Second Wind : Storage Solutions: Built-In Cabinetry

Do you ever look at a beautifully designed room and wonder, "Where do they put all their stuff"? I've always admired rooms that take advantage of all the vertical space by putting in custom cabinetry that was designed and built for the items the homeowners want to store. It can become the focal point in a room with little architectural interest as well as a great way to stay organized.

Steven Gambrel

Hallway nooks and odd niches make great spaces for bookshelves and custom cabinetry

that may otherwise be left empty.

Candice Olson basement family room

This basement was given a focal point with custom cabinetry to enclose the fireplace, TV and all the pretty things the client had to display on open shelving.

I'm redecorating a small townhouse living room that was in need of some serious storage as you can see from the dated "before" picture below. My client had a tiny oak cabinet that served her well in 1997 but was forced to keep her favourite treasures in the basement because she had nowhere to display them.

So I worked with a cabinetmaker that specializes in media solutions to design and build a unit that fit her requirements of a bigger, flat screen TV, storage for media equipment to be hidden, and open shelving for her treasured Hummel figurines that she's been collecting for years. We added some curvy legs to make it look more like a piece of furniture, traditional trim across the top to match her adjacent fireplace trim and lighting for a little sparkle in the evening and, to show off her prized collection.

Here's the sketch of the unit that was designed to ensure the shelves would fit my client's specific needs.

We made sure to maximize the space available on this wall. The unit is 88" wide and 84" tall. On the lower center doors we placed metal screens instead of wood panels to accomodate the media units while keeping the side door panels solid to hide all the things they don't want to display. We included glass shelves and doors on the upper cabinets with crystal knobs for an added bit of elegance. We then selected a paint colour that worked with her kitchen cabinetry also visible from the living room.

Here's the new unit (with old TV inside)
against a freshly painted gray wall with a hint of green

The screened-in doors add some additional interest and texture to the piece.

We will be placing baskets on the bottom center shelves to create a uniform and tidy look while keeping all the DVDs and smaller items hidden. My client was so pleased with the final outcome and what a big difference it made in the room - she couldn't wait to display her favourite things that had been in storage for so long.