Book Shelf Recommendations?

[GlassJaw]

To my mind, if you're not going to invest in something truly substantial then you might as well go the other direction toward the least expensive but decent option.

+1 on this.

After years of dealing (and moving) with heavy, cumbersome, crappy bookshelves that don't match, I'm done with the cheap route.

The ones I linked to above are just so ridiculously good, they are worth the cost to me. The amazing thing about them is that they are SO easy to move and you can create a shelving unit as big or as small as you need. Plus they are expandable.

 

[GlassJaw]

The Container Store makes me all giddy as a school girl in a metrosexual kind of way. .

I know! Container Store is weird like that. And the thing is that after I got home after seeing what they had, I instantly started thinking about what I wanted to buy next and wanted to go back!

 

[Shemeska]

Now when I went about getting shelves for books, RPGs and otherwise, I did so in two rather distinct periods of my life - 1: when I was still a starving grad student, and 2: when I was out of school and had a job and was at the time still single and thus had $.

1: Generic Walmart shelves. They were all under $100 each, but I seriously don't trust them enough to put a full shelf-load of hardbacks on any of them except the very bottom shelves. At this stage they're just full of paperbacks and various hardcover novels, but not heavy RPGs.

2: Provided some money I went for really good bookshelves. Combination of solid wood framing and incredibly thick formed wood shelves. They look snazzy and they can hold up an entire 5 shelves of RPG hardcovers. They weren't cheap, but they're very much worth it if you don't intend to move anytime soon.

3: I have yet to go this route, but I intend to because I'm going to be adding a room onto my house sometime this year - that route is permanent shelving built into a room in the house on one wall. Entertainment / rec / gaming room, and it's going to have solid wood shelving intentionally for the heavier gaming books (Pathfinder hardcovers and nWoD I'm looking at you).

4: Also another idea that I may yet do because I'm running out of shelves at the moment. Used and antique furniture stores. If you're lucky you can find some incredible deals on older, very sturdy and solid bookcases and cabinets at such places if you don't mind taking them as is or doing some refinishing on them. Just got a solid wood liquor cabinet this way.

 

[Oryan77]

Check out the Goodwill stores. I was just at one recently and they had the exact same shelves I have at home for my books, 2 of them in fact (and I have 2 at home).

Of course, when you need them, they won't have any. But after you spend full price for them, you'll find them everywhere at a fraction of the price.

 

[Guillaume]

My Experience with Ikea furniture: It affordable, looks good and does the job, but it won't survive a move intact. And whoa to anyone who needs to get a replacement part or return something to the store. Plan on making an entire day of it...

On the other hand, I have a couple of Ikea shelves. They are at least 15 years old. They have survived 8 moves being assembled and disassembled every time. They are still in use, packed tight with books. One is in my boys room, the other in my bedroom. They are in better shape than our Staples shelves which have half that age and amount of moves.

YMMV.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Instead of recommending the inexpensive, may I suggest going to The Container Store and finding some of their Metro or InterMetro shelving.

Its not inexpensive- this stuff will support hundreds of pounds per shelf, and comes in various customizable sizes. It assembles with a rubber mallet and some patience. You do have to like the "industrial" look of metal shelves, though.

Metro is the commerical line: you'll see it in retail stores, restaurants and body shops. Shop Shelving > Metro® Commercial > Best-Selling Solutions at The Container Store


InterMetro is a bit less sturdy, but is just as adaptable.
The Container Store > Two Column Page

Either is capable of standing up to decades of punishment and will not warp. Plus, you can disassemble it as easily as you put it together, meaning its easy to move or reconfigure.

In addition, I've used their Elfa system to build rolling carts in which I store minis, game pieces, terrain, or even files of PCs or campaign notes.
http://www.containerstore.com/search/result.htm?showDS=true&Ntt=elfa+cart&x=0&y=0

 

[TheYeti1775]

If your budgeting and don't care about looks.

Go get the Saunder put it together yourself. The flipping the shelf every so often to fight sag weight is a definite do it as often as you change the smoke alarm batteries.
Go to yard sales, hunt Craigslist in your area. I've picked up some really nice ones from those before.

If your going for looks and quality, go to the container store or something like that for it.

Or you can build it fully yourself. I've made play tables for my son that way when I was a brokeass all the time. I had the tools and he wanted one of those Thomas the train tables. Took me a day in the garage with the tools and I had fashioned up one that was 10x stronger than a store bought one for about a quarter of the price.

I've been there done that with the 2x4's and the cinderblock funiture before. Too poor to have a bed frame, mattress on the floor poor. Some thick plywood sheets and a bunch of leftover cinderblocks from a couple of different jobsites meant a bed frame and an entertainment center.

For the Desk, check Craigslist. I find offices giving away funiture all the time. I have one of those double pedstal metal desks with the wood top that I picked up for free.

 

[Ahzad]

Milk crates, if you can source them, are the way to go. Stupid durable, modular, stack well, and very portable. Perfectly sized for most RPG books.

if you moved as much as i have, and i just did again you appreciate these little suckers though this time i'll be painting them all in 2 colors so i don't have a mess of colors.

That's one of my milk crate bookshelves of crap, as you can see very sturdy and modular.

Can't recommend a desk for you I pulled my current one off the curb one day over 10 years ago a big IBM 6 ft. office desk made in 1964 according to the tag underneath it. That sucker is monstrous and very, very sturdy. It was only missing one drawer and doesn't lock anymore but it's awesome.

 

[TheYeti1775]

if you moved as much as i have, and i just did again you appreciate these little suckers though this time i'll be painting them all in 2 colors so i don't have a mess of colors.

That's one of my milk crate bookshelves of crap, as you can see very sturdy and modular.

Can't recommend a desk for you I pulled my current one off the curb one day over 10 years ago a big IBM 6 ft. office desk made in 1964 according to the tag underneath it. That sucker is monstrous and very, very sturdy. It was only missing one drawer and doesn't lock anymore but it's awesome.

Yes milkcrates are a great cheap solution as well. I would recommend going to the hardware store and getting a long piece of threaded bar to tie it all in unless you want it full moveable at a moments notice.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Yeah!

Milkcrate Bookcase + Faultline = Crapalanche