Alternatives to Expedit shelves and bins (toy storage)

[american_mama]

A lot of people here expressed interest in storing toys on the
cubical Expedit shelves from IKEA, but don’t have IKEA stores nearby
or want other alternatives. I'll first list alternative shelves and
then, in a second post,list alternatives bins.

SHELVES
The Closetmaid CUBEical shelves at Target and Lowe’s are readily
available, come in white and natural, and are often on sale for
about $40, see http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=163236-77268-864400&lpage=none.
Canvas bins are $5-$7 each. Target has one unit that is rectangular
shaped, 2 cubes by 4 cubes in size. The size of the cubes is much
smaller (about 11 inches square) compared to Expedit (which is 13 x
13 x 15). Closetmaid shelves would be too small for some toys, but
Expedit wastes space (especially in height) for many toys. I prefer
the Expedit shelves, but now that I am using them, I think
Closetmaid would have worked much better than I thought.

From Sauder, here's an option with 9 cubes for $99, medium brown color, and similar dimensions as Expedit, see
www.afo.com/401219-Storage-Organizer.html?Vid=B5DC32975055 .
AFO.com is their distributor. They frequently have 10% off or free
shipping deals (or did I dream that?). Also, if you request a
catalog from afo.com, it will come with a coupon for half off
shipping.

There are several manufacturers of Scandinavian style furniture that
make cubical shelves similar to Expedit. You can call a modern or
Scandinavian furniture store in your area, and ask if they carry
products or can order from the manufacturers:

* Scanbirk (products from Frame line, 600 series, Viiwa line, Savannah, or Create It line.)
* EQ3 (B2C line)
* Club 8 (Occa line, Basic 2 line, Indivi 2 line).

I checked prices on a few and they were often $200 or $300 for a
unit of 16 to 25 cubes except for the Club 8, Occa line (which was
over $800). Shipping would add to the cost and delivery time might
be significant. These prices are a little higher than the larger Exedit shelves, which run around $129-$179 for 16 or 25 cubes.

Costco has a white girly 3 shelf bookcase by Café Kids, I think cost
$125-$150ish in the store. It comes with 6 pastel wooden bins.
Online, it comes in a nice gender neutral version, but costs $284
inc. shipping. The URL is crazy long, so if it goofs up, search the
costo website for "activity bookshelf" to find both colors.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Productgroup.aspx?Prodid=11174963&search=toy%20storage&ecat=BC|93&Mo=32&cm_re=1-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&Sp=S&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&N=4001713&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=All&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=toy%20storage&Ntt=toy%20storage&No=6&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

[american_mama]

ETA photos

In terms of finding bins, I have been looking high and low and found very few options. Some are outined in this thread:
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=12&topic_id=57906&mesg_id=57906&listing_type=search.
I also list some at the end of this thread.

My favorite are the white plastic bins from Sterilite, which cost $2.50 and $4.50 at Walmart (see items 1626 and 1628 at www.sterilite.com/Category.html?Section=Storage&ProductCategory=141#.)

But, I didn't want white, so I did a test of painting one with Krylon Fusion spray paint for plastic. The results are ok; I'll attach a photo later. On the down side, it’s hard to avoid the paint dripping and you can scratch the paint with something sharp like a knife. It scratches more easily the first few days after painting, then hardens. On the plus side, the paint is super easy to use and my technique improved as I worked. A thin coat (thin enough to still slightly see the white plastic) followed 5 minutes later by a thin second coat worked pretty well at reducing drips.

Here are some tips for using the Krylon: wear gloves, paint the interior as well as exterior of the bin, work outside on a non-windy day, and, if you want, you can pop the gray plastic handle on the Sterile basket off, paint under it, then re-attach the handle.

Krylon Fusion spraypaint is available at Walmart, Michael's, etc. in primary colors for about $4 a can. For many more decor colors like honeydew green, buttercream yellow, hyacinth light blue, etc. , you can order online for a higher price or start calling the retailers listed on the Krylon website. I know www.misterart.com and www.acehardware.com carry it. I found good color renditions at http://www.utilitysafeguard.com/Krylon-Paint/Fusion-Spray-Paint

I think I will also try painting the IKEA plastic bins with the Krylon paint and see if I like that.

If, after all this, you still don't want the Sterilite bins, I also found some wicker bins at World Market that might fit, some nice canvas bins at www.organize-everything.com/greentote.html
and resin wicker ones at
http://www.amazon.com/Collapsible-Canvas-Storage-Box-Handles/dp/B000GPRP3O/sr=1-27/qid=1166078161/ref=sr_1_27/104-9639565-8132741?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden.
The resin wicker ones are also available in different colors and prices at www.organize-everything.com/wistbin.html, www.organizes-it.com and www.dormbuys.com/index.php?action=item&id=751&prevaction=category&previd=8&prevstart=0

ETA: Here are some photos of three different bins. Top: large Sterilite bin, below that large Bed Bath Beyond bin in navy, below that smaller Sterilite bin, below that Closetmaid bin in navy.
The next photo shows the side view with them pushed all the way to the wall, so you see how that fit the space.

Photos 3 shows the same smaller STerilite bin spraypainted with Krylon Fusion paint. Photo 4 shows the worst of the drips right where the flash reflection is. Sorry my compressed photos look so bad.

[Neatfreak]

I went extra low-cost and picked up a set of wire cube shelving from Costco ($23, if I remember correctly), but what I want to rave about are the CUBEical canvas bins that the OP mentioned. What I love is that they fold flat - useful for us, who are moving in a few weeks! There is a nice colour selection as well, and they so heavy that my toddler can't pull one off the shelf when it's full.

[MarisaSF]

Karen- I don't have anything to add, but wanted to thank you for your generosity. It is obvious you took a lot of time to do (and share) this research. Thanks! :)

[american_mama]

Here's what I hope is a better photo of a white plastic Sterilite bin painted with red Krylon Fusion paint. You can see a strip of unpainted white plastic on the inside left, and some of the small scratches I deliberately made with a knife on the outside top left.



http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/37165.jpg

[funda62]

Wow, that turned out really well.
Heather

[ctmom]

Wow!! I appreciate all the time and effort you put into this!

Mary
dd#1 2/01
dd#2 12/03

[ctmom]

Wow!! I appreciate all the time and effort you put into this!

Mary
dd#1 2/01
dd#2 12/03

[kimbe]

The Cubecials that Karen spoke of are on sale at Target this week for $39!

To my surprise there is also 8-cube version.
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B0002I261Q

I loved the idea of the 9-cube one, but figured that DD would pull it over on herself so we decided to try to find something that we wouldn't have to anchor. The 8-cube version is perfect --- we put it horizontal --- perfect height!

Thanks for the idea Karen! You just saved us LOADS of money. We were ready to go have something made for us!