darker than we had specified and they had a different orange (the approved color) on the sides. Also, the shipment was missing some critical hardware that delayed assembly of the system for 2 weeks. ISS Designs made new doors with the approved colors, and sent us the missing hardware so we could finish the assembly. This is when we found that the drawer face for the center of the floating desk didn't fit. I called 3 times and sent customer service 7 emails and was finally able to get this resolved. I was a bit frustrated with all the issues we encountered throughout the process that I asked for a price discount to compensate for the 3 months of hassles. They offered me some bookends. I emailed and asked to speak with customer service again. They have never returned my calls. I asked to have a talk with the CEO of ISS Designs about my issues. They refused to give me the CEO's name and said âhe was out of town.â My only options are to report them to the better business bureau and post so others won't have to endure the same outcome. Weâre still waiting for a call back.
Photos can be found on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21678692@N00/2753734555/in/set-72157606676720619/
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