I'm pretty sure not all of those are Elfa. In fact, I'd encourage anyone thinking about using Elfa to just go to their hardware store and buy the components separately and pick out a wood / stain they like for the shelves. It's much cheaper and often of better quality.

i'm actually putting together an elfa closet right now! okay, well, right now i'm taking a break on AT and eating salsa. but yeah, ELFA!

charmac, you'd be surprised. i did a ton of price checking and comparison shopping. regular ole standards and brackets at the hardware store are funny - the brackets are $1 cheaper, but the shelves are $2 more - add to that a 30% off coupon for the container store?? For reals. plus, closetmaid and rubbermaid totally suck. elfa is way sturdier with much better configurations and accessories.

I'm currently making over my CLOSET OF DOOM that houses my computer peripherals (printer and router, etc)...we even put an outlet in the closet now! it's gonna be RAD!

i heart elfa.

I checked both out 8 months ago when we moved to a new place. I found the hardware store to be the cheaper and sturdier (and more flexible) option. But then, I made my own shelves and two workstations rather than buying the pre-made shelves.

Either way, just look into both options to which is best.

I'll post up a link to the Elfa TV stand we just set up last weekend (used our sale extension coupon). It works perfect to house our 37"LCD, Fios DVR, and my xbox360.

I'd recommend Elfa over piecemealing a system from the hardware store any day.

We also did two closets. Price wise, we came in right around $500 for everything...two closets and the TV stand.

I do say Elfa is the better deal when you get the 30% sale. I think it happens twice/year. The first is the actual Elfa brand sale at the beginning of the year, and then they have a shelving sale mid year.

If you are looking for something modular that is going to be highly visible, RAKKS are better aesthetically and not really all that much more expensive - www.rakks.com. You also get more interesting options for how the poles mount - some with better support if you need to hold up heavier loads.

We've used ELFA systems inside closets, and RAKKS with custom shelves (simply - ceder from a lumber yard that we cut with a circular saw) for a highly visible home office/modular shelving system. The ELFA stuff kind of has a cheap feel to it, which can be masked in photos but not so much in person...

hmmm....don't think I've ever heard anyone characterize Elfa as having a "cheap feel" or appearance... this is truly a first.

Well the Elfa shelves are just MDF or honeycomb cardboard covered with melamine veneer. I'll take stained solid wood any day.

yeah, i don't think elfa feels cheap at all.

closetmaid, now that feels cheap! i'm so glad i didn't go down that road. i was also eyeing easyclosets.com, but that melamine/laminate crap is just that...crap!

ahh, the classic solid wood debate. Solid surface isn't even their primary offering so this isn't even a debate worth having at this point. Elfa shelving systems are top notch.

So, even though every photo in the above post includes shelving, and we are talking about workstations and entertainment centers here on this blog about electronics, my point is moot because Elfa sells a lot of wire racks for closets. I see.

Also, way to just repeat your assertion there without adding anything to support it.

I honestly don't care either way. You like your Elfa. I like my alternative. My original and follow-up posts were simply saying to check out both options before going with the default (elfa). If it's not a debate worth having, why are you debating it?

I covet the free-standing Elfa! I just wish they offered cabinets in addition to shelves.

Elfa exists because taking the route of buying individual components from a hardware store, determining what you need and how you want to put it together, and then obtaining and cutting planks of solid wood(or even having them cut for you) to finish and stain is way more time consuming and costly overall to most people that simply want a sturdy, attractive, virtually infinitely configurable and functional shelving solution that is not intimidating to configure and install.

That's why I say it's really a non-debate.

It is misleading oversimplify Elfa as simply a shelf and that you can save some money by shopping around for parts and components at the hardware store.

You can not walk into the average hardware store with dimensions of your space and expect them to: enter your dimensions, develop a scale drawing of your space, show you multiple configurations and options for your space, assist you with a decision AND then cut and compile all of your components for you while you wait. They walk out with all of your parts, all the screws and bolts you need AND very well written AND drawn instructions on how to install everything.

point 1: That's like saying restaurants exist because people don't want to make their own dinner. Both exist. Both are feasible options. Choose the best one for you.

point 2: Saying it's a non-debate does not make it a non-debate.

point 3: True, you can't walk into most hardware stores and expect them to design a shelving system for you or to give you instructions for installing. But, it's a freaking shelving system. We're not talking about installing a furnace here. If you're even slightly the diy type, I think you can handle it. If not, look at the other systems (of which Elfa is but one of many).

And that's it for me. I've wasted enough time arguing on the internets today.

Well, cheap as in the hardware doesn't have a strikingly nice architectural form and finish as you would get with milled/powder coated aluminum. The ELFA stuff is certainly nice, and very easy to deal with, but if you A/B it to a RAKKS system the RAKKS has more of an architectural/retail display quality to it. RAKKS shelf posts are solid aluminum slabs vs. thin hollow core, etc. Also, you are not limited to fixed mounting positions along the rails, so the rails don't quite so much resemble cheaper garage/closet standards with 'dashed line' mountings on them.

Not saying ELFA is bad... just saying if you want something that looks a lot nicer, works a lot better but requires a little more budget and time, look at RAKKS. Especially if you are looking for an alternative to something much nicer like vitsoe.

And subjectively both systems have crappy veneered wood shelf offerings. RAKKS has a very nice aluminum shelf if you are into aluminum, but for wood you'd be better off with something custom if you care much...

this is a debate! people are actually arguing about elfa!

i personally chose, and really like, the platinum ventilated shelving - all of which we've been cutting down ourselves with a jig saw, easy peasy. and after installing four closets in the last few weeks, i can say that it feels like good sturdy steel shelving, looks great, and was so easily accesible for me. i planned it all on the fly, really, ordered it online, and picked it up the next day. home depot is a facking nuthouse, lowes equally sucks, what else is there? for reals.

Maybe I'm chiming in a bit too late, but charmac has valid points. Just about any hardware store offers bracket shelving. If that's all you want then Home Depot is just fine. BUT Container Store will easily sell you base components so you can DIY (like if you wanted to use your own wood for shelves). Maybe I'm lazy, but I don't think I have time to drill and treat a new piece of wood every time I want to add a new shelf. But I'm also too cheap to spend $40 on a dedicated monitor shelf.

The one thing you can't get easily is the Elfa freestanding material i.e. the feet, the uprights which are sturdier than the standard wall-mounted, the stabilizers, etc. I've searched and ultimately concluded these cannot be found at any ol' hardware store. But please correct me if you've found a better alternative that doesn't put holes in my rental's cement walls.

Plus, the only one of these that doesn't immediately look like an Elfa is Peter's office, but mainly because the wood looks black and white.

Just want to know if the Easy Hang Standards with the Top Track from Elfa can hold alot of weight. My husband insists that it will not hold 75 lbs per linear square foot as customer service told me. He says that you have to have more screws and hardware down each vertical standard to hold anything of weight or it will all come crashing down on me. I just want some shelves and a desk for my craft room, not to store bricks.