Wondeful news!! I think you will be much happier with this solution than any of the others.. it looks so much nicer and you are meeting all your storage needs. I understood that you didn't want to overspend for the house/neighborhood but so glad you came up with a beautiful solution that is in the same price range.

It's going to be a drool worthy space! Congrats..

funky: I always knew custom could address all my storage/look needs, I just didn't think it would be so affordable. I think where the savings really shows up is with the wood desktop--which is actually cheaper than a laminant, though they do that as well. Somehow, I was thinking if I did custom cabinets, I'd need to purchase the counters elsewhere and find another contractor to install. Even the closet places were talking about a $600 template charge. Perhaps wood is an easier medium to work with for my space, I'm not sure; but it was a good experience looking at all the options so now we really feel we are making the best decision--not just in terms of the look/functionality, but the cost. When it was all totaled up it was cheaper than the Lowes Kraftmaid/formica solution where I'd have to find my own person to do the laminant install and about $1K more (or $1,800 more if you include the Costco cash card) than the closet place; but it's not really an apples-to-apples comparsion between the CA Closets since they are all MDF/laminant. I'd kept thinking if I was spending so much $$ for the desktop, the cabs. below better be good quality--and we have some probs. over time with some closet built-ins we put in the kids room where the drawers keep falling off the glides. I will say I'm not going for solid wood doors, but will do veneers in order to save $$.

I am so happy for you! I just peeked back over at 's thread (asking for home office pictures) and saw your follow-up and, of course, I saw the CAD from CA Closets (I was the one who urged you to remove a photo with personal info) in a previous thread of yours, so I know a little about what you've been going through, and I am really glad you're getting what will work for you.

We redid our kitchen earlier this year; when planning for it over the previous two years, I'd (erroneously) thought "custom = most expensive." There is no other word for it, I was just astonished to find out that (local) custom cabinets ended up being less than the other options I'd pursued, and, just as you wrote, it wasn't even a true comparison because it couldn't be apples-to-apples because the custom was custom for me!

With your angled space I am really happy for you to get what will work best for your needs.

I don't know if you saw my response to yakuta, but we also have wood countertops (had them in our previous [petite] home office in Woodside [near Redwood City -- former Silicon Valley-ites!] which is why I knew I wanted them again). Granted, ours are painted (as are our cabinets -- we had them hand-painted because I didn't want them to look like a kitchen with the factory-finish) but I wouldn't trade them for any other material. I know our GC didn't understand why we didn't want granite. It's a home office, not a wet bar! (Plus, we're not a granite family.)

Anyway, blah blah blah, but I just wanted to say how happy I am for you because I know how it feels to get to design the perfect space for yourself and your needs and your equipment. That was another great thing (for us) in going custom: the computer cab is 26" deep which is what we wanted so as to accommodate the big printer, attendant cables and circulation (accounted for in the rear of the box). With stock we wouldn't have been able to do that, and it makes a big difference (to us).

Congratulations!

rmkitchen: Glad to hear you are liking your wood desktop as one of my friends with a dark cherry office is trying to dissuade me--saying it'll show the dust, be more suceptable to scratches and water marks. Since ours is not a fully separate room--instead part of our master bedroom suite reached via a short hallway, we really prefer more of a furniture look. Regarding yours did you stick with the 4" toe kicks? Did you do any special sized drawers to accomodate things like envelopes, CDs, trash and/or shredder? I'm thinking of reducing my toe kicks to 3" or 3-1/2" to have a bit of extra depth in my drawers. It's amazing even 1/4" can make a difference between envelopes fitting in a drawer or not.

Hey Val -- sounds like you're on your way to a great space! One tip re CD drawers: take a CD case with you to the cabinet maker to make sure you can clear the drawer. We had three cd drawers, but one of the drawers was a hair shorter than the other two. While the CDs still fit, it was too tight to get fingers back to the back rows of CDs.

Also consider full extension drawer glides for easier access to CDs and files that are in the back of the drawer.

My shredder/garbage pull out (we had a regular door and a pullout shelf/drawer thing inside) was my favorite feature of our old office. Just make sure you have either an outlet installed inside the cabinet, or a side hole/grommet for the cords to reach the plug. :)

We used formica counters because the heat from electronics like DH's behemoth computer screen, will damage wood. There is probably some sort of protector thing that you can use underneath to protect the wood, but it's something you should be aware of.

Can't wait to see how it comes out!

I'm sorry and disappointed to read of your friends' negative experience with a wood countertop. And I'm also a little confused about sarchlos's heat issues as well -- we've a few brobdingnagian monitors (as won't surprise you in the Silicon Valley, my husband is an EE in IT) and never had an issue with them damaging anything. Hmm.

Oh, you know why? I just asked him and he reminded me that they (monitors) were all mounted on stands / lifts so as to be at the "correct" height to minimize eye / neck / shoulder strain -- even the largest screen was elevated (albeit it just slightly) so as to be at the right height for us.

The previous wood countertop (in the Bay Area) was maple which my husband installed and I finished with a few coats of clear poly. I do drink tea (hot and iced) at the computer and am not consistent about using a coaster ... but I never, ever noticed any tell-tale rings on that countertop.

The dust wasn't much of an issue -- what I mean is, it didn't seem like any more or less than everywhere else! Actually, now that I think about it, valinsv, there was probably less dust there because there was so much frequent activity on the desktop (papers shuffled on-and-off kind of thing, more like papers sitting on the desktop ...).

Other than the computer cabinet I mentioned earlier we didn't do any special size cabinetry (other than to go up to our 9' ceilings and the uppers are mounted higher so as to accommodate the large monitors); all our specialized stuff is interior. For example, I had the drawers kitted to hold my calligraphy supplies, dividers to hold our boxes of personalized stationery. (It's true, I am a paper goods fiend! We all individually and collectively have many sets of personalized stationery, some of which I've had made and others I've made myself. [I make washi (Japanese paper), from which I make notecards / envelopes and then design & print the imprint -- it's my version of therapy!]) So it's not standard business-sized stationery, and all the stationery is kept in individual boxes and stored together (all of mine is together, all of my four year-old's is together, etc.). I only keep the barest amount of business envelopes on hand, so they can fit anywhere!

I've a pretty trash can I like out, and our shredding is handled off-site.

We keep our CDs / CD-ROMs (and DVDs, albeit those in the family room) in binders -- I have pretty fabric-covered binders for mine and my husband has utilitarian ones -- no jewel cases in this house! So those are just in bookcases.

I just wanted tons of room to hold stuff. We are not good at immediately sorting through / throwing things away -- I wish we were! When I lived by myself it was never a problem: I was always on top of things. But living with a pack-rat / slob and then having children has made it hard, so I just like to have lots and lots of enclosed places to shove stuff until I can sort it out.

I love that your office is part of your master suite without being in your bedroom itself. Talk about a wonderful location! I can see why you'd want your built-ins to look more like furniture than an actual office. Great set-up!

DH and I went for our second meeting today. We opted to do 3" toe kicks so we'd have a bit more depth to the drawers with 3 different drawer heights: top will be 3" interior/4" ext. shallow pencil type drawers; middle will be 5-1/2" int./6-1/2" ext. for CDs/envelopes, etc. and bottom file drawers. That should hopefully cover it. Only with the reduced toe, she recommends it going straight down so feet don't get stuck in the recess. She did not recommend any molding, but I think we should have some. She dressed it up a bit with staggered height cabs. and we changed the cabinet with the drawers to upper drawer, lower pull out with idea we could copy sarschlos' idea of the trash/shreder cab; but I'm having second thoughts that I really need the drawer space more and should just put the shredder where I had it before in the 12"W cab. and put trash either under the desk or on the side wall where there are no cabs.

sarschlos: Thanks for all the tips and suggestions. We are getting full extension, but declined the soft close upgrade. Regarding the wood desktop, I think we'll be OK as my monitor is on a stand, DH uses a laptop and the printer doesn't seem to let off any heat. We do plan to get a laser printer but DH thinks we'll be OK and he is the one that is usually anal about adequate ventillation for electronics! I do want to copy your shredder/trash can idea--just am not sure where the best place to put it yet in light of other storage needs. What do you think--like it is now in cab. 6 or put shredder in cab. 10 by itself with trash outside and have more drawer space in cab. 6. similar to how it's set up with cabs. 2-3 or even 3 equal sized drawers?

rmkitchen: The office was a key part of our remodel we did a few years ago. With our house flow it just did not make sense to add another bedroom to use for an office so came up with this option instead. We really like it as most times one or both of us work late at night plus it keeps our more personal stuff out of any public space as with kids and their friends they tend to go all over the house. My older two kids have desks and laptops (DH is configuring DD's one) in their bedrooms as in middle/high school the homework load becomes heavily dependant on computers and all rooms have structured wiring--so it's only the printers that are shared. We may put the laser printer we are planning on in our DS's room as he probably prints the most volume and we are spending a fortune on ink cartridges, but have allocated a spot for it in the office. Youngest will still come in and share my PC to play games, etc. I know what you mean about just wanting space to store all the stuff and clutter. That's why I'm not doing any open bookcases as I know what they'll look like. I do have one with some reeded glass to lighten up the look.

Just a note on the reduced toekick -- it's a pain with vacumming. I need to pull out my other vac because my primary machine won't fit under the reduced toe kick.

Wanted to also get feedback on the tall cab. She recommended taking it to the ceiling (100.5"), but I'm concerned it'll look too looming in such a small room. It's the one that is visable from our bedroom. Right now there is 7" to top of ceiling. Perhaps I should increase the stagger or just go to ceiling?

She will be coming over Wed. for a site measure so want to nail down this design by then, hopefully order cabs. by the end of the week and squeeze in the install before Thanksgiving.

squirrel: I didn't explain that very well. There is not going to be a toe kick per say. The better term I believe from my kitchen remodel days is a wide bottom rail where instead of the standard 4" it will be 3" as she, like you, felt 3" was too narrow a space for the toe kick. Only I think a furniture base should be put on top to give it more of a furniture look like I did with this cab.

She said it was not necessary. Perhaps due to the shorter base or because at that time we were talking about a shaker style, but I'm going for a more traditional look (modified shaker or raised panel). I think it looks odd without.

I guess I still don't understand. I forget how much the kick sets back, is it 3"? But it's usually 4" high and lowering it to 3" high can be trouble when vacuuming. My vac doesn't fit under those cabs into the recess as in a standard kick. I'm not sure what you're referring to. Just wanted to point it out : ) Maybe your cab is going flush to the floor.

Yes, flush to the floor--no recess. And, hopefully, with some molding on top. Simliar to base boards where walls meet the floor.

See this pic of my kitchen mid install.

The backside of the island there is no toe kicks. Doesn't it look odd to you?

And here it is with the furniture base:

Yes, I like the mouldings too, esp on that style.

I don't know what your space(s) really is (are), but as I'm imagining it I think the tall cabinet will look lovely from your bedroom, almost like a built-in in a gentleman's closet. I'd prefer to see it go to the ceiling because that just pleases me more (aesthetically). Additionally, since I've already written what slobs we are I'd covet the extra tuck-away space! I also think whether it goes to the ceiling or stops 7" shy of it won't really make a difference in terms of that cabinet's feel in the room -- I mean, it's going to be big, but I don't think it'll feel oppressive either way (to-the-ceiling or just-shy).

My children are four and two and homework consists of drawing a picture starting with the letter of the week. (This week is D so naturally it was a picture of his favorite dinosaur.) It's funny, but because I'm in this young phase (meaning my children -- not me!) I hadn't even thought realistically about older children using the computer ... but because of that, I like even more that your office is private.

I think the furniture bottom of the cabinetry will be lovely and add to that gentleman's club look. It's going to be so nice, valinsv!

Valinsv, I feel your office is going to look wonderful and be comfortable and efficient to work in. I love my Cherry office furniture and since I use coasters, I never have problems with stains. I also use foam cup holders for cans of soda to prevent spills and to keep my desk looking nice.

I can't wait to see pics!

lynn: Your cherry office sounds wonderful. Are they built-in or freestanding? I can't wait to share pics!! I'm also wondering what to do for chairs since we have hardwood floors. It would work best to have chairs with castors so we can roll out of the way when we need to open the drawers, but am worried now I'll scratch the floors.

rmkitchen: Ah, gentleman's closet, yes something like that. Who knows it'll have all our files, charging station, etc. DH wants it to go to the ceiling so my new idea is to do that and split the difference between ceiling and top of window molding (which is about 12") for the other cabinets. Would you mind posting a pic of your taller cabinets? I'm also wondering how it will work/feel with the huge upper doors (about 56"H)? Sort of like pantry doors sitting on top of a desk. I could td two stacked cabinets instead, but that will cost more, plus make the space less flexible to store larger items in adjustable shelves. Perhaps she could break up the look visually by making it look like one door is stacked on another. Does that make sense? I should probably go back through the FKB to see what the taller doors look like.

Also with the taller cabinets, now the shorter base seems out of scale. Where it'd be really nice is for the two cabinets between the desks, but would be odd I think to do 2 different heights. I can't quite comprehend how these drawers eat up so much space with the glides, framing, etc. I'd at least like a drawer to store envelopes there. I can't quite get it as I have it in my freestanding desk--top pencil drawer, middle for envelopes, bottom of files--but it's a shorter base. I may have to loose the notion of a trash cabinet and just put under one of the desks--which I suppose there is room towards the back area. Anyway she'll come tomorrow and I think for the base, I'll see what she recommends will work best for the area where the cabinet butts up to the step and carry that look everwhere.

You know, the big cabinet in our den is broken up, so you're right, valinsv, it isn't like having these massive doors atop the worktop. I'm going to sound really dumb here, but this is what my husband (he's the tech, not me!) wanted: the large middle space for the CPUs, printer / fax, etc., and then all the modems / airports / TiVo stuff above. The multi-doors wasn't an aesthetic decision -- it was the way he wanted it. But now that you mention it, I guess I lucked out!

This is a photo of our (kitchen) pantry: I'm including it because you can see with the middle door there's a false upper door. I knew the look I was after (three "drawers" across the bottom [only the far right drawer is true, the middle and left are false fronts], three long doors atop with three short doors on the tippy-top) but also the utility, hence the false drawer fronts and false upper middle door.

You could do something like that, having your doors made with quirks (the false dividing line) so as to break up the big door look.

Here's a close-up of a quirk, we have cabinets with an outer bead, so it's the line in the middle of the two beads, looking like it's really two drawers:

I'll try to be back tonight with a better photo for you!

Thanks, rmkitchen. Your cabinets are beautiful and I can see a lot of thought went into them. That is the conclusion I came up with as well. Only I had a brainflash how to break it up not just in terms of looks, but functionality.

I will add a CD drawer on top of the 3 drawer filing cabinet, but above the wood counter and the same depth as the wall cabinet above--sort of like your wall pantry with the false front drawers only it'll be a functional drawer. I have to remind myself I'm working with a lower desk height and not kitchen counter height so even with the three file drawers it was only coming up to 40" and definitely not too high to stack another drawer since it's more tall storage than a desk work area. The bottom shelf of the upper is supposed to be the charging station, but the wire has to be moved up anyway so another 8" or so more should be OK and I don't think approx. 50-52"H is too high for the plug mold, do you? As a consequence the upper cabinet won't look so large going straight to the ceiling, though I may still have her do the door style with a rail in the center like you often see in pantry cabinets. Then I will go back to do the standard toe kicks and the shallower drawers by the desk area (as long as I can fit my envelopes in the middle one) since I think it would look out of scale to do such a tall cabinet with a 2-3" base. So, this should address all my storage needs and I can keep the pull out cabinet for the shredder/trash like sarschlos did.

Thanks again for all the pics and helping me think this through.