Archive for category Display Shelving

Solve Your Storage Problems with Boltless Shelving

Posted by on Tuesday, 22 June, 2010

Whether setting up business for the first time, relocating, reorganizing, or simply trying to create more space in the workplace or home, then boltless shelving should be considered.

Boltless shelves can resolve all your storage issues in one quick, easy, and cheap way.

Firstly, we shall consider the workplace.

In order to create a safe and productive environment you need to maximize floor space and to allow easy access to all the items that are regularly used. It does not matter what it is you need to store as boltless steel shelving comes in many forms and is available from small and compact units right through to industrial sized and heavy-duty units that can accommodate up to 20 tons on each level.

Nor does the shape or size of the items to be stored matter, as these units are adaptable and can be altered to meet most requirements. This makes them particularly useful when trying to store bulky items as you can use either a vertical or a horizontal approach.

Safety should always be a priority and it should be noted that no bolts are needed to secure the unit to the wall unless the height to depth ratio is more than 4:1. However, this will probably only become an issue in the work setting rather than the home.

Why should a business invest in new units?

The answer is simple. Boltless metal shelving is cheap and easy to assemble as it comes in kit form. After assembly has taken place, which literally only takes a few minutes, you can organize all your stock in a logical and highly visible way. This not only creates more floor space as all your stock is removed to a safer place, but also makes it much easier to find. Staff will no longer spend precious, and costly, minutes simply searching for an item to use. It will be perfectly easy to find as soon as they enter the stock area.

This whole process can be made even easier by labeling stock and prioritizing the positions that you use. Obviously, the stock you use the most frequently should be placed nearest to the door and easily accessible, whilst infrequently used items can be further away on a top shelf.

The heavy gauge units are particularly useful for high capacity and heavy storage, so this should be factored in when choosing the model you wish to purchase. In addition, there is usually a choice between wire grating and metal for the boltless shelf. This is a consideration if the items you are store are small. A solid shelf base would be far more beneficial in this situation to prevent stock falling through.

However, boltless shelving has many more functions than industrial settings alone.

They are very popular at home, in both the garage and the house itself. As these units are so adaptable, they are ideal to really utilize the space available in your garage.

They can be discreetly fitted along the back and sides of the garage, which will give you plenty of storage space for all your gardening, home maintenance tools, and general items whilst still leaving space for your car to be secured overnight.

Again, the added bonus is that all your tools are easily accessible and you will find you save a lot of time simply by reaching for the required tool rather than searching for it.

Recently many people have started to use them inside the home. They are an ideal way to store ornaments and precious items in a contemporary way and especially useful in children’s bedrooms. They enjoy the fact that all their favorite toys can be seen by their friends and it helps them to establish their own personality and identify the room as their own. In fact, some parents report they even encourage children to put their toys away at the end of the day, which has to be seen as an amazing bonus, and can be encouraged in this by allowing them to display their toys in their own way.

As all the shelves are adjustable, it is possible to arrange them to accommodate boxes, teddies and all the assorted books and toys that children acquire. Alternatively, some people opt to use them throughout the house, whether in the lounge, dining room or even bathroom, as a modern way to display and store everyday items. As they are available in basic steel, or in a variety of colors, you can easily match them to your existing decorations, and can be made to fit in most awkward spaces.

In summary, these units are an extremely practical way of reorganizing your life, whether that is at home or at work. The time that is saved by staff, quickly and efficiently locating the tools and items they need will be beneficial to all. In addition, they are an effective and attractive piece of contemporary furniture that can fit in any home.


Choosing the Right Corner Shelving for Your Trade Show Booth

Posted by on Wednesday, 9 June, 2010

Choosing the Right Corner Shelving for Your Trade Show Booth

If you have a fairly large booth, or a lot of products that you want to display, then having corner shelving can be quite helpful as it provides a place for your to display items that you want people to see. While you will also need to have other display shelves, corner shelving is convenient in that it does not take up a lot of space and thus leaves room for potential customers to get in and out of your booth easily.

There are many kinds of corner shelving units on the market. They can be made from hardwood, composite wood, plastic, metal or glass. What kind you get for your booth will most likely depend on what kind of look you want your booth to have overall. This is something that should be decided on as soon as possible. Go to the booth as soon as you can after you rent it, look at the booth and decide what items will go where and what style of booth will best showcase the products or service your company is offering. It is also important to measure the booth and know what size of shelves you need so that the shelves you get will be just the right size.

Another thing to take into consideration is the products you are offering and see not only what materials the shelves should be made from but also what color they should be. White corner shelves are a good option as they are useful for pretty much any booth and any product that you may be offering. If you are offering children’s products then you may want to consider colorful plastic or wood corner shelves as these will make your booth look bright and cheery – just the kind of look that will attract parents and children alike to your booth. Glass corner shelves are a nice option if you are selling items that are not too heavy, such as candles, towels, soaps, dishes, dolls, etc. These will give your booth a very nice look but you should be aware that glass shelves are delicate and thus very difficult to transport to and from the booth. Metal and plastic shelves are, generally speaking, the easiest shelves to work with when it comes to trade show booths, as they are lightweight and easy to set up and take back down again. They are also easy to move around if you decide during the trade show that you want to change the look of the both around a bit.

If the booth is being set up at an outdoor trade show, then this will also affect what kind of shelving units you will want to have set up. While there is a roof, the booth and items in it will be more exposed to the elements than at an indoor trade show or exhibition. If you get metal shelves, be sure that they are treated so they do not rust if they happen to get wet. Plastic shelving units are a good choice for outdoor exhibitions as they are the least likely to be affected by the elements.

You can buy corner shelving units from a variety of places, either furniture stores, supermarkets or even online from an online retailer. Buying what you need online does have its advantages in that it is often cheaper and you can more easily compare prices and make sure you are getting the best deal on the market. Also, it is often easier to find exactly what you want online than it is to go to different shops looking for a certain kind of shelving unit. However, buying online does have its drawbacks. The main reasons being that you are relying on a picture of the item you want to buy instead of being able to actually see the shelf set up and get a better idea of what it looks like. Another is the fact that you do sometimes have to pay for the shipping of your purchase to you if you buy online. If you do not have a lot of experience with buying shelves then you may want to stick with shopping at a furniture store, as then you can get a better idea of what you are buying. Then, if for any reason it is not exactly what you want, it is easier to return or exchange the item than if you buy it online.

The exact prices vary depending on what style and brand name of shelves you buy, as well as how large or small they are. Generally speaking, metal shelves are the cheapest buy, followed by plastic, although this does depend on exactly what kind of plastic is used for the shelves. Buy something that looks good in the booth but that is not too expensive.


The Connection Between Trade Shows and Utility Shelves

Posted by on Saturday, 5 June, 2010

If your job demands your attendance at trade shows, then you may well have trade show supplies, supplies that you store in your home. If you keep them in a cabinet, then you know how time consuming it can be to pull out all of your stored items, and to sort through them, before going to a trade show. Well, you do not have to bend down and look inside a storage space, such as a cabinet in a laundry or utility room, when you have arranged for installation of a set of smoothly functioning utility shelves.

Now maybe you have a real potpourri of items in your present storage cabinet. Maybe you think that no type of shelving could possibly handle all the crazy things that you need to drag to a trade show. Well, you are wrong. If you invest in customized pull-out shelves, then you can enjoy having ready access to every last one of your stored items. Moreover, you can keep all of them together, in a single location.

Perhaps you hesitate to turn a part of your home over to the strangers in a construction crew. Well, by locating a source of quality pullout shelves, you should be able to see a professional crew at work. Yet, you will not have a very long period of time in which to observe such a crew. That team of true professionals should have your shelves installed within about two hours.

Within a two hour span of time you will put an end to the drudgery associated with searching through all of the odd items that you now have in some crowded storage cabinet. You will manage to do away with the unpleasant task of bending down and sorting out the needed items in your cabinet. You can enjoy knowing that all of those items are safe, and at the same time “at your fingertips,” because they are inside of pull-out shelves.

If you have decided to have such shelving installed in your home, then you should seek out a company that comes with an insurance of quality workmanship. Look for a company that guarantees its shelves for a period of at least five years. Seek out a company that can install shelving with the ability to support up to 100 pounds. Know that when that shelving replaces the shelves already in an existing cabinet, then the new sliding units have an added amount of support.

Now support is important, but anyone who has paid for pullout shelves wants them to roll in and out with ease. Quality units should have all steel brackets and shelf guides. Quality units often have extra wide shelves. The sturdy nature of the sliding hardware eliminates the need for a center post in any cabinet. The elimination of that center post increases the number of varied objects that can fit into the same cabinet.

As for the sturdy quality that is a feature on any quality shelving, that sturdiness comes with a guarantee of durability. Hence, your sliding shelves should work smoothly for a decent amount of time. Furthermore, they should manage to accommodate any item that you might have to store, because they will be customized storage shelves.

Now after you have installed your pullout shelving, you do not need to forget about any remaining storage space within your home. In fact, you should make optimal use of any remaining utility shelves. Maybe you have a utility closet that has shelf space above a bar, the bar where family members hang their everyday coats. Do not make a habit of throwing things onto that high storage space. Put a few wire baskets on those shelves, and store items in those baskets.

Think about having sliding or pullout bins placed in a space under one or more closets. Such bins can hold items such as scarves and mittens. Think too about how you want to handle things like dirty boots. Maybe you could put a large wicker basket next to a closet, and ask family members to put any dirty boots or shoes in that basket.

By following the suggestions in this article, you should soon have a well organized utility room. When you are home with your family, you and they will have little trouble finding what is needed, any time that the family goes on some type of outing. When you must prepare to attend another trade show, your family will not have to watch helplessly while you struggle to find the items that you need.

All of those things will be in a single, easy to reach location. You will be able to examine your entire collection of trade show supplies by pulling out one or two customized shelves. Your family will feel more relaxed, because you have not had to experience the aggravation that used to precede any trip to a trade show.


Using Stainless Steel Shelves at Home and the Show

Posted by on Tuesday, 18 May, 2010

Display shelving is available in as many variations as there are products, and to suit a variety of locations. Because they showcase the outward manifestations of the company, businesses should consider stainless steel and designer shelving for trade shows and retail outlets.

Stainless steel shelves offer several benefits including strength, easy maintenance, and a sleek modern appearance. Steel makes the logical choice for displaying heavy items, and fits in with the design of a contemporary style for a technology display or cutting edge clothing and sports gear. They are also the practical application in commercial kitchens for their resistance to bacteria and in storage situations where heavy duty shelves are needed.

Kitchen Shelving

In a restaurant or hotel kitchen, two types of stainless racks and storage are used; stainless steel wire shelving and solid storage units. The wire shelving is used in the dry storage area to hold cans or food, cooking oils and other implements. The open wire design prevents build-up of residue from spilled, broken, or dripping goods. For this same reason, this shelf material is the preferred choice for stacking clean or dirty dishes either for drying or while waiting to be washed.

Stainless steel wire shelves are a less expensive option, but kitchens utilize solid stainless steel storage shelves extensively as well. The smooth surface means fast cleanup and no chance of pots, plates, or glass bottles snagging on the way off. For smaller items, solid is the only way to go.

Cooking Trade Shows

Wire and stainless steel kitchen shelves are also ideal for setting up displays at a trade show as they offer maximum visibility of related products. While the typical display uses plain units from particle board or synthetic materials, setting up a display booth to target and attract customers is the goal of participating in a trade show. To this extent, using finer shelf exhibits can draw more attention from the traffic passing by.

For a business that manufactures or sells stainless storage options, one of the ideal locations for showcasing these materials is a restaurant or commercial kitchen supply show. Here the targeted audience is everywhere, searching for equipment for outfitting a new or existing facility, or making plans for future purchases. Having a plan, which includes focusing on who you wish to attract, and how to demonstrate the effectiveness of your products is vital to securing future kitchen supply contracts.

Shop and Storage

With the extreme durability and sterility of stainless steel shelving, they can also be found in hospitals and laboratories, as well as residences for bathroom or curio display shelves. As in commercial locations, the residential kitchen benefits from the attributes of stainless.

Steel adds a unique accent in a booth showing culinary products for the home cook; stainless steel wall shelves increase storage area while making a serious statement about the cooks who might use them.

As an added bonus, residential steel is made to the standards of commercial facilities, with 16 to 18 gauge type 304 or type 430 steel. Mounting brackets are sturdy die formed parts, delivering industrial strength support.

For the contemporary bathroom, the sleek cleanliness of stainless is unmatched. As ideal a location as can be found, the bacteria and mildew resistant qualities of steel are perfectly at home in this humid environment. Stainless steel bathroom shelves function as towel racks and toiletry storage, and are perfect for mounting in the shower area to hold shaving tools and bathing products.

The look of stainless is a popular choice for exhibitors of modern themed products such as Dornbracht or KWC. At events such as KBIS, manufacturers demonstrate how this material fits into award winning bathroom and kitchen designs.

Store Anything Anywhere

The kitchen and bath are not the only residential uses for this superior metal. Trade show displays focusing on home improvement or garage storage solutions should showcase its advantages as well. For example, add stainless steel corner shelves to a modern living room, bedroom, or garage workshop for durable and handsome accent storage. Complement the look and add additional space by placing stainless steel floating shelves on the adjacent walls.

In the garage, it is a more sensible option than wood or similar materials. This metal will not rot, catch fire, or corrode from spilled or leaked chemicals. If used in a professional mechanics shop, auto parts caked with oil and grease can be set on a stainless shelf without concern about getting it clean later.

Whether as a stock cart for wheeling corrosive products through hospitals and parts through an auto shop, or as durable easy to clean shelving in the kitchen, the spectrum of uses for stainless steel shelves is impressive.

Whenever possible, display booths at industry trade shows should look to implement this metal in the design, just as it would be used in everyday applications. The additional expense will pay off by attracting more of the target audience who will be using the product in the future.


The Many Advantages of Archive Shelving

Posted by on Tuesday, 18 May, 2010

Archive shelving is one of the many types of storage solutions available for businesses and organizations these days. This type of storage solution provides businesses with a number of advantages and benefits that may not be offered by other types of storage systems. With an archive shelf, storage of important company files and documents is never an issue.

Businesses and corporations, no matter their size, usually have lots of important files, documents, and certificates to keep and store. At times, storage for these files, documents, and certificates can become a great problem for them. Overtime, these very important things can grow so large in number, making storage and documentations extremely difficult and challenging. To meet the growing demands for storage, many manufacturers have created various types of storage units specifically designed to store company documents and files. Not all of these storage systems, however, may be able to meet the needs of each and every business. Like other things, storage mechanisms or facilities are not created equal. There are those that can provide better storage solutions to companies and corporations while there are also those that may provide only limited solutions to the problem of file storage.

Among the several types of storage solutions available, many have found archive storage shelving a boon to the storage needs of their business. This kind of storage system has been created in such a way as to provide satisfaction to businesses and organizations. Any business or organization can greatly benefit from the use of this type of storage facility.

One of the many advantages that can be derived from the use of archive shelves is the safety and security they provide for the books or documents stored in them. These storage facilities are most often made with flood proof and fire proof properties. With these characteristics, they are able to provide document owners the assurance that their files and documents are kept safe from such uncontrolled calamities. Added to these characteristics is the installation of CCTV cameras in most of these archive storage facilities. The CCTV cameras allow close monitoring of the area where the files are stored. This adds to the assurance of safety and security to the files and important documents.

Another great advantage offered by archive storage shelves is that they can greatly minimize the clutter in an office or work environment. They are designed in such a way as to accommodate large amounts of files and clutter. Consequently they are able to significantly help save up much space in an office or working area. As a result, people can go about their work without too much distraction from unwanted clutter and they may be able to increase their productivity.

Every time an office staff needs some documents or files, he or she can easily retrieve files from the archive storage boxes. This is another great advantage of archive storage facilities. They provide individuals with an easy way to retrieve important files and documents. People don’t have to go through all the hassles that are often associated with other varieties of file storage and retrieval systems. An archive box shelving provides a remarkable way to organize files for easy storage and re-access or retrieval when or as needed.

Still another great advantage of using archive storage racks or shelves is that they can come in a wide variety of sizes, each of which is created especially to accommodate certain amounts of load. Regardless of size, however, each rack is created as a heavy duty unit. This means that each unit is extremely durable and may hold large amounts of load without getting damaged. Archive boxes may be designed as a single width unit or as a double width unit. People can certainly make use of them for storing documents for a very long period of time.

Some commonly used sizes of archive record storage shelves include the 69W x 15D x 60 H, 69W x 15D x 84H, 69W x 15D x 108H and many more. All varieties may be purchased from suppliers with or without particle boards. Boxes may also be sold separately.

Because of the large variety of archive storage shelvings, some people may find it hard to choose one that will best suit the needs of their businesses. However, by knowing the amount of files needed to be stored and by considering some other important things related to their storage needs, they may be able to get just the right type of archive racks or shelves they need. Whateve size or type of archive shelf they choose, they will certainly benefit from the advantages offered by archive storage systems.

Overall, archive shelving does nothing but provide great storage solutions to all types of businesses. It is no wonder then why many organizations and corporations have turned to using it for their own storage needs.


Steel Shelves in Trade Shows

Posted by on Sunday, 16 May, 2010

If you are planning on attending a trade show for a heavy duty industry that deals with many weighty instruments and products, no doubt you will understand the importance of keeping heavy duty steel shelving in your display for the best effect during the show. While they may not be as important as other display articles such as banners and sign holders, keeping steel shelves handy at your showcasing will be an excellent way to present your product. For live demonstrations in which your product and its various forms and applications will be set up on the display for the audience, steel shelving is a must and can bring very favorable results.

Even in a professional setting that doesn’t display heavy duty utility items, these shelves can be very useful in providing the audience with a taste of what your product will have to offer. Many steel wire shelving units can be purchased for the sole reason of lining your display space with the product you are advertising. You can make the shelves an active part of the décor of your space, and sometimes their mesh design can even be enticing to passersby as they observe the entirety of the display show itself. The item need not be part of a heavy duty industry, so long as it is uses can be demonstrated during your show and it can be stored in the very exhibition space as a part of the aesthetic design. For heavier items, however, industrial steel shelving will need to be considered in order to get the most out of your demonstration. You will need to speak to specialized professionals who can install the shelves before the trade show, though before doing so it will be a good idea to start picturing the ideal locations for these shelves to be placed.

Though these shelves are usually not a very aesthetic aspect of your overall display, they can be arranged to provide the most attractive value in your general exhibition, and if sloppily arranged can harm your display. The steel does not need to be left bare, and in fact can be painted to provide a contrasting effect with the rest of the items and appliances in your display space. This can be extremely useful for attracting the audience’s attention to the items you have on the shelf, which can include the product itself and all other items related to the product. By making the shelf stand out, you can make the items that are displayed on the shelf stand out as well – which creates an exciting effect for those who are eager to see the product in action. On the other hand, the shelf can be colored to match the overall color scheme of your exhibition, which can ease your audience into your trade show’s display. The final decision will depend entirely on what application you would like for your shelving, and how important of a role they will play in the show.

Because of the material and the difficulty of installation, many of these shelves will not be very cheap to purchase. Depending on the size and the durability of the steel chosen, these shelves can cost anywhere from thirty to upwards of two hundred dollars. Additional painting and design options will obviously cost extra, but may be worth it depending on how you plan on applying the shelf in your next trade show. No matter the application, it is not a good idea to keep many of these shelves cluttering the wall space of your exhibition’s area. Wire shelving will cost significantly less, using fewer raw materials than a steel shelf, but may not be durable enough to hold up the item you are planning on showcasing during the exhibition. Be sure to purchase material guaranteed to be durable before your show, so as not to spend unnecessary money and potentially create a harmful occurrence during your display.

The attractiveness of this shelving is ultimately its versatility in application. Depending on whether you have an exhibition space near a corner or a bare wall can decide what type of shelving to purchase and in what way to arrange the items that are relevant to your trade show. As such, preparation is a vital part of the shelving process, and so you must be aware of the space you are given before proceeding with purchase or design plans. It is a good idea to keep the total space of the shelving small, as they serve a more practical function than they do an aesthetic one, and as a result can actually take away from possible advertising space. They will need to be arranged entirely on the basis of how you plan on utilizing them, and how many items you plan on keeping handy on the shelf itself. With prudent planning and understanding of certain basic design elements, you will be able to effectively utilize these useful articles of display at your next trade show.


The Application of Floating Wall Shelves in Trade Shows

Posted by on Thursday, 13 May, 2010

For a minimalistic design like no other and the full functionality of a standard-issue shelf, floating wall shelves are ideal for your selection. They earn their name by appearing to almost float in thin air, not requiring the clunky support of a standard shelf, and providing a unique and unforgettable appearance to whatever room or presentation they are in. These shelves have hollow bases, though are as sturdy as an ordinary shelf because they are specially made with the buttress support system built inside the shelf’s base itself.

In trade shows floating wall shelving is invaluable to conserve space and provide an attractive and friendly, open surface for the presenter to work with. These shelves can be set up for product placement or for informational packages to be kept in standard sign holders. The space that would be ordinarily utilized by the shelf’s support buttresses can be used depending entirely on the presenter’s preference. Many choose to fill this empty space with posters and various other area-covering displays that can properly advertise their exhibition. The shelves themselves are as vital to the presenter’s display as the content that is kept on them. By carefully considering the aesthetic options made available with these shelves, one can utilize them to fully compliment any product demonstration.

Depending on what items will be kept on top of these shelves, you will want to think about the way the floating wall shelf will be presented. If you want the items on top of the shelves to be the center of attention, then making the shelf itself a color that clashes against the background and rest of the display can significantly help them stand out. In a generally lighter color theme and background, black floating wall shelves can be used to draw attention to the items kept on top of those shelves. In the same way, white floating wall shelves can be utilized to effectively draw attention away from a generally darker colored background and display. Experimenting with colors and responsibly presenting them in ways that grab the attention of passing potential clients is key to utilizing this type of shelving. Keeping a consistent color with all the parts of your display that you plan to be distinct (one to match the shelf’s color that will contrast with the rest of your display) is an effective way to have the observer associate with the key parts of your presentation.

These floating wall shelves can also be decorated with relevant images and display banners once they are set up. The material that makes up the shelf, as well as the size of the shelf, will determine just how much it is capable of holding. A tempered glass shelf that measures twenty-four inches by six inches can hold up to thirty-five pounds of items. This allows you to set items on top of the shelf for storage and utility during your exhibition, and it allows you to hang additional banners from the shelf itself. With its floating and attractive design, the possibilities for customization by the presenter are limitless. One can artistically decorate the floating shelf (especially when the color of the decorations and the shelf contrast the rest of the display space) to grab the passerby’s attention and make them a part of the audience for the presentation. The shelf’s design can matter as well, with the shape providing for you an outline for what to place for decoration and exhibition.

Most furniture websites and standard furniture stores have a wide selection of these floating shelves available for purchase. Large department stores like Sears and online stores like amazon.com are great places to begin looking for floating shelves to use. Though they are usually meant to be applied to homes, particularly those of a modern and minimalistic design, speaking to the store’s representatives and describing your need for the shelves in a trade show can help you pick out one ideal for your purposes. When shopping generally, you will want to make use of a trusted brand for shelving, one that has been proven to provide quality durability and reliability. After choosing a manufacturer, think about the dimensions you will need for your purposes and find a shelf to fit them. The space provided in a trade show usually allows for several floating shelves to be set and, including all of the relevant products and smaller stands placed on them, is usually enough for the presenter to effectively make use of.

With something as simple as a shelf, the entire design of your exhibition can be changed for the better. Utilizing the proper application according to color and size, you can use these shelves to enhance your demonstration and provide additional space for attractive advertising in your display and a necessary outlet of information for audiences interested in your presentation.


Stainless Steel Shelving Can Make a Kitchen a Showpiece

Posted by on Monday, 10 May, 2010

Before you shrug or quake and wail that it belongs in a restaurant and not in your home, give stainless steel shelving another look and listen. If you plan, imagine, buy, and set up properly, it can augment and enhance your kitchen and take a lot of painful searching for what you want or need away.

Some of it may look like restaurant or industrial apparatus at first glance, but take a closer look. Nowadays, stainless steel shelves are buffed and finished to a very high polish or even a modest but arresting understated finish, and they can look far more appropriate to a home environment—especially if you have an absolute passion for food and cooking—while adding immeasurably to your storage capacity.

This is not to say that such shelving is for augmenting the kitchen alone. Perhaps naturally enough, it proves useful and attractive in the garage, the home office, the home workshop, or even the children’s bedrooms. The best news, whatever the primary use you have for it, is that you do not necessarily have to spend heavily to have it.

However, now that you have overcome your fear of steel in or near the kitchen, even partially, there are numerous options available to you. Most of them are simpler to install and arrange than you might have thought at first.

In fact, stainless steel wire shelving may be the most often available and attractive to consider for this project. This is a bonus because wire shelving is the least likely dust magnet and allows better air circulation than panel shelving. Moreover, if your budget is limited, you can get the apparatus for as low as $75 per single shelf unit if you know where to shop, on or offline.

Instawares.com, for example, offers the Metro SuperErectA wire shelf for $75 and change per shelf. These are 21×72 inch shelves with chrome plate-finished heavy gauge steel, with open wire design and front-to-back ribbing allowing easy sliding onto and off the shelf. For $17.27 each, you can add upright shelf dividers if you are one of those folk who prefer categorical organizing, and rod-and-tabs to add shelves to a unit cost $6.64 each through the same supplier. The estimated total, if you want to use these to build a four-shelf unit, is around $379.68.

If that is beyond your budget, however, you can buy a five-tier, commercial chrome unit on large black wheels at Target for $125.99. This unit features open wire design and front-to-back ribbing, locking wheels, rounded edges, and four post legs. It stands 76 inches high, 18 inches wide, and 35.5 inches long and can support up to 500 pounds of storage. If this unit is too tall, or you think you might be served better with a pair of such units, Target also sells Seville four-tier units at $89.99 each, also featuring locking casters and height-adjustable shelves. This unit is 54x36x14 and can support up to 500 pounds of storage.

Wire shelving is not the only option, however. Many people prefer flat, solid shelving because wire shelving risks some items you need to keep stored falling through the ribs accidentally, becoming damaged themselves or possibly damaging other items on the shelf below. While some homeowners may lay cloth or wood pads over the ribs to prevent this, others may think that solution bothersome.

Solid-panel steel shelving units are sold through numerous outlets, including a very strong five-tier unit at IKEA stores for $299. This unit has adjustable square-panel legging to keep it stationary on slightly uneven surfaces, an easy-clean shelf surface, and is 29 ½ inches long, 13 ¾ inches wide, and 70 7/8 inches high. The drawback is that it must be secured to the wall against which you plan to build it with an anti-toppling device that is included with the kit.

If you prefer only to add a simple steel shelf or two to your kitchen (for example, above your stove or sink; or, astride your pantry or cabinets), KitchenSource.com has mountable Whitehaus stainless steel shelves in several sizes. One model, with side guards, comes in four sizes priced from $163.39 to $236.38; another, without side guards, comes in three sizes priced from $365.01 to $441.49. Both models are pre-assembled solid steel planks with bull nose (rounded front) edges. You can also buy similar shelving that you can assemble yourself for far less money.

Whether wire or solid plank, stainless steel kitchen shelving is no longer unviable, particularly with stainless steel appliances large (oven, refrigerator, dishwasher) or small (toasters, electric mixers, countertop cookers, and others) being as popular as ceramic or painted appliances for contemporary décor. Chosen well, designed properly, and mounted in just the right places, these stainless steel shelving units can make a home kitchen look like a showpiece without looking impractical.


Wood Shelves for Trade Show Booths

Posted by on Friday, 23 April, 2010

With a slow economy, trade shows have become a very popular event for business owners and corporations to display their products or services to potential customers and existing customers alike. Branding and business promotion is very important to increase profits and a company’s book of business. While a lot of planning goes into marketing and creating a profitable trade show event, planners must make sure that they have an efficient design with the proper wood shelves.

You never really know how much work it takes to plan a successful trade show until you have actually done it. From checking out the available trade shows to find the proper event for your industry, to designing a booth within your budget while still making it appealing and functional, it can be an exhausting but profitable task. Signage and marketing material must be displayed in a visible location, while still being eye-popping to customers. Wood shelving can range in color, price, style and size, and is an essential feature in your trade show booth.

The first factor in deciding the proper shelving for your booth is the location of your booth in aspect to the warehouse or room. You must determine if you are going to be placed along a wall, corner, or in a center aisle. Wood shelving can range from units to hang clothing, display small products, business cards, and those to display posters and fliers.

Shelf Expressions, a distributor of shelving for various events, offer stylish and practical shelving that require no tools for setup. Their products include freestanding wood shelves, as tabletop shelves, corner shelves, stack-able units and columns. There is a unit to fit any trade show design. They are easy to assemble, with the convenience necessary in a stressful time. Aside from being easily assembled, they can be disassembled for storage. This convenience is perfect for trade shows, and gives consumers a cost efficient alternative to other shelves. The units are constructed of small pieces of scrap wood, making them affordable, durable and environmentally friendly as well. Aside from the cost and efficiency, Shelf Expressions offers their customers trade show booth ideas, and has a contact us option to ask questions that are not answered on the Frequently Asked Questions page. Depending on the size, and amount of shelves of a unit, the price can range from $30 to $80 per piece.

Another great company in the world of trade shows is Flexi Display. Flexi Display has created kiosks, ten and twenty foot displays, and tabletop displays. These units offer features such as 3D graphics, Light boxes, LCD monitors, shelving and pedestals all in one to create the ultimate booth. The units are easily assembled, and light in weight for easy portability. They are expandable for when you have larger and smaller booth sizes and made of high quality materials. These Flexi Displays will get your company noticed and get your point across as well. The custom shelving built within the units are durable and appealing. These displays vary in price depending on your customized design, and are very versatile.

Another online provider of trade show displays is Smart Fixtures. This manufacturing company offers fully functional customized booths. They come in many different finishes from a cherry oak lacquer, to black, white and traditional oak. They are suitable for any industry from jewelry displays to crafts, gifts and salons. The options are unlimited in the spectrum of booth designs. Whether you need a single shelving display for your booth, or a full fixture layout there is something to fit your design. Units can hold up to a maximum weight of 70 pounds and are easy to disassemble and move. These fixtures range in price from the features and designs. While the smallest unit containing three shelves costs only $100, the larger models can cost up to $6000.

While there are trade show specific shelving units on the market, there is a good chance they may not fit your budget. Having a successful booth includes not only a quality and noticeable design but also staying within budget. It is important for companies using marketing events to promote their business to make more from the event then they spend in supplies and booth rental costs. With this, you must weigh how many accounts or products you will need to sell to make back the money you have spent and profit from the event in the long run.

So, for those of you in the process of planning a successful and intriguing booth, make sure you do the proper research of the shelving options you have at your disposal. Aside from being affordable, it is important to invest in a unit that is easy to assemble, disassemble and to store. Take all of these factors into mind when budgeting and planning.


All About Having Glass Shelving

Posted by on Thursday, 22 April, 2010

Glass shelving looks stylish, almost unobtrusive, and assuredly classy, no matter where in your home, office, or trade show display you may choose to mount it. However, there are those who say this is the most problematic of shelving, simply because it can break easily enough if it should be knocked accidentally off its mounting or fall accidentally when you try to install it. It can often be more problematic to clean than wood, steel, metal, or synthetic materials unless you are willing to clean it nearly every day.

You should consider all those factors before you invest in glass shelving. If you have ideas about using this type of shelving for a trade show display, you must be certain that the shelving is strong enough and protected enough to survive transit from your operational base to your trade show location. These shelves can make for striking trade show booth display, but handled carelessly or made with too much fragility, it can leave you not with a lasting show impression but a major—and expensive—headache.

However, if you decide the additional care in handling and cleaning it is worth it to you, you can find many such shelves or units at very affordable prices that are comparatively simple to arrange and install. Staples, the office supply chain, has a sizeable number of glass shelf styles, including Dolle ten- and twelve-inch corner shelves with stylish, understated metal clip mountings that are ideal for mounting on temporary transportable display walls. These shelves are round-fronted and either 10×10 inch or 12×12 inch in size with a 5/16th-inch glass thickness. The ten-inch model retails for $36.99; the twelve-inch model for $39.99 and you have the choice of absolutely clear or frosted glass.

Staples also offers Dolle 24×6-inch rectangular glass shelves with rounded front corners and mounted on either square modern-styled chrome or silver clips. These are made of clear tempered glass that is also 5/16th inches thick. The price is $39.99 per shelf.

Dolle also makes a peach-shaped 16×9-inch glass shelf mountable on shield-shaped silver clips and made of clear tempered glass with smoothed edges. This piece can either stand alone or be blended well enough with various rounded styles for elegant contrasts, and its retail price at Staples is $44.99.

You can buy rectangular, triangular, or square clear glass corner shelves at GlassCornerShelves.com to set up as many as three or four on a corner-mount basis in your show display, and GlassCornerShelves.com’s offerings are all mountable with nothing more complicated than adhesive caulk so long as your display walls are strong and thick. For rectangular shelves 3/8th-inch thick, the prices range from $34.90 for 6×12-inch shelves to $83.20 for 10×48-inch shelves, and you always have the option of staggering the sizes for a more arresting appearance. For triangular corner shelves of the same thickness, the prices are $37.50 for 12×12 to $70.50 for 24×24. For square corner shelves, same thickness, the prices are $44.50 for 12×12 to $69.00 for 20×20.

If you like, the understated elegance of black glass, black glass shelves may be an attractive option, though the selection is far more limited than with clear or even standard frosted glass. Home Depot offers a unique black glass shelf by Curvo, which bends mildly to raise a third-length end a little higher for a distinctive display. The shelf is 8 inches wide and 40 inches long in 8mm thickness and is mounted on two pelican brackets. It retails for $59.95.

A more sophisticated such offering—and certainly a more expensive one—is an unusual heated black glass wall shelf. Made by Hatco, and actually designed for restaurant use, this shelf is 36 inches wide and features a uniform-heat thermostatic control with a lighted on/off rocker switch, something that may help protect your display items in a particularly cool exhibition hall. The drawback is that it is a heavy shelf at 32 pounds, and the lowest known price at this writing was $1,050 through Instawares.com.

Glass shelves can also be mounted on conventional metal or wood brackets. Should you choose either of those options, you should be careful to install protective padding on the bracket tops to avoid scratching or nicking the glass. Even-tempered glass is not indestructible, and scratching will look unattractive as well as possibly weaken the glass integrity.

However, there are also a large number of alternative mounting options, including special shelf supports made of wood, acrylic, or other materials and lending an additional touch of stylishness to your glass-shelving array. You can get supports that can hold as many as four shelf ends each and arrange them any way you like, even mounting two supports opposite each other and supporting a few glass shelves each with open shelf ends opposite the shelf supports.

As you would with your windows, or with glass doors on your cabinets or display cases, you can use Windex, alcohol, or even vinegar to clean glass shelves effectively.