First off - son making dinner? Where can I get one of those?

Now to the q at hand. I think I would like the deeper drawers shaker, but it's hard to tell without hardware. Can you hold up some hardware for us?

Full disclosure: the boy is making PANCAKES for dinner. That kind of boy is relatively easy to find :)

I will have the boy now hold up hardware and take a photo. Back soon!

Anita

It's possible that it's just the off color stain & the lack of hardware that's bugging you.

My daughters wardrobe is made exactly the same way and I have never taught it was odd.

Here is the hardware. (this is the girl, not the boy:) I think it really helps the smaller drawers but not the big ones.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Anita

I would definitely leave the smaller drawers slab and I think the deeper drawers could go either way. My preference would be for the shaker on the deeper drawers, but they still look good as shown. I love how your pug is so interested in what's going on.

I think they look very sleek and elegant with the pulls next to them. I like them a lot. Pug too. I will take one son that cooks pancakes for dinner as well! LOL

I think once the hardware is on and they're all in use...and you're not studying them... all will be well. It's one of those things I'd think I might have done differently in retrospect, given a 2nd chance, but wouldn't consider it a big enough deal to change once it's in.

My first reaction is, it's just the mud room.....but then I guess it's your office, too. Anyway, I agree that you definitely don't want the small drawers to have shaker fronts. If you do that, the center field on the drawer front will be too small and it will look odd. The deeper drawers could go either way. I think they look fine as they are, so i'd be inclined to leave them and use the money you'll save by not having them redone -- for something else you want. Think copper pans, a piece of art, or that super-automatic espresso maker...whatever.

I guarantee, once you stop focusing on every little detail in your remodel and start using your new kitchen.....you won't even think about this again.

Maybe, for the big ones, to take up some space you could put on those drawer label hardware thingies?? I think that would look really cool anyway!

Here is a link that might be useful: Drawer Label Thingies

Momof3, that is a great idea! I think those would look great on that bank of 4. I'll give it a try.

Anita

I think the hardware looks nice. And... I love how so many of your family members get involved. :)

I prefer slab drawer fronts when the drawers are on the smallish side. I do think slabs for the big square drawers are a little too blocky, though. Maybe those cool label thingies will take the focus off the drawers and onto them. It's worth a try since it'll be a lot cheaper. It's hard to decide whether this is one of those things you will forget about after a while, or one that will bug you forever. What does your gut tell you?

Is the wood cherry? It's gorgeous. But I think the darker slabs used on some of the drawer fronts stand out too much. I have cherry floors. It really bothered me at first when I saw the color variation of the different boards. I've adjusted somewhat, but still prefer a more uniform look. That's my opinion, but maybe you're not as much of a stickler as I am! (And be glad you're not!) If you do have them remade, you could request that the color be closer to that of the other wood on that cabinet.

Mudroom envy! Do you have a pic of one of the cubbies up close -- or just measurements? I'm wondering how deep they are and how you decided on the two shelves. Would that be a place for people to sit and take boots off, or just store jackets, shoes, and bags?

And how about a pic of your desk, if you have the time? I'm interested to see your setup! Will you sit and work for extended periods and use the computer, or just for a few minutes here and there to pay bills?

Anita - HUGE mudroom envy! Oh, to have a space that large and functional. I would echo scootermom's request of pic and measurements of our cubbies, please??

To the original ? - I like the slab front drawers and think once you get hardware and maybe label thingies on them they will work well. It is a great space!

What wa8b said. And GREAT idea on the label thingies.

I have some bin pulls w/ integrated label thingies just sitting in my basement you can have if you want. I bought them on clearance from Pottery Barn YEARS ago and never used them. I think they're a bronze-y finish though, so maybe not....

I second (third? fourth?) what wa8b and others said. Slabs are great on the smaller drawers, and probably just fine on larger drawers once pulls are in. Great, great mudroom. I think a large, functional mudroom is one of the most important elements of a busy household. Yours is terrific!

scooter and alice,

I'll get more pics and measurements of the cubbies tomorrow and post. The floors were done today and we can't walk in there until morning.

I put in the two shelves based on how our old mudroom cabinets worked. Before we basically had pantry cabinets without doors. I found that backpacks work better laid down on a shelf vs hung, so the lowest section is for backpacks. Then there are hooks in the large section for coats & such. The upper shelf area is for each person's special stuff - sports uniforms or Scout materials, library books, hats & gloves in the winter, etc. My DH is disappointed by the lowest shelf because now he can't sit to put on his shoes, so we might pull those out. they're removable, so we'll see how it goes.

victoriajane, i agree completely about the importance of a mudroom! The old mudroom was one of the major attractions to this house. In terms of function it was awesome - both the garage and backdoor empty into this space, and there was lots of storage for all coats, bags, shoes, etc. No junk ends up getting through this room out to the rest of the house. It is really a great organizational asset. And now it is pretty to boot :)

Anita

I love your set-up and not just because we're going for a similar one! I'd definitely keep the slab drawers and chalk it up to "maybe I would have done that differently." We all need a few of those to fall back on for those times when our friends come over and express kitchen/mudroom envy:) The hardware ideas will help alleviate your concern.

I, too, would love more info on your lockers and desk, as I'm just about to place an order on cabinets for our mudroom area. I keep going back and forth on whether to order the locker cabinets from cabinet company or have contractor make them for less. Love how integrated yours look so now am leaning that way. Also have concerns re using different cabinet finish so am posting separate question on that. Hope you don't mind if I allude to your fabulous area!

Anita -- while you've got the measuring tape out, could you please let us know how wide the room is between the cabinets? It looks like plenty of room to get by if you're sitting at your desk. I just can't tell how wide that walkway is...5'? 6'?

Thx!!

C

starfish, for what it is worth, I would highly recommend having them custom built vs the "cabinet without door" look. If I can find pics of my old mudroom I'll post them and I think you'll see what I mean.

My old mudroom had pantry cabinets without doors and I feel like this looks so much better. It also cost less to have the local guy custom make them and match the stain to my kitchen vs having the cabinet company do it.

It was a leap of faith that the local cabinet guys could match the stain, and their first attempt was ghastly. Luckily they knew it themselves right away and they fixed it.

The guys are adjusting the drawer slides and such right now so measurements will come later today. For right now I grabbed two quick dimensions while they were outside. The total width of the room is 7'6" wall to wall. The walking space between the lockers and my desk is 4'2". When I'm seated at my desk there is still plenty of room to move behind me. I typically stand at my computer so I installed the desk high at about 38", just higher than kitchen counter height. I bought a barstool like those in my kitchen for the mudroom as well for when I do want to sit, or when the kids are using the computer.

More later. Thanks for the compliments! I love this space.

Anita

Lockers were still on the left, but laundry used to be on the right. Counter was much deeper (32"?) vs current desk (22").

{{!gwi}}

Anita

As a comparison, here is what the "pantry without doors" look is. This is my actual pantry but the design from my cabinet company for the mudroom looked just like this except in nice cherry wood.

{{!gwi}}

Anita

Here is a closeup of the lockers and dimensions:

{{!gwi}}

Lockers are 58" tall (starting at top of toekick) x 17" wide.

The shoe section at the bottom is 13" tall x 17" wide x 19.5" deep.

The upper section is 44" tall x 17" wide x 17" deep.

Within the upper section, I have adjustable shelves so I can arrange them however I want. In the photos, the top cubby is 6" high, the big coat cubby is 28" high, and the lowest cubby (for backpacks laid down rather than hung) is 9" high.

I made the lower (shoe) section deeper both because I liked the way it looked and to make it easier to sit on it to put on shoes. As I previously mentioned, putting that low shelf in messed up the ability to sit and put on shoes. DH does not like the low shelf. We're experimenting at this stage so we'll see what works. He does not need a backpack shelf so maybe we'll take out his shelf and use his as the seat :)

Anita

Thank you so much for all that info and the pictures, Anita. I see what you mean about having the lockers custom made. We're going with a lower-end cabinet mfr. for our mudroom/laundry room desk and cabinets, so maybe that's a good reason to get the contractor to do the lockers -- more customization possible. Again, I love your space!