I first encountered Industrial Post Shelving (IPS) when I worked for CompUSA. We had tall racks on wheels that we used to stock shelves on the floor. We call them bakers's racks. They were great for moving un-palletized merchandise around the store.
I started using IPS extensively in my apartment about 6 years ago. I love the stuff. It's durable, flexible, and adaptable. I can create the exact set up I need to fit in the space I have.
And it just looks cool (though many people seem to disagree).
Naturally, it has an industrial look, but it's not overbearing in that respect. It has a nice, modern look to it. The simple lines and efficient design appeal to my techie nature.
It's not as cheap and O'Sullivan or Bush furniture from Office Depot, or whatever Ikea is selling, but it does last a lot longer.
I started my my entertainment system. Next, I added racks for my plants. Then I used it build my office shelves and desk. When I moved down to my new apartment, I pulled it all apart, and have been busy rebuilding the components into new designs to accommodate my new space.
It's really nothing more than a collection of posts and shelves in different sizes and shapes. You get little plastic sleeves that you slip over a post, at whatever height you want, then you slip a shelf over it. The snug fit holds and you don't even need any tools.
You can attach as many shelves as you want. The simplicity of assembly, and range of sizes make it a great system to build the system you need.
This time I did the set up, I decided to add a few extra pieces to give the units more stability, and to make it easier to change the shelf configuration. The above picture is a close up of two shelving units.
When building it, I could have eliminated one of those posts, and attached the shelves on the left and right to the same post at different heights. That's the way I've done it in the past, but the racks aren't as stable that way. Plus, if I want to reconfigure everything, I have to completely dismantle the system and rebuild. That's too much trouble.
So now, I build each vertical section independently and then use couplers to tie them together.
I still have a couple more plant shelves to build in my new apartment. After that, I may have a few spares left over from the move. I'll have to figure out how to make those useful.
And that's the beauty of the system. The spare parts aren't leftovers. They're just the start of a new system.
4 comments:
I like 'em, too. There are a bunch of other add-ons these days, like wood tops (nice for desks) or little sliding doors (w00t entertainment centers). Also canvas covers to go around the sides.
These look pretty cool. The storage on these must be nice!
I'm using the wood top accessory for my desk. It works well. The only problem with it is that it is so wide, the desk exists independently of the other components.
I haven't seen the sliding doors yet. I'll have to keep an eye open for them.
The storage and work space on them is pretty cool. I even used zip cord to tie my routers and other net work equipment the bottom of one of the shelves to make more space.
nice
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