303 - Virtual Studio

You can use a virtual planner on the IKEA website to design the layout of a storage system. It would help if you could add other bits of furniture like a room door and a table. But it's very helpful in any case.

I like this modular system called IVAR - mainly because it doesn't utilise chipboard or particle board (which get scratched and water damaged easily).

It gets very confusing trying to figure out which of my existing furniture and storage will work with this, bearing in mind I can't afford to start again from scratch.

The most useful storage I own is an IKEA PAX wardrobe set, some MUJI drawers and stacks of Westwood A4 lidded boxes. 

What I really like is using the IKEA SKUBB boxes, on the wardrobe shelves (see top shelf with labels hanging from them). They are very light weight, they have zip tops, side handles and they fold up when you don't need to use them. They also fit neatly under my (non-IKEA) sofas. The drawers that come with the PAX move smoothly in and out, but they don't have tops so clothes moths can get in. And dust collects around the metal fittings. So yes, I prefer using the smaller SKUBB boxes. I pull them out and dig around in them to find things that would be 'lost' at the back of a drawer.

The TROFAST boxes are good as well. I use them for my eBay stock. Again, they can be carried around easily. The lid has a hold-hole in it though, so not as moth proof.

The MUJI drawers have been very useful. They are a little brittle: if you drop them they break on the corners. And DO NOT leave them outdoors. I spent hours taking mine apart to clean them after rain washed soil and grit into all the plastic casings. 

And they are a fairly ugly. I have a couple of the extra slim 'under the desk' drawers. I use them for different sized plastic bags which I reuse. Giant in the big drawer, medium in the medium drawer etc.

Here is a photo of the Westwood boxes. You can buy them in bulk at a much lower price (without having to buy hundreds). Again, they can be brittle and shatter but they are fine if you take care of them. And they have mini shelving units which can be stacked.

Unfortunately the A3 ones are much more expensive, as they are great for storing sketches (which I have piles of).