Madera Stacking Cabinet - Cost Plus World Market
ConversesBookcases: If You Build/Buy Them, They Will Fill
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1resnovae
I've been using these for about a year and a half now, but I'm new to the group and I don't think anyone's posted them, so thought I'd offer my review:
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3909374
*Before I start, I want to point out that I did not pay list price for my shelving. I got lucky and was able to combine a sale price with semi-annual 25% off Friends & Family coupons... the 25% off furniture sale & 25% off coupon are not too unusual for this store, but the opportunity to combine them was. So when you are comparison shopping, it's good to consider how long you are willing to wait for a deal, and also what else is available in that price range that might meet your needs.
Here's my analysis, based on my needs.
Pro: Not exactly custom, constructed from fine hardwood with dovetailed joints or anything, but once assembled I haven't had any leaning, ricketiness, bending or sagging. 6 of my shelves stacked in a row of 3, 2 cabinets high - and these are deep shelves, so many are holding a double-row of books on each shelf.
Con: Conflicting info on just how much weight these are officially rated to hold (80lbs or 240? I got several different inserts in my boxes, but they weren't consistent and I discovered this too late to match them back up to the shelf they were actually packed with).
Pro: Glass doors look classy and are terrific for protecting books and other items from dust/damage. In addition to my row of 6 along my living room wall, I have 1 more shelf on either side of the fireplace- one holds AV accessories for my TV- the shelves are deep enough to hold my XBox, DVD recorder with no trouble (if you're a heavy gamer, I'd probably put the XBox outside the cabinet for better ventilation). DVR is a tighter fit, but worth it... as long as there's an unobstructed view of the receiver, you don't need to open the glass to use the remote (use the upper shelf, or do what I did - make a platform to raise the DVR above the wood part of the glass door with a cutting board and building blocks).
Con: the glass doors might not be great for homes with small children. A, glass at floor level is probably dangerous. B., the doors themselves don't always fit that well in the openings designed for them. You may have sticky doors that need a bit more clearance carved out from the track, or you may need to "shim" them (I used white glue in the track for this) if they seem shaky. And if your books are in a sunny room, plain glass-fronted doors might not offer the UV protection you need
Pro: These shelves look good in my living room. I mean, really good. Really, really, really good. Really, insanely good.
Con: Manufacturer quality control is nonexistent. World Market has offered out at least 2 styles under the same sku, each with slightly different finishes/assembly methods. Oddly, my purchases included at least 2 different sizes of box for this item as well, and there were at least 2 different assembly instructions with slightly-different construction methods... and yet those shelves turned out to be identical. Meanwhile, the ones marked with different finish colors ("walnut" and "mahogany") were clearly different colors when placed side by side, and had a 1/8 inch difference in the height of cabinets - despite the fact that I was assured at the store that if the sku stayed the same, only the packaging had changed.
Pro: I can't see the differences anymore once the shelves are placed in different parts of the room. I was able to mix and match the two styles in one room with no issues, as long as they weren't side-by-side.
Con: Did I mention the abysmal quality control? 2 of my 8 boxes also had 2 left hand side components instead of one of each, causing problems in the final assembly (I could still assemble the cabinet by flipping one upside down, but the pre-drilled holes for mounting middle shelf would no longer line up properly). And World Market doesn't offer any replacement/return options other than repacking the entire cabinet in it's original packaging and returning it to the store so they can return it, in its entirety, to the manufacturer. (Rather than play rubik's cube/origami with 80 lbs of un-assembled shelving, I sucked it up and drilled new holes. But you'd think the store could've just called the manufacturer to request they re-send the one missing piece).
Pro: Did I mention how good these shelves look? Insanely good. Ridiculously good. Amazingly good. Even my crummiest paperbacks look better under glass. And my B&N "leatherbound" classics look *amazing.* Also, deeper shelves mean double shelf space if you don't mind "doubling-up" larger books behind smaller ones (I have hardbound books in the back, paperbacks in front). If you prefer to have all of the spines fully visible, you can use that space in front for other collectibles, or photos.
All in all, I found these shelves to be very durable, with a great capacity for stuff and major practical value re: dust prevention in a home shared with several very furry animals. But the joints are merely dowelled- even set with carpenter's glue, I'm not sure how well they'd hold up during a move.
I was also happy with the price I paid, and I'm thrilled with how they look.
For me, it was well worth the aggravation of tracking them down and working through the quality control problems during the assembly process. I probably wouldn't feel the same way if I had paid the full list price. After all, I paid around $1000 for a wall of shelving (6 cabinets) on one end of my living room... I know I can't find a rack of built ins for that price.
(But had I faced the prospect of paying $1800, it might have been worth my while to start looking for a set of surplus built-ins. Another option I'd considered was used TV armoires... a lot of hotels are getting rid of these because they are converting to wall-mounted TVs, and I think they'd be fantastic to mount shelving in).
Finally, it may help to know that these replaced an arrangement of standard & bracket shelving mounted into hardwood studs along the same wall. Which was also very sturdy and which was also very happy with... except I live in a 65 year old ranch, so, nothing was ever quite *square.* I got tired of my shelves looking slightly off-kilter, through no fault of their own... and then there's the dust issue. Overall, these cabinets cost more - but they definitely look more polished and offer better protection for my books/stuff.
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3909374
*Before I start, I want to point out that I did not pay list price for my shelving. I got lucky and was able to combine a sale price with semi-annual 25% off Friends & Family coupons... the 25% off furniture sale & 25% off coupon are not too unusual for this store, but the opportunity to combine them was. So when you are comparison shopping, it's good to consider how long you are willing to wait for a deal, and also what else is available in that price range that might meet your needs.
Here's my analysis, based on my needs.
Pro: Not exactly custom, constructed from fine hardwood with dovetailed joints or anything, but once assembled I haven't had any leaning, ricketiness, bending or sagging. 6 of my shelves stacked in a row of 3, 2 cabinets high - and these are deep shelves, so many are holding a double-row of books on each shelf.
Con: Conflicting info on just how much weight these are officially rated to hold (80lbs or 240? I got several different inserts in my boxes, but they weren't consistent and I discovered this too late to match them back up to the shelf they were actually packed with).
Pro: Glass doors look classy and are terrific for protecting books and other items from dust/damage. In addition to my row of 6 along my living room wall, I have 1 more shelf on either side of the fireplace- one holds AV accessories for my TV- the shelves are deep enough to hold my XBox, DVD recorder with no trouble (if you're a heavy gamer, I'd probably put the XBox outside the cabinet for better ventilation). DVR is a tighter fit, but worth it... as long as there's an unobstructed view of the receiver, you don't need to open the glass to use the remote (use the upper shelf, or do what I did - make a platform to raise the DVR above the wood part of the glass door with a cutting board and building blocks).
Con: the glass doors might not be great for homes with small children. A, glass at floor level is probably dangerous. B., the doors themselves don't always fit that well in the openings designed for them. You may have sticky doors that need a bit more clearance carved out from the track, or you may need to "shim" them (I used white glue in the track for this) if they seem shaky. And if your books are in a sunny room, plain glass-fronted doors might not offer the UV protection you need
Pro: These shelves look good in my living room. I mean, really good. Really, really, really good. Really, insanely good.
Con: Manufacturer quality control is nonexistent. World Market has offered out at least 2 styles under the same sku, each with slightly different finishes/assembly methods. Oddly, my purchases included at least 2 different sizes of box for this item as well, and there were at least 2 different assembly instructions with slightly-different construction methods... and yet those shelves turned out to be identical. Meanwhile, the ones marked with different finish colors ("walnut" and "mahogany") were clearly different colors when placed side by side, and had a 1/8 inch difference in the height of cabinets - despite the fact that I was assured at the store that if the sku stayed the same, only the packaging had changed.
Pro: I can't see the differences anymore once the shelves are placed in different parts of the room. I was able to mix and match the two styles in one room with no issues, as long as they weren't side-by-side.
Con: Did I mention the abysmal quality control? 2 of my 8 boxes also had 2 left hand side components instead of one of each, causing problems in the final assembly (I could still assemble the cabinet by flipping one upside down, but the pre-drilled holes for mounting middle shelf would no longer line up properly). And World Market doesn't offer any replacement/return options other than repacking the entire cabinet in it's original packaging and returning it to the store so they can return it, in its entirety, to the manufacturer. (Rather than play rubik's cube/origami with 80 lbs of un-assembled shelving, I sucked it up and drilled new holes. But you'd think the store could've just called the manufacturer to request they re-send the one missing piece).
Pro: Did I mention how good these shelves look? Insanely good. Ridiculously good. Amazingly good. Even my crummiest paperbacks look better under glass. And my B&N "leatherbound" classics look *amazing.* Also, deeper shelves mean double shelf space if you don't mind "doubling-up" larger books behind smaller ones (I have hardbound books in the back, paperbacks in front). If you prefer to have all of the spines fully visible, you can use that space in front for other collectibles, or photos.
All in all, I found these shelves to be very durable, with a great capacity for stuff and major practical value re: dust prevention in a home shared with several very furry animals. But the joints are merely dowelled- even set with carpenter's glue, I'm not sure how well they'd hold up during a move.
I was also happy with the price I paid, and I'm thrilled with how they look.
For me, it was well worth the aggravation of tracking them down and working through the quality control problems during the assembly process. I probably wouldn't feel the same way if I had paid the full list price. After all, I paid around $1000 for a wall of shelving (6 cabinets) on one end of my living room... I know I can't find a rack of built ins for that price.
(But had I faced the prospect of paying $1800, it might have been worth my while to start looking for a set of surplus built-ins. Another option I'd considered was used TV armoires... a lot of hotels are getting rid of these because they are converting to wall-mounted TVs, and I think they'd be fantastic to mount shelving in).
Finally, it may help to know that these replaced an arrangement of standard & bracket shelving mounted into hardwood studs along the same wall. Which was also very sturdy and which was also very happy with... except I live in a 65 year old ranch, so, nothing was ever quite *square.* I got tired of my shelves looking slightly off-kilter, through no fault of their own... and then there's the dust issue. Overall, these cabinets cost more - but they definitely look more polished and offer better protection for my books/stuff.
2yolana
thanks for the review and welcome to the group. If you have a photo you should post it, I'd love to see these in action, so to speak.
3resnovae
This one's a bit blurry, but you can see them behind the sofa. I have better shots, but, no time to dig through my poorly-organized photo folder before work!:
5resnovae
>4 yolana: Yup. I have 2 dogs that shed heavily 2x per year... it's same reason I have wood floors, leather (ish) furniture and satin drapes in there. And put my clothes in garment bags after I wash them.
