Apartment Therapy San Francisco

You know how when you learn a new word you suddenly start to hear it all the time? And you wonder if this is a some strange metaphysical prank or just a function of your new awareness? Such it is with reader questions: the minute we read them we start coming across solutions everywhere we look, and this continues to happen even after we've done and posted the question.

Today we happened upon a clever solution to saintmim's quest for a translucent room divider system that also provides storage, posted last week.

Sky-rail is the brainchild of Canadian inventor Paul LaMarche. The brilliant part of his deceptively simple transparent plastic storage drawer system is that the bins fit together in such a way that weight is transferred to the edges without the use of a separate frame, so they slide out (and can stay out) without destabilizing the system. (Think of a wall of lego bricks, but the bricks are drawers and the connectors are rails and grooves.) The drawers come in different sizes and all work together, so you can organize items of different sizes.

Sky-Rail could work as a room divider, and would be most effective if some mind was paid to the pattern of light and color created by the items in the drawers. But this system's strength is the easy-access storage it provides, and it would also work beautifully inside a closet, along a hallway, or in a studio or office.

Until recently Sky-Rail was marketed primarily through infomercials, and their website and online store frankly suck. In fact, Canadian blogger Meg Ruffman, (aka "toolgirl") does a much better job of explaining the system, so if you're intrigued, start with her write-up for the Calgary Sun.

Sky-Rila is available here.