What furniture do you use to accomodate your machines?

[gladders]

I hope this is in the appropriate forum...

 

I know lots here like to collect software, but personally I'm not made of money nor have a premium on space, being a Londoner. Plus, when my daughter was born in August last year I packed it all away in boxes - I have no time to play with any of it right now anyway!

 

But my wife and I are looking to move out of London later this year, which will mean lots of space to dish things out. I'm looking forward to starting properly a modest retro computer corner in my new house, rather than the untidy random pile of machines I had in my one-bedroom flat this time last year.

 

But it has to look good! and cool! and tidy (the latter being the wife's insistence!), so this is the reason behind this thread.

 

What furniture, shelving, storage, desks or surfaces do you find particularly convenient or useful for arranging your collection for ease of use, or display, or both?

 

For myself, I won't be able to unleash my whole collection in one go, but I'm hoping to set up my Apple IIe, Atari 800XL, Spectrum, Commodore 64, Acorn Electron and Amstrad CPC 464 as a modest range to begin with. Maybe not all in one go, but at least the Apple plus one more, and the rest and be rotated around.

 

Any suggestions or observations would be welcome!

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Just one word...

 

IKEA

[spacecadet]

Yeah, I mostly use IKEA stuff too because for this type of use, I don't want the furniture to be the focal point. So IKEA's understated, utilitarian look is actually an asset. And it's cheap.

 

I originally had IVAR system stuff in my living room but eventually decided it was a little *too* college dorm/basement for a middle aged professional guy. I now use my second bedroom as my "game room" with my basement for computers and spillover console games, and initially there I had this $59 white open bookshelf that they had that easily held 12 game systems with room to spare. Problem was it was huge and didn't hold a TV, so I had to replace it.

 

Right now for my main entertainment unit I have something like this: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30285153/

 

They keep changing their stuff and mine's not exactly that, but it's whatever they had when I bought it that filled that role in their lineup. It's got a space for a TV and then just a bunch of open shelving areas. Mine also has a shelf on the top, which is one difference between mine and this one. A lot of entertainment centers have mostly closed off backs, because they assume you'll just be storing DVD's or something there. The open back lets me store a bunch of game systems instead.

 

Then above that I have six of these shelves holding media and games: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S79929647/#/S49903639

 

I thought I took a pic of this to show my wife when I first built them but I can't find it.

 

That doesn't hold anywhere near all I have, though - but I decided a while back that we just don't have space to completely dedicate an entire room to just my games. So I keep the systems I'm actively using (and their games) up there and then have more down in the basement. Down there I just have a cheap banquet table that I got at Target that holds four computer systems, and I'm in the process of figuring out how to store all my games. Probably the best all-around option I've found is this: https://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-35435725-Media-Tower-BluRay/dp/B0058O8ES8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=atariage&linkId=ade604bcd4c5385007f84320d0e19194

 

Very inexpensive, holds a ton of media. It does need to be secured to a wall, but I don't think that's a big deal. A couple of the pics in the reviews show people using this for games.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Then above that I have six of these shelves holding media and games: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S79929647/#/S49903639

 

That doesn't hold anywhere near all I have, though - but I decided a while back that we just don't have space to completely dedicate an entire room to just my games. So I keep the systems I'm actively using (and their games) up there and then have more down in the basement. Down there I just have a cheap banquet table that I got at Target that holds four computer systems, and I'm in the process of figuring out how to store all my games. Probably the best all-around option I've found is this: https://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-35435725-Media-Tower-BluRay/dp/B0058O8ES8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=atariage&linkId=ade604bcd4c5385007f84320d0e19194

 

It is funny you mention all of this..

 

I have two of these shelves from IKEA in my game room that hold all my computer PC games. But I have the black colored ones: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40103751/#/40103751

They are quite large and can hold quite a lot on them. They are a tad thick, but have to be since they are floating style shelves. I also used some serious wall anchors on mine to make sure they were secured to the wall well.

 

And that media stand from Atlantic that you linked to? I actually have one of those that I'm trying to get rid of right now?! It was where all my loose carts were originally stored, I since then upgraded to a much older and larger display case.

[spacecadet]

I have two of these shelves from IKEA in my game room that hold all my computer PC games. But I have the black colored ones: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40103751/#/40103751

They are quite large and can hold quite a lot on them. They are a tad thick, but have to be since they are floating style shelves. I also used some serious wall anchors on mine to make sure they were secured to the wall well.

 

I have the Lack shelves in my third bedroom too, for displaying random stuff. I thought the brackets for them were kind of a pain, though, so I went with the Ekby stuff for my games and media. It's been a while but IIRC the Lack shelves make you do the brackets blind, leveling them just against each other. I remember it being a bit difficult. So I do external brackets now where I can just hold the shelf up with the brackets to level before I drill. I can just put one bracket up and then stick the shelf on that and put the level on the shelf to mark the holes for the second one. It's easy to do even after 3 glasses of wine! I've always had problems trying to level shelves when I'm trying to just level in between screw holes; I need to put the level on a shelf.

 

I also always use bigger anchors and screws than the instructions call for. The Ekby shelves come with these tiny screws and *no* anchors, and they still say they hold 20kg. There's no way any games are going to weigh that much even if you put them back to back all the way across the shelf. But I put much bigger screws with anchors in my wall (I buy the screw/anchor kits they sell at IKEA too), so I'm confident my shelves aren't going anywhere.

 

I think I sound like Ed Norton in Fight Club right about now.

 

[Eltigro]

Another vote for IKEA. I used to have my consoles all hooked to the flat screen on a little entertainment center thing that my dad and I built. I recently moved and much of what was in my apartment got compressed into one room. Now I have both tvs on what was my desk with what was my coffee table underneath. The table has little cubbies that work great for systems that are under a certain width, and the wider ones go on top of that or the desk in front of the tvs. It's not the most elegant of solutions, but I'm happy with it for now. (Some controllers, tv remotes, and batteries go in the drawer.

[HoshiChiri]

Another vote for IKEA from me

 

I'm a big fan of the Besta line. It's pricer than some of their other shelving units, but it has shelf holes space 1 inch apart through the entire unit, with no fixed shelves- giving you maximum flexibility over your shelf spacing. Since you can buy more shelves separately, it's easy to customize to your exact needs.

 

My main unit, though, is actually an old corner unit from the long discontinued Journalist line. It's fully open (good for air flow), but offers little in way of actual shelfspace. I've got a decent amount of expansion going with monitor risers & drop shelves for dishes- so if you need a cheap way to expand an existing setup on the cheap, that's a good way to go.

Outdated pic of my main setup (I've since added 2 more risers over the PS2 and under the Sega Genesis/CD to fit in an OG Xbox & a Saturn.)

 

[briwayjones]

You can a lot of times snag free bookshelves, entertainment centers ect., in the free section on Craigslist. Even real wood furniture sometimes.

Edited January 16, 2017 by briwayjones

[juansolo]

My setups are functional rather than pretty.

In the HD rig it’s on a Soundstyle av stand. What I would say about that is get something with wheels! It makes life so much easier it’s untrue. Also the little wooden shelves (Xbox 360 under one, PS3 under the other) are actually Ikea 'Aptitlig' chopping boards with 'Capita' legs (from the bottom of kitchen units I think). Work nice, cost very little and don’t look too bad considering. Top one is narrowed a little to fit, they’re actually about an inch deeper than that. There’s a lot of kit in there, some of which you can’t see.

The Retro rig is sat on a horrible cheap eBay special corner TV stand, which has been expanded with another similarly tacky one. They’re not great to be honest, but everything is just about on there. At some point I’ll replace them with something more substantial with a bit more space, but it’ll do for now.

[Tanooki]

About 6 mo ago I came across a gently used Sony audio/media wooden rack, the one where its top pops up for a turn table, then has a huge area for all the tape/radio/cd things stacked on a shelf then a lower storage spot. I've got the uverse box up top with a couple nintendo classic edition controllers. Then in the big area currently I have a wire right width half depth shelf I stuffed in with the N64 on it and a plastic mini 2 drawer and top cover and open spot thing with memory cards/rumblers/etc in it. Under there sits a Dreamcast and Gamecube+GB Player. The low area has 2 sterile pull out drawers with all my 1P and 2P controllers.

 

The PS4 I just use for movies that sits on top of a half stretched 1960s wood octagon cabinet I found at a peddlers mall to the right of the TV with the retron5 on top, and to the left is the little NES CE. Inside the cabinet has extra joystick/controllers, my shelved top loader NES, and then all my manuals and guides I've picked up over the years more or less.

 

The things I got inventive with are the game storage. I have a 3 tier propac media shelf loaded with my NES, Famicom, SNES, DS, 3DS, Dreamcast, Gamecube, N64 and NeoGeo MVS carts and the rest of the space is a little bit of a few dozen CDs and then a ton of G1 transformers, legos, etc toys. Gameboy gets most creative. Recall those old wooden card catalogs libraries had so you could find books before computers made them useless? I found an antique one a couple years back, it has two deep drawers on it. One pull out is nothing but GBA, the other has GB and GBC which sit in two long columns A-Z style inside.

 

That's pretty much it, anything else kind of just sits in wooden storage cubes or in little plastic pull out drawers and stuff like my little handheld collection of LED/LCD games and other larger tabletops are just out on desks/shelves. My work at home/personal desk I'm at now has my tomytronic pacman and nintendo game&watch tabletop popeye to the left under a light. My other 2 coleco tabletops (DK and PacMan) are on a high shelf (as is my boxed up DK Super set SNES on another along with my 89 DMG Gameboy Box, Mario Paint box, adn the plastic original GB Pocket snap case.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I will say that most of my actual collection is using old furniture or store display fixtures as the largest pieces. I do have two class display cases that I got from IKEA and mounted up some of IKEA's cheap LED lights in to them and use IKEA shelving on the walls. But...the rest of my stuff is mostly old display cases that I converted into the storage they are now.

 

 

Converted store display case I use for the consoles I have connected and ready to go.

 

These are the two smaller display glass cases I got from IKEA and installed the $20 IKEA LED lights into.

 

 

This a very large 7'x4' store display case that I added LED lights to, turned upside down, built top cover doors to use the space now on top as storage.

 

[Andromeda Stardust]

I saw some really nice 2x4 cube shelves at Sams the other day. They come with really nice cloth storage cubes and can be arranged horizontally or vertically. Perfect for loose controller and accessory storage.

 

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/8-cube-organizer-black/prod19860207.ip?xid=plp:product:1:1

[juansolo]

Had a bit of a re-arrange. Possibly the most lightweight (and not in a good way) tables from Ikea ever. But at £16 each, sooooooo cheap. I was a bit concerned about putting about 50kg of CRTs on there, but other than sinking into the carpet like a normal piece of furniture would, it appears to be ok.

 

 

[matt2d2]

I'd love to snag some Ikea stuff, but there isn't one anywhere near me. That $159 shelf linked above would cost $349 to ship.

[LaserCat]

Do not neglect to search for local furniture manufacturers. It is possible to find decent prices if you choose a less expensive wood plus you can have it made, and stained, to your specifications.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Do not neglect to search for local furniture manufacturers. It is possible to find decent prices if you choose a less expensive wood plus you can have it made, and stained, to your specifications.

Or buy a table saw and start making your own sawdust!

[+-^CrossBow^-]

There aren't any IKEA's near me either. But as luck would have it, the wife has family up in St. Joe Missouri, so whenever we visit them (At least once a year...), we always make sure to stop by the IKEA near Olathe and spend a few hours looking. That was how I found the LACK shelves and other stuff I've gotten there. We never usually go there looking for anything specific, just look around and then end up coming home with either a trunk full, or nothing at all. It is always fun though regardless.

[FroggoGamer]

At the moment i'm utilizing a Baker's Rack for my Atari area. The main area hold the TV and 7800, the other racks hold my games and accessories. The top shelf can be used to display my boxes.

[RJ]

IKEA Magicker. Multiple adjustable shelves & a hole in the rear (lol) to hide cords & cables. Adjustable feet. Really deep dimensions too.

 

Shame they don't sell it anymore.

[Andromeda Stardust]

One can also always get a hole saw and drill some holes in the back of any thrift store book shelf in a pinch if necessary.

[chopperthedog]

Had been looking for a glass display case that didn't look like a piece of dining room furniture or wasn't $300+. Ikea has this nice unit https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10290283/ for 100 bucks and also ordered a led tape kit off amazon to light it up. I only hook up one console at a time, but nice to have the hardware on display with easy access and also be protected from dust.

good day.

[Andromeda Stardust]

That's a quality display cab nicer looking than most retail cabs imo.

[NE146]

I laugh at the Ikea BESTA line because it's just a bunch of boxes. Then you shove shelves and drawers in. Ikea sure figured out how to profit off that racket. That said, BESTA is what I used for my main entertainment center.. it worked out pretty well.. but I need to supplement it with some side Billy shelves.

[+Cafeman]

One can also always get a hole saw and drill some holes in the back of any thrift store book shelf in a pinch if necessary.

Agreed, I use these drill bits to make a passageway for cables , and a bit more airflow, in my wood entertaintainment center. Used sandpaper afterwards to smooth it out. Drilled outside to inside to prevent ugly tears and splinters in the finished side.

 

I keep my systems in plastic shelves or containers in my gaming closet o' doom. I hook up a few at a time, and put away some to keep the clutter controlled. But sometimes I have 2 Or 3 on the floor, jacked in to the composite multi box or the VCR's RF, until I once again declutter and put some back into the closet.

 

[Andromeda Stardust]

Agreed, I use these drill bits to make a passageway for cables , and a bit more airflow, in my wood entertaintainment center. Used sandpaper afterwards to smooth it out. Drilled outside to inside to prevent ugly tears and splinters in the finished side.

 

I keep my systems in plastic shelves or containers in my gaming closet o' doom. I hook up a few at a time, and put away some to keep the clutter controlled. But sometimes I have 2 Or 3 on the floor, jacked in to the composite multi box or the VCR's RF, until I once again declutter and put some back into the closet.

 

024721879547.jpg

I've used spade bits (pictured above) as well as hole saws. Spade bits can make a clean hole with a handheld drill. You just need to mount some scrap underneath the workpiece to prevent blowout. This is especially true with thinner panels such as cigar or hobby boxes.

 

People swear that Forstner bits drill the cleanest holes. I'm sure that is the case, but they are more expensive. I've also heard reports that Forstners can be a bit unruly with a handheld drill and are designed for press use. All I have is a plug in Hitachi drill for making holes and a circular saw for rip cuts (you can fabricate a rip guide to make accurate cuts using a circular saw). The plug in drills are much more powerful than the typical battery pack portables. Japan makes good equipment.