Wow this guy has the 606 Vitsoe Universal shelving [1] and USM Haller desk [2]
A dream setup.
A dream setup.
I've got wooden IKEA shelves in my shed and they take serious abuse of big heavy tools, lawn mowers, car batteries, paint cans etc being non-carefully put/clattered away and they're holding up 100% after years. I can't imagine any normal shelves needing to be "well made" to support a few magazines and a toy model Porsche?
Or is this just a "because I am rich and want you to know how rich I am" type thing?
Tables are really well made. So are the bookshelves. They are sturdy, high quality and withstand to abuse.
There are high quality items, and there are fine and high quality items. What he uses the latter.
Take an example. He uses fountain pens (so do I). Montblanc inks, a Lamy 2000. They are not expensive for what they are, yet they are fine instruments. They are made with care. I have tons of inks, yet Montblanc and a couple of brands really stand out in reliability, writing comfort and color quality. Same for L2000. It’s a very understated but a completely handmade thing, with great attention to detail. It’s even too much pen for that money.
The furniture he uses are the same. Understated, yet fine. It’s not there to make a statement, but to be enjoyed by their owner. I share the same sentiment. I do not buy anything to impress anyone, but to enjoy.
Nobody, sans my wife sees my most prized possessions. I got them to use and enjoy, that’s all.
For anyone else curious, I Googled about the LAMY 2000 Fountain Pen. It has a retail price over 250 USD. You can buy excellent Japanese single-use pens for less than 1 USD.
> Nobody, sans my wife sees my most prized possessions. I got them to use and enjoy, that’s all.
Yes, I all the things you have listed up there, sans the Porsche, and while I enjoy them immensely, let me tell you that they are not "needs" for me, and I don't become someone better "just because I have them".
See, I have the audacity to listen to the music intently, make mine and even record it with an audio interface. Oh the horrors, oh the horrors!
I got some of these items with luck, bought some of them with my money, but more importantly, these are not excuses to look down on people just because I have, use and enjoy them.
Maybe it's kinda rude to look down on people just because they have different choices than you. Or maybe it's a prejudice that you think someone is a snob just because they happen to have a record player or a fancy watch and you assume that they don't enjoy a Casio F-91W or a simple YouTube bootleg record over a Bluetooth speaker the same.
...and yes, iammjm's reply is correct. Fountain pens are comfortable for long writing sessions, and you can get a Lamy Safari and be done with it. It's such an excellent pen.
However, the difference in writing feel, line quality, &c between a lamy 2k and the new Chinese producers like Majohn or PenBBS is not so big. They do require a bit more maintenance, and the looks and feels are subpar. Whether that's worth the $230 price difference is questionable.
I own the lamy, and love it dearly. I bought it 10 years ago, when I felt easier with spending money. I wouldn't have bought one now.
All valid, and that's the point.
I may romanticize the idea of making my own stuff from time to time, but realistically, I’m never going to spend my time sourcing wood slabs, finding ways to transport said slab to my workshop, building a workshop, letting the wood dry (if not already done), learning all the details about how to best adapt the slab to a desk, building the actual desk, trying to fix the imperfections, then after installing the desk in my office… knowing those imperfections exist and the things I learn along the way, I’d be unsatisfied and thinking about how I could build another desk without those issues/compromises. Rinse and repeat forever. This sounds like a nightmare, and much more expensive than just buying a desk.
I sometimes go through phases watching woodworkers on YouTube and it’s never just—-varnish a slab and bolt on some legs. In some cases, even moving the slab around requires specialized skills and equipment.
All that to say, you might surprise yourself what you can do without a monster boomer wood workshop full of Festool and other unobtanium, and feel pretty good about it.
The amount of experience behind that analysis is pretty high. You have a lot of knowledge that you got somehow. Maybe by growing up around it, maybe by taking a class or something else.
Lots of people don’t have that knowledge or the experience to do it well. And don’t really want it. None of it is all that hard, and about anyone could learn the basics pretty fast.
But lots of people prefer doing other things instead of working up that knowledge. Or, even more, figuring out that this knowledge is available and not that hard to learn.
Some projects are hard for beginners and just figuring out if their idea of a desk qualifies is even more work.
IKEA doesn't actually make any modular wall shelves like that anymore, after discontinuing the SVALNÄS. For a wall mounted shelf on a budget you could go for the Elfa system or the Fasttrack one.
It was a genuine question about what makes these any better (...or not). Like do they have some amazing non-obvious feature? Something that no other shelf has? Something that IKEA shelves fail to do?
Of course it could be a performative thing (as I was suggesting) in the same way that someone pays $150 for a t-shirt because it has a logo on it and they want people to know. There is a sucker born every minute as they say.
That’s fine if you buy exactly what you want and need and know your needs will never change, but if you later want to expand, you’re out of luck. At best, you might get lucky and find parts of Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree, but you’re usually just stuck. (I’d kill for some more 200cm wall rails but I doubt I’ll ever find any.)
The 606 Vitsoe system is heinously overpriced but has the advantage of having been around for 50+ years and is so established you’ll likely always be able to buy more parts if you want to expand it.
I have an Eames lounger. It was absurdly expensive and doesn’t even have a recline lever. But, it sparks joy. I like how it looks, I find it comfortable.
When I was a student I went to a furniture store with a friend and I sat in this chair, not knowing who Eames was or the price tag, and I loved immediately. It felt like sitting in a cloud. When I saw the price tag I said if I ever make it I’m buying this chair.
I worked a long time to buy it and it represents a non tangible journey to me.
But I also feel like an ass, because it was absurdly expensive and a total luxury and people are going hungry every day. My mom would slap my head if she knew what I paid.
Anyway, back to my folding chair, Vision Pro, and Mac Studio 512GB. ;)
RAM or disk?
This is in stark contrast to many of the cheaper options. I know a lot of people who throw their IKEA stuff away when they move and buy new stuff for every place they live. IKEA stuff doesn’t always old up will to moves (depending on what it is) and when it’s cheap, people treat it like fast fashion and want a change.
Over the course of a life, this could mean something like Vitsoe shelves could be the more economical option and lead to significantly less waste.
I’m actually in need of some shelves. I’ve been debating going the 606 route, but have been struggling to decide where they’d go. I don’t have an obvious solution. I saw they have a service to help people design their layout. Did you use that, and is there already an expectation that you have some idea what you want?
Now when I checked his website in little bit more detail I get that feeling more and more. Looks like someone who brags about a lot of things he owns and cannot shut up about it.
while true:
optimize life
I think it reflects on the current state of things. I wonder if people look at this kind of fancy stuff and associate with a life that is ever more out of reach, instead of something to aspire to.
Some people have other hobbies that cost a lot more than enjoying fine furniture, such as cars. It's easy to dismiss something as snobby when it's not a hobby you share. But if you get to know him (for me, obviously from a distance and only from following him on Twitter), he's anything but a show-off.
Between IVAR and now this 606, I actually don’t know any other non-garage-oriented “universal” shelving systems where you can like mix and match drawers, shelves, tables, etc.
I have IVAR in my office and it’s great.
A designer couch made entirely of foam can cost you 10k just because there is a name on it.
You're paying for the distinctive style and to show others your wealth or taste.
Much above that and you might as well get custom-made stuff.
The shelving isn't that attention grabbing (looks like double-track wall shelving)
but the cabinet with drawers, that is cool.
I think we should have lots more office cabinets with drawers so things can be in plain sight. super-functional shallow metal ball-bearing drawers like tool chest drawers. I think it would be organized and productive.
The chairs in front of the desk might be a pair of Vitsoe 620 Chair Programme.
Using the photo under the "Rethinking the desk" heading we see an Apple Studio monitor on one side.
On my monitor/browser/resolution/etc the desk is 157mm wide in that image and the monitor is 48mm wide.
The Apple specs say that monitor is 623mm wide.
So that would make the desk roughly 623*157/48 = 2037mm long.
That makes sense, his computer setup is relatively small compared to the analog side.
I very much prefer adjustable height desks.