2. analog
  3. 192940-192661

Modular LP record storage suggestions

After a recent move I am sitting in my new home with about 30 book & record boxes sitting in my garage, wanting to come inside. I figure to pare them out once I can get them out and keep perhaps 1/3 of what's out there. That might be about 1,000 albums or so. I've got a 6' long wall unused in a bedroom to place storage. I would want something up to about 6' in height.  That's a lot of weight. In my old home I had steel-and-wire shelving that's inexpensive but inefficient insofar as there's little side support. I also had some of the old popular IKEA units that were efficient and heavy, but their new Kallix units look insubstantial to me. So I've come to the source where many of you surely have faced the same deal.  All the interior bookcases I've found look too shaky for this. Otherwise, garage units (this doesn't have to be pretty!) are supportive enough, although usually too deep (24"). Most I've found also either have non-flat shelf surfaces and/or lack any kind of side support, on the ends or in the middle. The vertical supports between albums are the hardest thing to find. It would be nice if there were some sort of modular shelving, especially if it were narrow, like 3 feet or so, that you could put side by side. I'm open to ideas here, obviously. Having someone come in and build me a bookcase heavy enough for this seems very expensive. Garage type units would be much cheaper and just as good (and easier).  

128x128howardlee
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,886 posts
 

 

@ozzy62: I picked a cube in which all the LP’s were single discs in non-gatefold covers, and counted them. How many LP’s will fit in each EKET cube (and any other storage rack) will of course be determined by how thick your LP packages are, how tightly you pack each cube, and whether or not you have your LP’s in plastic sleeves.

A lot of my LP’s are installed in the double-pocket 4 mil thick sleeves made by the Canadian company Vinyl Storage Solutions (love ’em!). Others are in the 2 mil double pocket sleeves, with the rest in 3 mil and 4 mil thick single pocket sleeves. I don’t leave space in each cube for expansion, and fill each cube just snugly enough to keep the LP’s perfectly vertical, loose enough to make sliding them in and out easy.

The one cube I counted was filled with 65 LP’s, so the 4-cube model will hold 260 LP’s, assuming all of them are single LP’s in non-gatefold covers, installed in plastic sleeves, and packed firm but not tight. Of course LP’s and their covers not housed in plastic sleeves and packed tighter than I do will increase the number that will fit in each cube. And gatefold covers, double LP’s, and other variations may decrease the number that will fit in each cube.

I’ve never counted all my records, and have no plans to do so. My fifteen 4-cube EKET’s recently became completely full, so I will soon need to get a few more, and find a place to put them. (The left wall of my music room is just long enough for the five stacks of EKET’s and a stack of ASC TubeTraps---16" on the bottom, 11" on top. The right wall is filled with six CD racks---two high, three wide, with a storage capacity of 600 CD’s each. They too are completely full---and the same TubeTraps, plus a door.). Either that or stop buying records! I also have a couple cheap 2-cube racks I got off Amazon, in which I store my Laserdiscs. Anybody else still have their’s?!

 

sls883
513 posts
 

I have two of the Ikea 4 x 4 units.  I went to Home Depot and bought some inexpensive 1/8" wood sheet and put a back on them.  They're pretty stable now.  In one of them, I bought the optional drawers (two drawers in one cube). 

billstevenson
398 posts
 

This is what I use and it works very well.

https://www.mapleshadestore.com/modularfurniture.php

 

inagroove
134 posts
 

I also use the IKEA KALLAX shelving units (see my system photos).  

My solution was quit simple: I added a piece of 1/4" ply to the back of the shelf - cut to fit, glued and screwed.  The resulting units were DRAMATICALLY STIFFER than the basic unit.  

I now have simple, solid and very affordable storage for ~ 2400 LPs.

One more 'tweak': I added 2-lengths of inexpensive, black pipe-insulation to the back of each compartment.  This insulation keeps the LPs forward in the box, at just the right place ;-).  It is sold in various diameters, so test to see what you prefer...

I hope this helps!

 

drbond
425 posts
 

I guess I cheaped out on record storage, with the Wal Mart Better Homes and Garden 4 cube set up…or you can go the two cube route, but has worked well for about 4 years:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Better-Homes-Gardens-4-Cube-Storage-Organizer-Solid-Black/2158204766?athcpid=2158204766&athpgid=AthenaItempagesubstitutions&athcgid=null&athznid=oos&athieid=v0&athstid=CS020&athguid=R50zPVNWGO94fjQSve0oBze2b7zYecOynvKy&athancid=null&athena=true

 

More to discover