how to hide the long boxes?

June 30, 2006 6:55 PM

My boyfriend has about 23 long boxes of comics (22 are full). He still gets a stack of comics every Wed. He won't stack the boxes over 2 high. Is there any thing that can be done to store these boxes so the room they are in doesn't look like a comic book shop? Our area floods, so the basement is out. Our house is a converted cape, so there is no attic. I don't want him to get rid of them, or stop buying them. I just would like to find a way to camouflage them. PLEASE.
posted by gminks to home & garden (17 comments total)

I'll be damned if I can find it now but there was a post on Apartment Therapy in the last month or two from a guy who built a floor above his floor and used the space in between as storage. It was pretty interesting--the floor was done in sections which made everything very easy to access.
posted by dobbs at 6:58 PM on June 30, 2006

Are shelves not an option? You can make a fairly simple set with planks and cinderblock, or pick up a good adjustable set from costco, lowes, home depot, etc.
posted by odinsdream at 7:00 PM on June 30, 2006

Bed raisers (Bed Bath and Beyond, about $20) will help you get a few out of the way. I think that I have about 14 paper boxes full of books under my bed. Maybe stack them two high around the edges of the room (if mold is not an issue) and put a lightweight board over the top to make them into a tabletop or shelf for you to put other stuff on top of. The board will spred the weight out of anything you put on top.

wife of 445supermag
posted by 445supermag at 7:19 PM on June 30, 2006

Have you guys considered renting some storage?

Other than that, the shelves sound like a good idea.
posted by Hildago at 7:22 PM on June 30, 2006

Seconding the renting storage, especially if your place floods and he's worried about the condition of his books. Humidity is pretty bad for comic books.

(I feel your pain. My dad commandeered half of our house for his goddamn comic books; I refuse to let my husband keep them in my sight.)
posted by timetoevolve at 7:25 PM on June 30, 2006

If you have deep bookshelves, put them there with rows of books in front. Boxes stay hidden and books are more accessible.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 7:37 PM on June 30, 2006

The kind of pulley system used here could bring a larger contained holding his collection up to the roof:
posted by Kickstart70 at 7:47 PM on June 30, 2006

Standard wire shelving oughta work just fine. He can stack 2 boxes, put a shelf, stack 2 more, put a shelf... and so on. Heck, he oughta love this idea.. it means that he can get even more comics!

And wherever you live, get some renters insurance. (unless you own the place, then hopefully you already have the comics insured.)
Just sayin' - I had a friend many years back that lost his entire comic collection in a fire.
posted by drstein at 8:09 PM on June 30, 2006

There are comic book boxes half the length of the traditional longbox -- while this will double your number of boxes, it will make them easier to shelve.
posted by samh23 at 8:26 PM on June 30, 2006

Seconding the suggestion of renting storage. While I can't say for certain if it is his intention, but a large collection of comic books, well maintained, has the potential to be quite an investment. Rented storage would keep them in good nick for this purpose, leaving perhaps just one box for the ones he plans to read lately. He doesn't have to read them all at once does he?
posted by Serial Killer Slumber Party at 8:44 PM on June 30, 2006

Most legal size filing cabinets work great. Some are a little low, although that might be modable with a little cutting and such.

The full length ones are pretty much as long as a long box too, so you could put some more on top!
posted by Chuckles at 9:35 PM on June 30, 2006

If he has a huge collection that might not be accomodated by shelves, it might be useful to build a a storage loft in one of your rooms. I have one in my current apartment, and it's turned out to be incredibly useful for hiding things I'd like to keep but aren't aesthetically attractive (i.e. winter clothes I've smushed into garbage bags to free up closet space). You could probably find a carpenter on Craigslist that would do the job for a reasonable price.
posted by lalex at 10:19 PM on June 30, 2006

Please...for the sake of you both...RENT STORAGE.

I'm a record collector, and run a label. I cannot overestimate the amount of domestic harmony that is produced in my life by spending $149/month on 10'x15' of climate controlled storage. Boxes & boxes of CD inventory, records to sell on GEMM, VHS tapes, posters, t-shirts...it's all out of sight and not cluttering my living space.

Box up all sorts of old stuff, seal the boxes, and then DATE them. Take to storage, and open up your living space. You may be amazed at how much stuff -- of all sorts -- you simply do not need to access day-to-day.
posted by omnidrew at 11:03 PM on June 30, 2006

You need Comic Book DrawerBoxes, from these guys.
posted by doctor_negative at 11:31 PM on June 30, 2006 [1 favorite]

Does he go into the 'archives' very often? If not, I still understand not wanting to stack them more than 2 high, the boxes squish. BUT maybe a little trick of physics can help?

Put two boxes the long way side by side and then put the next two crossways and then the third row is back long ways...works with the strength of the boxes and works for longer term storage. At least it worked for me when my comic boxes went into storage when I was in the Navy.

Also, if he thinks that they are worth a fortune, have him check the true sales prices of some of them on eBay. The comic book guide prices are wayyyyyyy over what people actually pay. The price guides exist so that comic shop owners can say "Book value is $50, but I'll sell it to you for $25" when you look around you'll find that the same book is available in the same condition on eBay for $10.

I got rid of all my stuff because they ended up being worth less than cover price when all was said and done and these were stored in archival covers with acid free backing and the whole nine yards.

Wow that ended up being long :)

reg
posted by legotech at 12:25 AM on July 1, 2006

While I can't say for certain if it is his intention, but a large collection of comic books, well maintained, has the potential to be quite an investment.

If one were to rent storage to store their comics, the money paid out for storage would most likely quickly decimate any gains from the "investment."
posted by drezdn at 10:04 AM on July 1, 2006

Seconding the suggestion of renting storage.

It's a perfectly good suggestion. Oddly enough, I had my entire childhood collection of comics stolen from a storage unit.
posted by scarabic at 10:42 AM on July 1, 2006