After writing about the classic String System shelving designed in Sweden in 1949, I am mellowing on my attitude toward writing about Ikea. In the past, I was kind of anti-Ikea because (1) I had a bad experience with quality about 10 years ago [office table that looked terrible after excrutiating assembly process] and (2) well, Ikea is not doing it “The Hard Way.” But thinking further about the String system, I decided to give Ikea and its current generation of Scandinavian designs another look-see. I went online shopping and my best find: The Ekby shelf, above — quite similar in concept to the String Plexi. In fact, I found a number of powder-coated storage solutions that I think are worth knowing about.
Oh Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin 1960s round sofa sectional in original gold and taupe flower power print, how beautiful art thou.
Continuing my research into midcentury modern shelving systems, Cado “floating” wall systems are now also in my sites. Like the 
Boom! Pow! Welcome to Monday morning: Here is a great find: 170 new-old-stock (NOS) of 6′ x 2′ plastic decorator in 19 patterns, found in Pennsylvania and now for sale near Austin, Texas. And a first for the blog: This story has a back story of murder, too.
Brainstorming storage ideas for my home office studio remodel, I have become mildly obsessed with midcentury wall storage systems. So, I was immediately entranced when I saw this photo, above, uploaded by Jan in our new gallery of 
She called it a “String Shelf”. I went to investigate and sure enough, String Shelves are a Big Thing. The String System was created by Swedish architect Nils Strinning in 1949. He had created the Elfa wire storage system three years earlier, and built upon that idea to design bookcases for a design competition. He won, the system was put into production, and it’s still available today. Moreover, I think these are a great item to watch for, vintage, where you might find a fabulous deal now that you know what to watch for.
The crowning glories of 
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