Hey guys, I know there are some vinyl collectors here. Someone I work with is married to a guy who has a pretty big record collection, but he doesn't have it displayed or anything. I guess they're looking to do something with it with a spare room in the house. I don't collect records myself, so I don't even know where to begin. how do you guys display yours? any good shops for things that might be useful? anything will help really. and pics would be especially good if you have them. That way my co worker can take a look. that might inspire some ideas. thanks, -g
You're best bet would be to get down to a DIY shop and just make shelves to line the walls. One friend of mine just went ceiling to floor with his, another guy I knew had so many that he actually ended up raising the floor in his record room by 14 inches so he could store more in the floor. But yeah, line the walls, that's about as practical as you can get.
Keep in mind that records weigh a ton, and all shelves will sag over time. I used to have a sizable collection, and no matter how thick the shelves were or what materials they were made of, they sagged. Keep them shorter or support them at frequent intervals.
I own quite a large record collection, but i've never really thought of the way i store them as 'displaying' them. as i DJ, i had a specially built unit that is about a meter and a half high and about 2 meters long. Then there's loads of port holes underneath. I can get all my kit on top and it holds about 1500 records. This was great for a while, until the record collection grew and grew. I now have that and various shelving units from Ikea. But i still end up with piles of records everywhere. One thing i would say is, if they are going to build a floor to ceiling unit, make sure it's on the ground floor or they have concrete floors. Or their collection could end up going through the floor. When you say display, do you mean just the spines showing, or do they want to show off the cover art. Because the room could end up looking like a second hand record shop if they're not careful. Also, it does depend which room. If it's the lounge, they'll want it to all look nice. I have a room, just for all my kit, so it doe'snt have to look too pretty. Just seen the post above and to avoid any sag, i'd go for thick mdf. Very strong and cheap, just keep away from water.
someone told me that Ikea has shelves that are perfect for 12" records. I just have mine in boxes, so I can't say for sure. I would opt for a bookshelf type construction that's multiple short shelves rather than a longer ones due to the weight.
Ikea makes a shelf unit perfect for records (much like detolf for toys). It's called expedit. comes in various sizes. 25 compartment shelf unit being the biggest. I got this one for my record collection and it's been great. Only thing is you need two people to finalize the assembly.
thanks for everyone's help so far. I will let her know about the IKEA shelves. more suggestions welcome!
When i have seen record collections housed in the expedit bookcases I am always concerned about how long it will take before the shelves sag and eventually collapse. Has anyone had this problem? I don't have a huge collection but I built some storage using mdf board. The one thing to consider is that anything made of mdf can get very heavy, so combined with the weight of the vinyl you end up with a very heavy unit that could indeed collapse flooring.
not always true. I came home one day and SKylar had assembled & displayed an expedit without me. Though I don't recommend this. I have a relatively small collection, so I use some stackable 14" shelves from Target. I'll try to take a pic later. Expedit is the way to go if you have space for it. I didn't.
Here's a good usage of the Expedit for records. (not mine) I think you can fit about 100 per square: They come in 2 sizes (4x4 squares, or 5x5 squares). This is 2 of the 5x5 side by side: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/ ... 1254417948
ultrapaul, I've had mine for a year and a half and I constantly check it for sagging, so far so good. Believe me I was skeptical as Ikea is not really known for using quality material for their products. I think the weight of the records on the bottom two rows keeps it structurally sound. Knock on wood, I mean particle board..pun intended! Ya know Missy you're right. I had mine almost completely assembled and then asked my g/f if she would help me push the last piece together. Somehow that led to an argument with me storming out of the apt, but when I returned she had the thing completely assembled. Mind you my g/f is 5'2" and very tiny, so I was really baffled she was able to do it (I could not- the last part you need to push two pieces that are over 6 ft L shapes together). Till this day she won't reveal to me how she did it!
I bet she pushed one L against the wall thus bracing/immobilizing it, and then pushed the other L into place.
been wondering if the expedit are any good was hesitite to buy them due to them being ikea but that shelving looks good and sure beats having records laying all over the place nothing wrong with good old milkcrates though missy do you have any other pic of this person studio setup
I also reccomend the expedit, we use one for our vinyl. and it can be assembled by one person, as I have built them by myself. I would say that standing them upright after you are finished might require another person, depending on your personal strength. as far as the shelves go, we have had them for 7 years and they are holding up very well. I will try to take a photo tonight.
if you wanted to display them cover out you could have something made thats basicly a strip of wood with a groove in the middle all the way down, have that screwed to the wall, and let the records sit in the groove and lean on the wall. just a thought. then paint or cover the wood so it looks better than a stip of wood on yer wall.
Yeah Expedit, I need a device that keeps you from having a few adult beverages and scratching the shit out of your records.
I have about 8000 records. I use these DWR shelves http://www.dwr.com/product/furniture/st ... y=ourPicks They do not sag and they are module so they will fit your space. I am sure they are more expensive than Ikea but they are way nicer and they should last forever.
i store my records in a wooden "Sound Warehouse" crate that I got from a used bookstore. Was Sound Warehouse Texas only, or did you guys have them too?
