Like many of us, Jack Auses had the same set of Ikea shelves in his home for years. A digital accessibility professional for the University of Chicago, Auses worked a hybrid schedule, bouncing between his home and work offices. But when COVID-19 hit, Auses found himself working from home full time.
While his Ikea shelves got the job done, they were in various stages of sun fading and didn’t maximize his space. In addition to the shelves, Auses had his printer and some other work essentials on a cart, taking up a lot of additional space in his office. He’d been meaning to upgrade for years and when he found himself working from home full time, he decided it was time to finally pull the trigger.
After doing some searching, Auses stumbled upon an ad for Modern Shelving on Instagram. He was drawn to the mid-century modern design and liked the fact that the shelves were customizable so he could tailor them to his needs. After some back and forth with the team to create the unit perfect for his space, he placed his order.
Once the unit arrived, Auses got to work. He and his wife cleared out the office—he spent an hour doing inventory of the parts and another hour or two getting the unit set up.
“I don’t know what I expected in terms of the installation, but it was easier than whatever I was expecting,” says Auses. “I didn’t expect it to be crazy difficult but being able to put it all up in an evening after dinner was a surprise to me.”
From start to finish, Auses found everything to be relatively simple and straightforward. He’s happy with the results and can store his work and personal books, artwork, knickknacks, and printer all in one space. The floor to ceiling custom design fits his space perfectly.
“The unit takes up the full space of my wall,” says Auses. My office isn’t huge so maximizing the space was important. It’s a way more efficient use of space with the new shelving system. I love it.”
