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Please help me design my family rooom built-ins

9 years ago

I'm taking forever to get this room together!

It is 12 wide by 17 long and has a cathedral ceiling. I would like to make it look wider and have wanted to put built in book shelves flanking the sofa by the window. I'm ready to finally start designing these and get them built.

I would like them to be gorgeous with clean lines and know I need your help to get there!!

Area in question:

Sketchup V1:

I'm looking for very specific input into how to design these. The sofa is 36" deep and I've made the built-ins 18" deep in the above version. Should they be deeper, more narrow, taller, etc. I'm planning on matching trimwork with what we have in the rest of the room.

Rails and stiles - are at 2". The built-in on the right is almost 2" wider than the one on the left.

Room layout:

Upper lighting: we have two parallel runs of Tech Lighting k-hellos above, which are challenging to design around. I think I need something with very clean lines to fit in.

For door and drawer fronts, I'm planning on same style used in the linen closet (room on the left). Inset. Maybe without the bead though?

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Comments (12)

Annie Deighnaugh
9 years ago
As you are nesting around the sofa, I'll attach pics of what we did in our library. We made the bottom deeper than the bookshelves above, and we added a slide (made out of leftover marble from our fireplace) so people sitting there have a place to put a drink without end tables. We have a bridge above ours, but you won't need that with your lovely window.
Holly- Kay
9 years ago
I think the rendering looks great. I think the clean Shaker look in would go wonderfully in your beautiful room.

I have beading on my kitchen cabs and the top glaze really makes the beading pop. I'm not sure how noticeable beading would be without a wash of glaze. Whatever you do it will be lovely. I am so envious of your beautiful, elegant room!
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OMG, you have a really high ceiling! Amazing space, and it will be marvelous to go UP with your storage cabs. Hmmm, I can see that the space to the left of the window might not be WIDE enough for all that many upper cabs with doors. And instead of closing in the wall plugs, could you move them up to the spots where the triangular shelves would be? At least that way, you'd have a spot to put a small Bose radio or a clock, or maybe some other small electrical thingy, like the chargers for your cell phone and camera batteries? I'd suggest the same for the other plug beneath the window. Move it up enough that it would not be located behind the window seat or any deep cushion you might place there. You could, if need be, simply take power off of it to put a shaded sconce on the tall pantry cab to the right of that window too. No wall switch, just a button on the sconce itself. And, that high pointy ceiling area there is really dramatic. Putting an uplight on top of the highest cab where you will locate some arty objects, that would be a nice feature. I'd suggest a wall switch on a dimmer for that. If you CAN leave the window molding uncovered, and it is pretty, then try to figure it. But I am puzzled by what kind of molding it is....metal? If it is metal, you probably should leave it, unless you can caulk the cab and window seamline to appear flawless. Have you ever heard about the CAMEL PROJECT? A CAMEL is a HORSE DESIGNED BY COMMITTEE. hehehehe I heard that expression when I was a research librarian many years ago. Don't worry. Brainstorming is good for us all.
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chispa, Thanks for your comments. This is not the main TV area. There will be a man cave downstairs with a larger TV. We will put the TV in this great room on some sort of swivel arm so it can be angled towards the viewer. Not sure about speaker location as that is DH's job (and need) in our home too. He is talking about some ceiling speakers as well as some resting in the built-ins. Do you know what the correct spots are for speakers? Yes the depth of the deeper part of the built-ins is 16 inches. I will get DH to recheck that measurement and remind him about the space for plugs, etc. I appreciate the heads-up. bpahhome, Thanks for your help and kind words. The TV will go on a swivel/pullout arm of some sort. It would be great if the remote can work from most seats -- but that may not be possible. Too funny that you have those Danish plates too. I inherited a large collection of those blue plates plus hummel plates and figurines from my Mom. I am trying to find an attactive way to show them off in this new build. Your picture is lovely and a Tom Thomson to boot. Ours is an oil original, but not by such a famous painter. It was made by a Quebec painter some years ago and was also inherited from Mom. Carol Note the colour of the built-ins will be SW Alabaster and they will match the colour of the perimeter cabs in our kitchen. For those who are not familiar with SW Alabaster it is very, very close to BM White Dove (warm off white).
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Comments (9)
That fireplace is really something. I've never seen one like it. If you like it, then start looking for fabrics that consist of the same colors in the stone. You'll be looking at shades of gray from pale to charcoal along with the golden tones in the stone. As you know the paint colors on the wall, I'm assuming they were freshly painted. Right now, the windows and the fp all look like dark rectangles on a light wall. However, I'm thinking that going with a darker color on at least that wall would help them all blend in and make for a more cohesive look. Painting this one wall an accent color is not a big deal to paint one flat wall, but it can change the look and feel of the space quite a bit. These are all sherwin wms colors Note on the gold...it is difficult to get a good color in the gold tones to show up on line so this one is not right but just to give an impression. Of course all wall colors would have to be vetted in the space. inky blue attitude gray online hopsack mineral gray I think the mineral gray would support your desire for a loft look. If you don't like the fp, then you can look into paint or stains to try to alter the color of the existing slate, or you can talk to a tile guy about tiling over the slate. (I'd leave the slate alone on the floor.) You can then opt for a stone tile that is less bold while still getting the texture.
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Comments (13)
Looks like HVAC complicates things. (Return air vents on the niched wall?) In a perfect world, I would want rid of it all--starting with the fireplace and erasing the peninsula. In the practical world, since this is a large room, I would leave the TV niche, cut back the overhanging niche above the TV flush with side niches and drywall over the whole shebang. (Drywall all the way to the ceiling.) Minimal disruption and no need to replace flooring or deal with the HVAC. Either square off the top of the mirror niche over the fireplace or drywall over it. Spend the bulk of $$ on a big facelift for the fireplace. Current fireplace does not work with the style of the room.
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voila
9 years ago
2be (can't possibly call you oldbat upon seeing this room), my thoughts were the same as Annie's. Your built-ins could end below the trim of the window, maybe as high as adjoining doors, or split the difference. You want to increase the width, not the height, right? The trim above the window is beautiful and you can end below it to preserve that elegance. I think I would spit the difference to create a stair step effect from the center window to the side entrances, in effect lowering the height to extend the width. I would then extend the base cabinets the full depth possible 36 inches? (due to doorways) to create end tables for your sofa . An alternative would be to extend the full depth possible with twelve inch bookshelves and book shelves 90 degree angles on the end to create a nook.
oldbat2be
Original Author
9 years ago
AnnieDeighnaugh - always love seeing your beautiful built-ins:) I haven't forgotten your clever pull-outs! Your bridge ties in the built-ins very nicely.

Holly-Kay, I remember your kitchen cabinets turned out beautifully, I am going to hunt for pictures. No need to be envious (yet) - maybe I'll be done with this room in 5 years?!!

voila - You may call me oldbat any time you like, no offense taken! Thank you for the feedback and ideas.

Here's a shot with the deeper lower cabinets and lower built in height. I also adjusted the vertical stiles to 3". Need to really tackle the trimwork in sketchup to mirror what's in place; that will be a big part of getting this right.

Note that there will be 4" free on both sides of the sofa.

I don't think I like the deeper lowers, not sure it is as clean looking as I would like. Yes, I do want to increase the width and it does appear that the lower height does this.

I will explore your idea of the bookshelves on the inside and front, interesting concept!

Thanks all and please keep the ideas coming!
oldbat2be
Original Author
9 years ago
Mockup number 3: 3" wide stiles and narrow cabinet in 'nook'.
oldbat2be
Original Author
9 years ago
Version 4. Now this feels simpler. Proportions of stiles to drawer front = 1/8, 3/4, 1/8 (of full width). These stiles are 3.5" wide.

Also, cabinet is divided into thirds, which align (at upper 1/3) with the window grids.
tuesday_2008
9 years ago
I like Sketchup #1 the best! It makes the room look wider (your goal), it doesn't crowd the sofa, looks nice and "airy" - not too chunky.

I love, love what Annie did in her library, especially those slide outs to serve as end tables, but for some reason the deeper bottoms in YOUR room crowd the sofa.
lizbeth-gardener
9 years ago
I like sketchup#1 best also-like where my eye goes when the top is same height. Would like to see a mock-up of sketchup #1 with the four shelves in bookcase and the lower section changed to be deeper like Annie's.

This post was edited by lizbeth-gardener on Sat, Aug 16, 14 at 14:51
Boopadaboo
9 years ago
I like #3!
Holly- Kay
9 years ago
Visually, I like the first best though when we had our shelving and cabinetry done in our library our designer stepped the tops down to echo the peaked wall. It worked beautifully because it is a solid wall of cabinets but with your lovely window I think the top of your cabinets look best being the same height as your window.
Annie Deighnaugh
9 years ago
I think the difference is my lower section is deeper than the bookcase, but not as deep as your sketch. My upper is 12" deep and the lower is 18".
oldbat2be
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks Annie. I will mock that up as well to see how it looks. Also, I would like to include lights flanking the insides as you did. Would you be willing to share locations of your light switches on each?

In the meantime, here are two 18" deep bookcases, with upper trim running from wall to wall. (I like this). Please note that both adjacent doors have trim similar to what I'm showing on the window/built-ins.

Right built in is almost 2" wider and has a 3 CM countertop.between lower and upper cabinet.

tuesday_2008 - thanks and agreed about the deeper lowers.

lizbeth_gardener - look for this tomorrow morning though I think I'm fairly convinced I don't want a deeper lower :)

boopadoo - it's a great use of space but I don't think it will give me the clean lines I'm hoping for (as either front or side will be off center).

holly-kay - Glad you like the higher trim :)

Any feedback on the width variance and how to disguise?

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