What's nicer than a Kallax?
September 12, 2022 6:34 AM Subscribe
My household has a pair of Ikea Kallax 2x4 cube shelves, and we're looking for an upgrade.
So - what's a little nicer than a Kallax? It would be great if something had a similar look: two shelves and a top, and boxy.
Subdivided into cubes is not necessary. Real wood is a big, big plus.
The internet is full of cheap console shelves made out of metal and MDF. I've also seen a handful of nicer, spendier shelves - Muji makes a replica of the Kallax, and I stumbled across this and this through clearly very targeted instagram ad.
But I feel like I'm not quite finding what I'm looking for, so, throwing it out to the hive mind! What's a nice upgrade from a Kallax? Thanks.
So - what's a little nicer than a Kallax? It would be great if something had a similar look: two shelves and a top, and boxy.
Subdivided into cubes is not necessary. Real wood is a big, big plus.
The internet is full of cheap console shelves made out of metal and MDF. I've also seen a handful of nicer, spendier shelves - Muji makes a replica of the Kallax, and I stumbled across this and this through clearly very targeted instagram ad.
But I feel like I'm not quite finding what I'm looking for, so, throwing it out to the hive mind! What's a nice upgrade from a Kallax? Thanks.
I've never seen a Kallax in person, but from the pictures, I feel like Crate and Barrel usually has some stuff with a similar feel. We have bought a decent amount of stuff from C&B over the years and generally find it to be a nice middle point between Wayfair and the high end brands.
posted by primethyme at 7:10 AM on September 12, 2022
posted by primethyme at 7:10 AM on September 12, 2022
I'm a fan of west elm's stuff with mango wood, their "industrial" collection might have some pieces you like (maybe this) even tho most are a mix of metal and wood. I also like their midcentury modern stuff, but that's a much different look.
I've also seen a lot of kallax DIYs that add wood around the frame, or sometimes even just feet, which really elevates the whole piece if that's something you're interested in. This random website has a few that I like, but there's tons of resources if you want to go that direction.
posted by love2potato at 8:41 AM on September 12, 2022
I've also seen a lot of kallax DIYs that add wood around the frame, or sometimes even just feet, which really elevates the whole piece if that's something you're interested in. This random website has a few that I like, but there's tons of resources if you want to go that direction.
posted by love2potato at 8:41 AM on September 12, 2022
Ikea’s Besta range is one step up from Kallax. Bit more configurable too, with doors / shelves / feet etc. I don’t think it’s real wood, though.
posted by Puppy McSock at 9:18 AM on September 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Puppy McSock at 9:18 AM on September 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you're looking for an inbetween/minor upgrade option, I added feet to my Kallaxes (Kallaxar?) in order to move them to a place that had floor air vents. It wasn't a huge cash outlay and it was a bit of work, but I think that it classed them up a notch. Elevated them, as it were.
posted by Gray Duck at 12:01 PM on September 12, 2022
posted by Gray Duck at 12:01 PM on September 12, 2022
What's your budget? You're asking for real wood, which is of course going to cost more than IKEA honeycomb construction. I'm guessing full solid hardwood might be too expensive (at least if you're needing to replace two decent-sized bookcases) but veneer over plywood might be affordable.
I think this bookcase from Joybird has the geometric vibes of cube storage with a more grown-up wood aesthetic. And it's only $1089 on sale right now.
Less boxy, but these shelves from Article have fewer compartments (so they use less wood and therefore cost less) and have a growing-up-but-still-informal vibe. That one is $799, and there's a narrower version that's $699.
I'd also second what love2potato said about wrapping your existing Kallax with wood. I've seen that done on IKEA Hackers a number of times and I'm always impressed at how elegant it can make a Kallax. I see you've asked about beginner-ish carpentry projects a couple of times in the past, and I think this is something you could do yourself with few/borrowed tools and for less than what new furniture would cost.
posted by katieinshoes at 12:15 PM on September 12, 2022
I think this bookcase from Joybird has the geometric vibes of cube storage with a more grown-up wood aesthetic. And it's only $1089 on sale right now.
Less boxy, but these shelves from Article have fewer compartments (so they use less wood and therefore cost less) and have a growing-up-but-still-informal vibe. That one is $799, and there's a narrower version that's $699.
I'd also second what love2potato said about wrapping your existing Kallax with wood. I've seen that done on IKEA Hackers a number of times and I'm always impressed at how elegant it can make a Kallax. I see you've asked about beginner-ish carpentry projects a couple of times in the past, and I think this is something you could do yourself with few/borrowed tools and for less than what new furniture would cost.
posted by katieinshoes at 12:15 PM on September 12, 2022
Room and Board might also be an intermediate option?
posted by praemunire at 12:48 PM on September 12, 2022
posted by praemunire at 12:48 PM on September 12, 2022
Response by poster: Thanks, folks. Appreciating the thoughts and ideas in here!
It would be a thrill to find something for around or under 500 per piece. The options that are $1000+ seem a little bit hard to spend on. The idea of a wide Muji 2-by with the add-on is appealing. It would be cool if there were more options in that price range.
I think I'm unlikely to wrap the existing ones in wood. They're not matching, they're a little worn out from several moves, and my household is a little older - it's time for something a bit nicer. It's also hard to DIY in an NYC apartment. There's not a lot of space for works in progress.
posted by entropone at 1:01 PM on September 12, 2022
It would be a thrill to find something for around or under 500 per piece. The options that are $1000+ seem a little bit hard to spend on. The idea of a wide Muji 2-by with the add-on is appealing. It would be cool if there were more options in that price range.
I think I'm unlikely to wrap the existing ones in wood. They're not matching, they're a little worn out from several moves, and my household is a little older - it's time for something a bit nicer. It's also hard to DIY in an NYC apartment. There's not a lot of space for works in progress.
posted by entropone at 1:01 PM on September 12, 2022
I have the Joybird Hazel. It’s pretty nice. Definitely solid, good hardware, but it is (reasonably nice) veneer over (good quality) MDF. MDF isn’t all bad, though, if you’re mostly used to IKEA particle board.
A lot of school furniture websites have Baltic birch plywood cubby setups, which will be really solid, but may be prohibitively expensive to ship, something like this (free shipping though, so who knows). They’ll paint or take clear finish super nicely but won’t necessarily take stain that well.
You might also see if you can cobble something together out of ikea’s Sektion kitchen frames. Base cabinets are deep, but a grid of wall cabinets might do the trick, especially secured to the wall. They’re way more solid than Kallax or Besta, a daily joy to use. For an extra upgrade, you can get Semihandmade fronts, but really you can just plug the holes for screwing in hardware if you’re not going to use them.
posted by supercres at 4:17 PM on September 12, 2022
A lot of school furniture websites have Baltic birch plywood cubby setups, which will be really solid, but may be prohibitively expensive to ship, something like this (free shipping though, so who knows). They’ll paint or take clear finish super nicely but won’t necessarily take stain that well.
You might also see if you can cobble something together out of ikea’s Sektion kitchen frames. Base cabinets are deep, but a grid of wall cabinets might do the trick, especially secured to the wall. They’re way more solid than Kallax or Besta, a daily joy to use. For an extra upgrade, you can get Semihandmade fronts, but really you can just plug the holes for screwing in hardware if you’re not going to use them.
posted by supercres at 4:17 PM on September 12, 2022
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posted by AaRdVarK at 7:03 AM on September 12, 2022 [2 favorites]