Solid Hardwood Vinyl Storage From Tomfoolery Wood Co.
If your IKEA shelves wont survive another move, it may be time for an upgrade
Recently, members of my family expressed the desire for a vinyl record shelf that was “furniture grade”, aka something that was more suited for display in the main floor of a house than the bog-standard workhorse that is the Ikea Kallax. Not to knock the longstanding budget favorite of record collectors everywhere, but it doesn’t always fit into more finely-appointed environments.
Thus, the search was on for a furniture piece to house some of the records kept at my family’s house outside of Denver, the kind that wouldn’t look out of place next to more mature furnishings like the marble-top table that my grandmother rescued from the side of the road during the great depression. We knew we wanted something in solid hardwood, preferably walnut, and something that matched the more modern aesthetics of the rest of the furniture in the house. The Kallax units we had usually relied upon weren’t out of style per-say, but they don’t scream quality, or solidity (even if in reality when assembled correctly they can take a fair amount of abuse ).
The thing is, it turns out that furniture-grade vinyl record shelving is far more niche than I ever realized. Ikea may sell a lot of their modular vinyl shelves, but that popularity hasn’t really caught on in the higher tiers of home furnishing stores like West Elm or Crate and Barrel. If you want hardwood LP shelving, chances are you are going to be browsing mom and pop operations that build to order either on their own small websites, or on marketplaces like Etsy.
One of the shops that immediately caught my eye was that of Tomfoolery Wood Co., a small made-to-order Seattle company that seemed to focus heavily on mid-century inspired vinyl storage. Their owner and founder, Dan Deschenes, started in the woodworking industry at the age of 19 while he was an undergrad at Washington State. Now the owner of his own business making custom furniture out of solid hardwoods like Walnut, Maple, White Oak, Cherry, Madrone, and others. Their designs are simple, but have just the right amount of quirkiness that makes them unique, particularly with their “Offstack” collection, which would fit right in with any classic mid century bungalow.
The Toomfolery 'Emerson' vinyl console
Eventually, impressed by the quality we saw in photos, we decided to place an order for the company’s 82” “Sesto” vinyl console in walnut with a solid back. We wanted something that held the maximum amount of records while still low enough to fit along the railing of the basement stairs. The solid back would prevent any records from falling through the railing down into the basement, and eliminate the need for any type of “backspacer”-like device. The Sesto, along with most of their LP shelving, is not as deep as the Ikea Kallax, this means that records do not sit terribly far back when pushed to the back of the shelf.
The Sesto, like most of the Tomfoolery catalog, does not come cheap. A Walnut model with a solid back will set you back $3,100, and that’s not including the freight shipping which is invoiced after the piece is completed. But as anyone that knows a woodworker will tell you, quality lathe work in solid hardwoods costs a pretty penny, especially when produced at a very small scale. My excellent custom Harbeth stands made by my friend Killian Smith at Denton Wood Workers, another small outfit I can highly recommend, were not cheap even with generous “friend pricing” (basically materials cost). But the difference between those stands and mass produced, screwed-together alternatives was and is still staggering. So naturally I had high hopes for Tomfoolery and the Sesto.
My custom Ash Harbeth stands from Denton Wood Workers, with IsoAcoustics Gaia Feet
Tomfoolery does offer custom orders, but for all their established models, ordering on the website is fairly painless, just select your preferred wood (their wood choices vary, but ours was offered with Myrtle, Madrone, White Oak, Maple, Cherry, and Walnut), and style variations, and checkout is otherwise automated. What isn’t painless however is the order lead time. Right now Tomfoolery states that its orders are typically finished 16 weeks from the order date. Our order was placed on March 17th of 2024, and wasn’t ready for shipping until August 20th. Once the unit was finished, owner Dan Deschenes sent along photos of the completed piece and price quotes for crated, freight delivery. White glove delivery ran $575 for shipping from Washington to Colorado, while if you’re feeling particularly strong and brave the curbside option was $344 (prices will depend greatly on your distance from Washington state and our proximity to major metro areas).
Fortunately, the long awaited result of this expensive piece of furniture was worth it. The fit, finish, and workmanship of the Sesto shelf was outstanding, with interlocking joints at every angle, sturdy feet that have no danger of wobbling or dislodging, and small details that scream quality. Even the thin backing piece of the unit, which I expected to be particleboard, is solid hardwood! (The rear was unfinished but I’m certain the option to finish it is an easy request). While the biggest box sets didn’t clear the top of the shelving, many did, including Analogue Productions UHQR boxes, as well as MoFi One Steps. 
The 'Sesto' shelf in our family home
Interlocking wood joints in our 'Sesto'
With traditional fiberboard shelving that we’re all accustomed to, you would certainly see some bend and give if the shelving was on any type of feet. Not so here, as the Sesto has maintained its sturdy shape since delivery. The feet are not an afterthought, but rather made from the same hardwood and appear is if they will stand up to many years of abuse.
It might be a few years before a Tomfoolery piece is called for in my own listening room, but I can already picture how great a unit like their “Rascoff” triple bookcase, or 7-tier “Offstack” unit would look in my future space.
The Corner version of Toomfolery's 'Offset' shelving
If you are tired of the particleboard merry-go-round of big-box modular record shelves, your next step should really be hardwood, and in this boutique field Tomfoolery Wood Co. has proven itself worth the upgrade.
