John Louis Home JLH-522 Standard 12-Inch Depth Closet Shelving System, Honey Maple

This went up in about a day and a half. It took longer because the plans were for an 8 foot or a ten foot wide closet, and mine is about 7 feet, so there was lots of measuring and cutting. The finished product looks good and has at least tripled the space in my small closet.I will repeat what I read in previous posts on this product -- you need to read the instructions carefully, measure, plan, think, measure again, cut, and begin hanging the stuff on the wall.Three negative comments: The hollow wall anchors were a joke. I tried using three or four of those, and they just crumbled against the wall -- of no use at all. So plan on a trip to Lowes or Home Depot, and I used some WalMart anchors of the same size on a different project, and they worked fine as well. The second note is that the wall hangar brackets are exactly, precisely the width necessary to hold the components. There really should be an eight of an inch of slack in there, and you'll see why when you begin pulling all of this stuff together. I ended up using larger screws and pulling the parts into those brackets, and since the wood is a little soft, I was concerned I'd be stripping the threads and spending the next few hours filling with wood putty, re-drilling, and trying again. It didn't work that badly, but the wood was obviously dented when it was forced into those brackets. I was very careful but I don't think it's possible to achieve a zero tolerance fit on that system. The third item relates to the assembly instructions. The narrative is fairly clear, but the pictures are not clear at all, and in one area I'm convinced the pictures are showing an incorrect position for a bracket. So when I say it's necessary to plan carefully, read frequently each step of the way, understand the entire project from start to finish before lifting a single tool, it's because I think it's very easy to make mistakes on this project. A video would help, and I considered taping and uploading my work to YouTube, but I had guests coming so with that deadline, I just moved as quickly as I could.The end result? Really a very nicely organized closet with much more room and much better organized and accessible contents. . .

I was looking for a closet organizer for my sons bedroom. I was considering making one, but when I saw the price of this all wood organizer system I figured I would give it a try. I have a good deal of experience woodworking so I figure I could knock this out in a few hours. Here's my assessment.Pros: it's all wood and the looks nice once assembled.Its shipped well packed and arrived up damaged.There's a complete installation guide with pictures,photos and several designs for the parts received.The completed unit seems sturdy.Cons: there's only a couple things I would ding this product about. I would say that while installing the organizer is not that difficult, there's a lot of measuring and if your closet walls are not very straight, plumb and level you'll need to make some adjustments on the fly. Like most assemble your own furniture, the hardware is not of the best quality. I live in a 50 year old home and the studs are like concrete. The screws provided kept wanting to veer off causing the mounting brackets to become misaligned. I wound up drilling a lot of pilot holes to assure the screw went in straight. The finish is nice, but very delicate. It mars easily so you need to be somewhat careful. A touch up pen is provided. The instructions are ok though a bit disorganized and convoluted.The whole job from prepping the closet to installation took about 6 hours. I had to modify the design for an odd size closet. The only other issue is if you want any accessories. I was going to get a set of drawers, but the price per drawer ranged from $59 to $149 each. They do not have a good selection of drawers for the 12" deep unit.All in all a great product for the price.

So the product is beautiful and sturdy. I just wish they made the customer experience of installation easier.It took us 10 plus hours to install- be sure to have a good saw handy ( and of course the usual: a good drill, as well as a stud finder and level). I never sawed wood before, so it was neat to do, but about 8 hours into the installation process, I felt like I just wanted to quit. The instructions are not super user friendly either. I felt like the other reviews didn't actually reflect that process very well.

I purchased this in November 2019, and was only ready to install it in December 2020. The shelving itself is quite attractive, nice wood, color, seeming build, and I had high hopes. The first hurdle was reading an excessively poorly written instruction manual, which has 10 different configurations which all require different measuring, cutting and trimming of pieces. A good (or even mediocre) editor could have reduced frustration enormously, and cut down the chances of erroneous measuring and subsequent cutting. While the mounting hardware was exceptionally WELL organized, with each type in separate baggies, there was a shortage of a crucial fastener. Finally, the assembly process requires screwing brackets into the inside of the side-rails of the shelves (see picture). Everything seemed to be going nicely until, voila, all of the slats pulled out of the opposite siderail from the pressure of the drill against the opposite rail. Quite clearly they were poorly glued into place, and you can see the result. I suppose a skilled carpenter could re-glue, clamp, and salvage the original design, but that person is not me.