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Catalogs: Global Equipment for the industrial loft

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I don’t think of catalogs as shopping opportunities. I think of them as forays into my fantasy parallel lives. Like the one in which I’ve inherited great sums of money and live on a farm in upstate New York (Thos. Moser). The one in which I scored a little Neutra house in Silver Lake (Design Within Reach). The one in which I own a cottage with a lot of wainscoting near -- but not on -- a lake somewhere in New England (Pottery Barn).

But the fantasy I most often indulge comes courtesy of a catalog from the Global Equipment Co. In this version, I dwell in a big industrial loft. Not one of those doorless, new-construction apartments that Los Angeles developers call ‘luxury lofts,’ but a real factory space -- high ceilings, exposed beams, brick walls, concrete floors. The works. Let’s say it’s in Seattle.

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Global’s products vary not at all from one catalog to the next, but I examine every page all the same. Because in my fantasy loft-life, I might need a pre-engineered, modular steel mezzanine with optional handrail and staircase (seen right). Or an oscillating I-beam-mounted fan (30-inch diameter, please).

The loft will certainly require a red 48-gallon wire-mesh trash basket. For recyclables.

My kitchen might be well organized in Hallowell Clear View lockers -- or open steel restaurant shelves. I’m considering a red Air Tread rubber mat instead of an IKEA rug. But for the counters, I’m holding out for the European red beechwood woodworking bench from high-end tool-seller Garrett Wade, seen at top.

-- Robin Rauzi

Upper photo: Woodworking bench. Credit: Garrett Wade

Lower photo: Steel mezzanine. Credit: Global Equipment Co.

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