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.

If these are going to be custom made, you can really make them any depth you wish. For reference, base cabinets in a kitchen are typically 24" deep to accommodate appliances, sinks, etc. But in a living room or family room situation, you really don't have to go that deep if you don't need all that storage underneath. Much, too, depends on where your windows and doors are placed on the walls that are perpendicular on either side. So, I'd say the base cabinet depth should be 20" to 24" and the bookshelves should be 12" to 15" deep. Hope that helps.

"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.

We have a large, custom home with an office with a full wall of bookshelves (complete with a rolling ladder) and on the other side a desk with matching filing cabinets. We didn’t build them or have them built, it was a previous owner who had it done. Our home is on the market right now... it’s a nice selling point, and prospective buyers ooh and aah over it... but it doesn’t actually add monetary value to our home. The things that we HAVE done... gut job remodels of our kitchen and almost all of our 4.5 bathrooms (all but the jack and Jill bathroom)... those are the things that made our realtor say we should be able to get away with a price in the upper range of our comps... also we have a beautifully landscaped yard on a quiet cul-de-sac in a desirable neighborhood. With all of that said, we have LOVED having those bookshelves. Ours are completely full of books (and some decorations, but mostly hardcover books) and we plan to build a similar set-up in our next home because we’ve enjoyed it so much. So, my advice, do it if it makes sense for you and how you’ll use the home and when you go to eventually sell it, it can be something nice that sets you apart from your comps but it won’t actually add $$$ to the price. Make your kitchen and bathrooms function well and look appropriate to the style of your architecture, and spend some money and effort on your landscaping from the beginning to get closer to mature when you’re ready to move.