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Husband-and-Wife Team Designs a Better Way to Store Clothes

The EZSTAX is simple, stackable and sustainable

By Rain Noe - July 14, 2015

in Organization

Furniture designers have not kept pace with the way we store our clothes—and the sheer amount that we have. Consider how antiquated the chest of drawers is, and what a poor solution it provides in the era of fast fashion. Does it make sense to stack things horizontally, and dig through the entire pile to get to an item at the bottom?

Last year our resident organization expert, Jeri Dansky, found that some folks had thus come up with an alternative method of storing shirts: Like file folders. It makes good sense. And now Joe and Sami Kuipers, an entrepreneurial husband-and-wife team, has taken that concept and designed a simple product and system around it.

I don't say it's the perfect solution, but the Kuipers' EZSTAX system is certainly a great version 1.0 of how we ought to store clothes in the future. I'm also impressed with this early take considering these guys aren't even industrial designers:

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I call it clever in that the "hinges" are simply a function of the protrusions nesting into one another. I'm also digging that they're made from recycled materials. Again, it's not perfect—after days of usage the end user will have empty slots in the middle, and refilling them will necessitate removing the ones on top*, which is similar to the original problem—but at least these guys are trying. Until furniture designers step up with something new, we'll be looking out for inventive laypeople devising their own solutions.

*Editor's note: The following quote was sent to us by Joe Kuipers:

I was hoping you might take a look at seconds 1:07 through 1:10 again on our video.

We truly tried to design EZSTAX to be easy to remove the empty dividers. Some of our original prototypes did not accomplish that function so we went back to the drawing board until we had a product that was easy to remove. Basically, you just have to tilt up a bit further and give it a little lift and the empty ones slide right out so it shouldn't necessitate removing the rest of the pile.

The Kuipers put the EZSTAX up on Kickstarter, and it's already landed $35,000 on a $10,000 goal, with 25 days left. More power to them.

So, if this is the 1.0, do any of you ID'ers have ideas for the 2.0?

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Comments

Josie Tipton

6 years ago

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SUGGESTION- start making 13x13 size for scrapbook pages and you will have TONS of people organizing their supplies!!

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Linda Hawxhurst

9 years ago

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Is the price of $20US for one or for a set? If so, how many?

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Joe Kuipers

9 years ago

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HI - Just letting everyone know that we had an awesome Kickstarter on EZSTAX. We raised 1200% of our goal and are finalizing our manufacturing tooling now.

You can still buy them for our October ship date by visiting http://ezstax.com

We're offering a 5% discount for pre-sales through August so use the code EARLYBIRD to get yours now!

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Kristian Bjørnard

9 years ago

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Hmmm... I think this is more of a problem of poor consumerist choices rather than that of bas furniture design.

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Hyongho Park

9 years ago

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So much better thab i though it would be ;)

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Joe Kuipers

9 years ago

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Hi Myla -

Long story short, the Kickstarters will probably get a better deal and more product for their money than retail pricing will provide so buy yours today at http://kck.st/1Nihtej

We're still working on our retail pricing and unsure of exactly where it will pan out (it will depend on the sales channels we choose). The Kickstarter campaign has what are called "stretch goals" which unlock as higher total funding levels are reached. We're at $65k so every pledge gets an extra 5% worth of product. At $80k it will be another 5% and at $125k it will be another 5% (15% total extra).

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Myla Tarin

9 years ago

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Hi i need this. Will the price be the same if i pledge now or if i wait on aug 8 for the commencement of your website?

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Joe Kuipers

9 years ago

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Hi everyone. We're available for shipping worldwide. Just visit this link: http://kck.st/1Nihtej and choose the reward level that best suits you. Kickstarter is a crowdfunding site that helps get businesses off the ground. Since we're already fully funded, manufacturing and shipping are a reality and we will be shipping no later than October to all those who pledge to the campaign. Quantities available range from 20 to 200. Thanks!

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Eliza Chua

9 years ago

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where can i buy these i'm from the philippines?

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Nasaphra Gragas

9 years ago

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me too! I badly need this. Where can I buy this from philippines too.

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Joe Kuipers

9 years ago

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Hi Vanessa. They are currently available for purchase at
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1162126796/stay-organized-closets-dressers-laundry-and-office

After August 8th, they will be available at http://ezstax.com

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Vanessa Candy

9 years ago

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How can i purchase this? I live in the Philippines..

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Joe Kuipers

9 years ago

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Thanks for adding the note Rain! Here's a pic of empty EZSTAX being removed too!

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- Rain Noe
  
  Joe Kuipers
  
  9 years ago
  
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  My pleasure, keep up the good work!
  
  - Rain
  
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  - Joe Kuipers
    
    Rain Noe
    
    5 years ago
    
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    Hey Rain! We're 6 days into our second Kickstarter (500% funded). We refined our design to be the perfect office filing product - EZSTAX File Organizers. Any chance you'd take a look? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ezstax/ezstax-file-organizers-a-new-way-to-sort-file-and-store
    
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Joe Kuipers

9 years ago

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Thanks for the write-up Rain!

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- Stuart Constantine
  
  Joe Kuipers
  
  5 years ago
  
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  Hi Joe - we included your latest project in our Currently Crowdfunding post last week!
  
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