I notice that your inspiration photo doesn't have glass shelves, and I am a bit concerned that glass shelves might not support as much weight as you'll need. I think you might want to re-consider that and use wooden shelves instead.

Good luck with your project!

I think you've done just what you were aiming for.
I agree about the glass shelves, too. Wooden ones are more flexible.

I'd paint the back wall of the shelving bits to match the rest of the room's walls. Gives the whole business more depth, and lightens the effect of all that white woodwork. I would also install low-voltage strip lights behind the fascia boards along the front, if you aren't already planning that. They won't light the whole unit, but they'll add a soft glow that is very attractive, since the top shelf is under the fascia, and can look cavernous and shadowy.

This is one end of our former library, in which the cabinetry is not unlike what you are doing.

If you will have seating facing the television, you might want to have lamps beside it for low lighting, and if so, think about installing a floor outlet. The best ones are countersunk, with a brass (or something) plate that allows the spot to be level and the outlet covered if it's not in use. I would position it under where the sofa will be, so that the cords disappear under the furniture.

I agree on nix the glass shelves....they are best for lighted china cabinets.

Hi Sue.

Here's what's bothering me about that drawing: not the glass shelves--although that's a concern, too--but the fact that there are no dimensions called out for the individual components.

I'd hope that the strong horizontal in the window would be carried onto the other wall, meaning that it--not the ceiling line--should determine the height of the unit. From the drawing, it's hard to say.

Also, you say the upper shelves are glass, but surely the top surface of the lower cabinets isn't also glass. And if it's wood instead, why does that shelf have no more visual thickness than the glass shelves above it? Is that wooden shelf set behind the upper edge of the doors? It's hard to say. If this unit were a person, it would be a stick figure: not enough information.

How about the base of the cabinet: is the reason it looks so short because it's designed to align with the baseboard on the existing walls? And if so, could the baseboard be bulked up to match a heftier base for this cabinet wall? If the baseboard wasn't the design cue, what was? And why? And the verticals: can they be bulked up, as well? Not as thick as the window lintels, but something that will relate a little better to them, maybe with a stepped-down cross-section? I bring all this up because I see a lot of custom built shelf units that don't look half as good as what people could have bought off-the-shelf at a big home store--and for a lot less money.

See, here's the problem: just because someone is an excellent crafstman, that doesn't guarantee that he's also an excellent designer. One of the best woodworkers I know has no taste at all. He makes solid, beautifully finished furniture, but as far as design goes, it's hit or miss. Miss, mostly: table legs with cankles, tabletops too heavy for their bases, chests with clumsy-looking feet, weird, scrolly tops to vanites, he's made 'em all. Which is too bad, because with the proper supervision--and a tight rein on his tendency to want to 'improve' a classic design--he's one of the best. Without that supervision, however, he's a loose cannon.

So make sure that you get a full set of specs before you proceed. In fact, if this were my place & I were doing a similar wall-size unit, I'd do a full-scale mockup of one section out of cardboard before things went any further. Yes, that extra step will cost more, but what looks OK in a generic outline drawing can be way off in real life, and better to find out that one or another element's proprtion is way off when the change can still be made with an Exacto knife.

Regards,
Magnaverde.

Some great comments here, thank you.

Sujafr: I am still on the fence with the glass, but will surely find out if they can hold a shelf full of books should we decide to go for it.

Bronwynjsmom: Thanks for the picture. I do like the lighting you suggested and will consider that.

Lindac: I agree. I like the look of the lights suggested by Browynsmom, so perhaps thats the way to go.

Magnaverde: Ok, lots of helpful info here. I have some comments and some questions if you don't mind.

Mag said: Here's what's bothering me about that drawing: not the glass shelves--although that's a concern, too--but the fact that there are no dimensions called out for the individual components
The measurements were on a separate sheet, but are as follows: Middle cabs come out 21-22; the side cabs come out 18". The shelves come out 15" on the sides.

Mag said:I'd hope that the strong horizontal in the window would be carried onto the other wall, meaning that it--not the ceiling line--should determine the height of the unit. From the drawing, it's hard to say.

The unit will go up to 90" (6" from the ceiling on that wall so a bit of ceiling peaks thru)whereas the window is 86" at the bottom of the transoms. Are you suggesting they be as high as the bottom part of the transoms? If so, that seems a bit short for the cathedral ceiling in the room. No?

Mag said:
Also, you say the upper shelves are glass, but surely the top surface of the lower cabinets isn't also glass. And if it's wood instead, why does that shelf have no more visual thickness than the glass shelves above it? Is that wooden shelf set behind the upper edge of the doors? It's hard to say. If this unit were a person, it would be a stick figure: not enough information.

Understood. The glass shelves were to be placed in a wood frame so as to appear as wood. I am thinking twice about the glass due to others concerns and will speak to the craftsman about it.

Mag said: How about the base of the cabinet: is the reason it looks so short because it's designed to align with the baseboard on the existing walls?
And if so, could the baseboard be bulked up to match a heftier base for this cabinet wall? If the baseboard wasn't the design cue, what was? And why?
Baseboard is already in and will continue along the base of the new cabinetry.

Mage said: And the verticals: can they be bulked up, as well? Not as thick as the window lintels, but something that will relate a little better to them, maybe with a stepped-down cross-section? I bring all this up because I see a lot of custom built shelf units that don't look half as good as what people could have bought off-the-shelf at a big home store--and for a lot less money.

I understand completely. We have yet to talk about trim with the builder and I agree that the we need more weight to the verticals - absolutely. We certainly need to make sure that is understood before we give them the go ahead. They built our built-insin our basement as well as a bar/cabs and it came out fantastic.

Not sure what you mean by stepped-down cross section but perhaps that is what they did to the window trim...the verticals go to the top window frame while the cross pieces under the transoms are set in from the verticals...and routed with a decorative edge. Is that right?

I much appreciate the time you took to review and comment on this and very much respect your insights.

Thanks for any other comments and answers to my above questions.

Sue

Timely post - we are redoing our family room and right now we have the wires hanging out of the wall. I've been designing several entertainment center type options and have been guided this way:
Dear hubby has given me specifications for all his equipment. Bookshelf speaker sizes; center speaker size (he wants his centered below the tv); TV size and the height he wants it mounted; subwoofer size; and component sizes (DVD player, etc.).

Once you have all that, then begin designing. Many TVs are more horizontal than yours - so make sure you've got all the proportions correct first. Also, you'll probably want your shelves to be adjustible. You'll want full extension glides on your bottom shelves so you can get at the back/wiring of all your equipment easily. Personally, I don't like to dust much, so alot of open shelves are a problem at our house - I would consider putting them behind glass doors. Consider your shelf/ambient lighting carefully too! A trip to your local high-end audio store might give you some good ideas. Also google on "plasma TV entertainment centers" or something like that and look at the images there. Good luck - and keep us posted!!!

Sue

Congrats on your new space

My first thought was the glass shelving - so I'll just echo what others have said -

I think Mag, as always, brings up some valid pts to ponder

I'm a visual person so I'm trying to "see" the drawing in the space. What is the entire piece centered on?

What furnishings will go in the room? how many people will the space seat & how will the seating be arranged?

Also what type television & size - Seating to the perpendicular to television will make viewing a little more difficult that right in front of television - Light that comes through the windows will also play a role is best viewing -

I don't like the center speaker at the top of the unit, making a speaker a focal point of a lovely hand made furnishing.

What is the depth of the entire unit

I love built ins but think I would shy away from something that confines the size of the television that must be housed in it - Many folks stuck with limitation on the size due to this.

Posting a pic of the entire room different angles will help with the visualizing your end result issue, at least I'm suffering with .

Link posted below to Audioholics forum - This is an incredible site that has some serious folks that know their stuff. Helpful to me on several occasions - It can be addicting & confusing but don't hesitate to sign in & request help. - They know height of seats, TV viewing heights, types of wiring, speakers, how to set a room up

I'm always amazed at how much people spend on beautifying their space but loose out on how to really set up their expensive equipment to obtain optimal output

Please keep us posted

Here is a link that might be useful: audioholics

Cookingrvc, from what you say about the dimensions & your satisfaction with what your carpenter has already done for you, it sounds like you found a good guy.

When I referred to the window's horizontal divider, you were right to be troubled by what you thought I meant--that the bottom edge of the crossbar should be the top edge of your new unit. No, no. That would make your unit way too short & stubby. That crossbar's line should, in effect, carry the visual line across to the other wall, meaning its top edge would (ideally) relate to the top of the cornice on your built-ins, to create a consistent horizontal line, since the angle of your ceiling will have more impact when contrasted against one horizontal than it would if there were several different height levels competing for primacy. And, clearly, I think you know what I mean, now, because your initial misinterpretation of what I said before wouldn't have caused you to ask a floollow-up question if it sounded right to you. Obviously, you've already though things out, which is the first step toward success. Every time I see a post saying "The painter/electrician/stonemason is coming in THE MORNING so I have to decide TONIGHT!", I see disappointment--expensive disappointment--coming up. Decorate in haste, repent at leisure.

OK, checking the dimensions, I like the stepping-back of the various units' depth, because with your sloped ceiling, that variation will create a more interesting silhouette, yet do so without messing around with the heights. As far as your shelves go, if they're framed in wood, they'll look more substantial.

I'm glad to hear about thicker verticals, too. And the stepped-back profile I mentioned is what you would see if you took a horizontal slice out of one of the verticals--think of the difference between a slice of a Peppperidge Farm sandwich bread & a regular slice of Sunbeam. Totally different in feel. So you want the front corners of the verticals on your unit to relate to what looks like (in your photo) the cut-back front edges of your window's framing. No sharp-edged hard corners.

As the great Chicago architect Mies van der Rohe said, "God is in the details", so hang in there. As projects drag out & bills pile up, too many people run out of energy (or interest or time or patience or money) and they drop the ball at the last minute, going with whatever aesthetic decision is the easiest, thereby allowing their impatience to spoil the chance at creating a really good-looking, coherent room. So see all those pesky "minor" decisions through to the end, no matter how much you just want it all to be over. As somebody else said, "It ain't over till it's over."

Regards,
Magnaverde.

I've provided some other pics of the room to give you a better perspective. The reno just entailed bumping out the north wall 6' and replacing the windows and door.

For seating, we are planning to put couches perpendicular to each other with one in front of the window and one perpendicular to it. The TV viewing angle from the window couch is fine, but of course the angle from the couch facing the unit is best.

Because there is a opening to the living room along the wall left of the built-in wall, we likely wont have furniture there as that is the 'walkway' from the kitchen to the living room. We might add a chair later, but that will depend on the space after the essential pieces are added.

We educated ourselves on the ideal TV viewing height and are requesting cabs at 32" high. The center of the TV, a Sony Bravia 52", will come up to47" which seems ideal for viewing. While I agree that the center speaker shouldn't st4eal the show, it will blend in and not take center stage.
The speakers will be bookshelf speakers and the other speakers are in the ceiling.

The woofer is a challenge, but we are tucking that to the left of the windows, next to where one of the couches will reside. Or, we might put it in the bottom cabinet, and might decide to leave the bottom left and right cabs open to accommodate and balance.

Here are some more pics, one of the room before the reno to show the space and interest we've gained.

Any other thoughts, comments, questions, warnings??? I can't tell you how much I appreciate your insights and the time you took to respond. Thank you all very much.

BEFORE RENO (west view) The wall to the left stayed the same. Note the entrance to the living room,. just before the candles.

View from built-in wall to kitchen (looking east):

North view:

Outside BEFORE:

Outside AFTER:

Is there a particular rule about the size of a tv? We are starting our research for our living room which is 24 X 18 and were told that we shouldn't go above 46 - 48" which makes sense to me when I hold my "cardboard tv" against the wall. It is hard to tell the dimensions of your room but does anyone think 52" seems too large?

Lynn, this is good info from Crutchfield.

Here is a link that might be useful: choosing an HDTV

Thanks Natal - good basic info. I am not showing it to hubby though, he'll want a bohemouth monstrosity in there.

Thought I'd follow up and show you the finished product. We're still working on the lighting above the unit and for the middle, upper space. Waiting for the couches to arrive and setup of home theatre stuff.

Thank you all for taking the time to give me your thoughts.

Sue

Sue, I think they look great! Do you happen to have the measurements handy (total height of ceiling and built-in unit and height of counter on top of doors in particular). We are considering doing a similar thing.

bronwynsmom, your library is beautiful! Is that your old house? I would definitely miss having a room like that!

Sue, it looks beautiful! Makes me want to hurry up and get busy on our built-ins that will go around our fireplace. Your carpenters did a wonderful job. We'll be building ours ourselves.

thanks jgtbm....kiko, sure...i can recite the dimensions in my sleep.

The overall height is 86", the length is 179". The countertop height is 32". The center unit comes out 20", the side units project out 16", and the shelf upper extends 12" so there's a nice uniform 4" stepback for interest.

The shelves are 13.25" apart.

The center unit was made to hold a 52" TV.

It's gorgeous, Sue! Congrats! (I'd love to see it when complete w/furniture, etc., too!)

You're welcome. Add me to the list that hoosiergirl started to see it when the room is complete.

It's beautiful! It was a nice area before, but it really opened up when you added on. I wish we had made our keeping room bigger and not given so much space to the screened porch.

It's gorgeous! You're going to have a lot of fun piddling with them. We added a three wall book nook off the new living room last year and I'm still arranging it!

Mine is very similar, white with wood shelves, but I don't have bottom cabs since we have so many books.

I'm glad you went with wood instead of glass. That's also a good height for the shelves too. Ours is about 15" high on the bottom two shelves of each unit while the upper shelves are smaller, but they're big enough for our tallest book. I made sure they measured for it. lol.

Good job!

Thanks guys. I'll be sure to post final pictures once the furniture is in.

Sue