School me on custom built-in library shelves
We are going to have shelves custom made for our library and have identified the craftsman for the job. Before he comes out to discuss specifics, I'd like to be armed with more knowledge myself. We will have them installed on this long wall, where you see the small (overloaded) bookshelves:
And they'll be very similar to this unit that the craftsman built for another customer. We won't have a scalloped bottom though, and may want the "columns" separating each unit to be a bit more substantial, but this is still very close to what we want.
When it comes to installing built-ins like these, what is typically done with existing baseboard? I assume it's cut out and discarded so the built-ins can fit flush in the space? (Baseboards are about 5".)
And what about the carpet? Somewhere down the line we may wish to recarpet or install hardwood. Is the existing carpet and pad cut away from beneath where the built-ins will sit? If not, then if we ever go to replace the carpet, would it just be cut out right up against where the built-ins start? Does this even make sense?
Height-wise, we like the looks of the example pic, with a bit of space left between the top of the unit and the ceiling. Our ceilings are 9 feet tall in this space. What would be a reasonable height for the cabinet and still allow for that space on top?
Finally, DH wants to make sure that the craftsman leaves the existing electrical plugs exposed, I assume he can simply do a cut out in the cabinet to accommodate them.
We know the craftsman uses hardwoods and no MDF. We want ours painted white like the unit shown above. Is there anything else we should be mindful of before meeting with him?
Comments (79)
OutsidePlaying
8 years ago
nhb22
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Comments (7)You seem to have a good grasp of the trade offs. The last is that the doors can be clunky, hard to operate and get left open a lot. Tambours are especially known to have operation issues. The next thing is that appliance garages should look like they were always meant to be there. There's no point doing it if it's blocking the counter. What's the diff between seeing some nice small electrics and seeing a big block of wood? If it looks like its part of the cabinetry and meant to go down to the counter, and isn't jutting out into the continuous workspace, it's fine. Generally, you may feel a bit more cramped working in the appliance garage. Sometimes, people put them on roll outs so they are easy to pull to the front, which can help. Additionally, if you have family members who don't clean up after themselves, gunk accumulates more when it's out of sight. Those are the potential negatives, most of which I think you already knew. The positives are they make for a cleaner and prettier counterspace, and protect your small appliances from spatter and dust when they're closed. For more ideas and information, to to the Kitchens forum (not Kitchen Table)....See MoreOld school tv opening in built ins
Comments (18)The only thing you can do with this without changing the shelving at all would be to try to find a small piece of furniture with a couple of drawers that would fit into the space. With minimal change you could take two of the shelves that are behind the TV and move them into the space aligned with the current shelving. Remove the existing trim on the shelf above the doors and replace it with one piece going all the way across with the new shelves in place. If you could get a set of doors for the front center it would be better than open shelving. No matter what you do the new TV is always going to look awkward floating in front of the shelves. These shelves are stationary - someone anchored them to the walls, but that does not make them permanent. They really are not that hard to remove and you can do it yourself at zero cost. You may be able to use one or both sides in another room - maybe the babies room for some extra storage - a place for toys and books. You could use both on opposite sides of one wall and place a single shelf between the two and create a desk for future homework time....See MoreShould I lower window? Need help with custom built ins in home office
Comments (14)"I could consider facing the slider. Perhaps I could build the desk so that it is T shaped along the wall with the window and I could sit at the desk facing the slider?" I think this is your best solution. That way, you have the view of the outside, but the monitors aren't floating in the middle of the room. To me, I think your best investment is a larger desk. Built-ins are great, but technology change each day and we are using less and less paper with more stored in our computers. You have that closet already, where items (including your printer) could be stored. Also, consider how long you will be in this house. Will a future owner want to use that space for a bedroom, for example? Best to keep things flexible. On the other hand, if you really want built-ins and have the funds, then go for it. But, the way you wanted the desk arranged in the beginning, the monitors will be floating out in the room. No horrible, but something to consider....See MoreWhere to find drawer units to be used in custom built closets?
Comments (19)Thank you for the suggestions--seems like the Pax components would be what we're looking for, but might be unavailable for our timeline due to shortages. And that's a major constraint we are facing. It's not that our contractors "can't" do drawers--they are master builders and have done wonderful work building fine homes throughout this entire area. It's that we all have time constraints --and doing 20 --yes, 14 walk-ins and 6 regular (not counting any cabinets or built-ins) would go a lot faster if they didn't have to build the drawers. And I do have a lot of drawers planned! Call me a closet addict -the above count includes two pantries-- but I do like a place for everything and everything in its place! I am thrilled that our builder will take the time to do these closets, as they were something we didn't detail until now. Not that we weren't asked! I've now got them planned and just trying not to spend a fortune but still have them adequately outfitted. I appreciate all your advice and will definitely check out PAX timeline/drawer availability! Thanks again!...See More
patty Vinson
8 years agoraphaellathespanishwaterdog
8 years agoJustDoIt
8 years agoJustDoIt
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoFinished and we love them. We've been putting the room back together but that still has a way to go, so here's a couple pics taken just as the guys were leaving. I know we've got a ton of books but don't think we'll fill the entire thing. We've got a lot of art objects that we can fill in with though. I'm really looking forward to unpacking some of my treasures and displaying them here.
Exhausted after a very long day, I sat at the table and took this last one. :-) We decided to move the Stickley round table in front of the windows and put the two reading chairs on the other side of the room on the interior wall, where they have more of a "cozy little nook" feel.
Patti - yes, he took up carpet and pad and replaced the tack strip just in front of the piece. He painted the same color as our trim throughout the house, SW Alabaster. There are two stationary shelves in each arched section and the rest are adjustable, although I'm sure we will get them where we want them and leave them. I like them all at uniform height so the lines are all straight.
juddgirl2
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8 years agoThanks so much for the kind comments! I am so thrilled with these shelves (amazing that some painted wood can make one so flippin' happy!), and could hardly sleep last night for envisioning how I'm going to fill them. Or not "fill" them ... The hubby says he'd like to see some blank spaces in there, and I agree. I don't want the whole thing to be overloaded, but nicely curated. That will take some doing on my part.
I got up this morning and took this photo. Still contemplating the overall room arrangement now that the shelves are in, but I really think we're going to like the two reading chairs moved to the interior wall. We often sit at the round table together (we try to do a nightly devotional, time permitting), and I will enjoy sitting there with a cup of tea and watching the world go by outside. The wall opposite the shelves is where my antique drop-front desk sits, flanked by a couple of Stickley armchairs. There is also artwork hung on that wall.
Delilah - I think Sam worked on the construction at his shop for a couple of weeks, and the install took about 12 hours yesterday. If nobody objects, I'd like to link to Sam's Etsy page just in case anyone else in this area has a cabinetry project they're interested in having done. I cannot recommend him highly enough. There's absolutely nothing in it for me, but I think his work deserves sharing.
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Errant_gw
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8 years agoThanks so much! I'm kind of obsessed with those shelves, and last night I did just a teeny-tiny bit of touch-up painting to perfect them. Now I've got to wait even longer for the darn things to cure before filling them. Oh well. ;-)
Also took a pic of the chairs moved to the opposite wall from where we originally had them. Absolutely love them here. I brought in a small club chair that's on our landing to "audition" in the space between the round table and chairs (moved them down to the left a little bit) and the bookshelves. That corner definitely needs a chair, although I want to move the landing chair back where it came from. I have just ordered the one pictured below and think it will be perfect in the spot. The fabric is a bit darker than it appears here.
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