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.

It kinda breaks my heart that you don't have any books - I would fill that gorgeous bookcase with books in a heartbeat! But you aren't me. The frames between shelves look like they are wide enough to support hinges, so you can have a local cabinet maker build doors for you. Otherwise you can use decorative boxes for your things.

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.

First, let me say sending prayers for complete healing for your hubby. No fun for sure. I have some thoughts for you regarding paint. If you haven’t started Re-painting, I would add 3500k LED lighting first and see if your walls are ok. It’s usually the quality of light that impacts paint colors. With your grays/black and beige flooring I would consider a deep blue for cabinets. Blue would unite all your colors. Consider extending arm lights for over cabinets. Or this fixture for over table. The first one below would be ideal if you have junction box in ceiling. Best to you in Heath and office space. Hard to concentrate when major health issues are wearing on you. Take care- Warm regards, Flo