Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Workforce Shelving Unit
Pros:
- sturdy
- easily assembled and dismantled
- roomy
Cons:
- some slots
- fixed shelving, not adjustable
- no shallower options
Review:
As an organizer, I can go gaga over boxes and containers. Shelves, well, it depends. When it comes to just your average utility shelves, it generally leaves me ambivalent. Too often, I’m disappointed with the quality or style (and hard to make an argument for something decorative!). After working with a client who had several of these Workforce Storage Shelving units, I decided it would meet our needs.
Our wrapped Workforce shelving
We started with 2 (and haven’t yet picked up more) – one for the basement and all the paint we’ve accumulated and one for the garage for camping and other miscellaneous items. As you will see from my before pictures, we had no organization for these things beforehand – or rather, they might be somewhat organized, but still chaotic. I started with clearing the spaces where we wanted the shelves to go.
Garage before, piles of camping stuff
Piles of paint - before getting the needed shelving
Since I’m a fan of using the timer, I timed how long it took me to unwrap and assemble a shelf – it took me under 7 minutes. It would have been less too, as I thought we were missing a foot for the shelf and spent time taking the 3 feet off only to find the missing foot and putting them all back on. For me, as a relatively short person, putting the top shelf on was a little challenging since I couldn’t see well. I was impressed with the details on the bars – so I took a picture – and you can see the narrower area, but there’s also the mottled area past the smooth part. The idea is that all of the smooth area will be within the unit, and this makes it clear when it has been assembled snugly.
Rod for the shelving, showing the details
One of the reasons I was drawn to this brand, was in seeing it elsewhere, I saw that it was sturdy. I was honestly amazed by the fact that they don’t wobble. Even looking at alternatives in the store, many would jiggle as I touched them. There is little to none with this shelf. You might be shocked to see one of my after pictures – there’s stuff on the top, but not on the bottom. “What are you doing? You need to put things at the bottom first, give it some stability.” Although we did do that with the one for the basement, these shelves are sturdy enough, I felt comfortable loading the camping gear on the top.
Garage, with the camping gear on the shelving
Often when I look for utility shelving, I’d like adjustable shelves. I dislike wasted space; especially unnecessary wasted space and I want to be able to put what I need to onto the shelves. These shelves are not adjustable. They also have slots on the shelves, another thing I’m not crazy about. It’s amazing to me how easily bottles tip on shelves with slots, even the smaller slots – going against what seems logical. I understand part of the reason for the slots is that spills won’t catch on the shelves. Nevertheless, I knew most of what we were storing would be larger items, and I could give up the idea of solid and adjustable shelves for the solid Workforce shelves. My husband and I were pleased to find that the shelves fit gallon paint cans on top of each other.
Basement, with the paint loaded and through the doorway to the left can see how clear the previous area is now!
As I’ve already said, we both liked these well enough that we’re thinking of getting more. I wish they offered a narrower option – we have a narrow broom closet that needs better shelving, but even at the 18 inches, it would not fit in the closet and allow us to get into the deeper areas. For most areas, these shelves don’t take up too much room and provide great storage for larger items. I’m impressed with their stability, empty or filled. Now that we have a place for the paint supplies and the camping gear, we’ll be able to easily put these away now that they have a place.
