This is one of those rewarding projects that brings a big return on a small investment. Many new homes in Asheville are built with places for shelving, but since since the builders are trying to stay on budget, the shelves are left out and the homeowner has to install them later. This is especially common in pantries and closets... or in this case, in the niches around the fireplace in my customer's living room. These little nooks were even more awkward than usual, because one nook was deeper and wider than the other, so the homeowner couldn't just pick out a matching pair of credenzas. We worked together to come up with a plan to install semi-floating shelves on each side, and by making the shelves the same height and thickness, we were able to create a sense of visual unity. Here's our "proof of concept" sketch. You may notice that there aren't any shelves on the lower right. The homeowner wanted a place to keep her daughter's large toys, and since she was considering selling the home in the future, she also wanted to leave a place for the next occupant to install a large TV. Once we had the size and spacing of the shelving worked out, I went to work behind the scenes in my shop. The new shelves were painted to match the trim around the existing fireplace, so they looked like a natural extension of what was already there. Even without books and accessories, the niches around the fireplaces have a much more unified look. If you've got an awkward empty space that is crying out for cabinets or shelves, give us a call. We'll put in the pieces that the builder left out.
I don't have any "before" photos of this project, but I thought you might enjoy it all the same. I recently got a call from someone who needed a really simple closet upgrade. He just wanted to divide their closet into two parts: one side with a single hanging rod, and the other side with a double rod. At the top he wanted a very short shelf for his wife's purses. I made a divider and shelf in my workshop, and also cut the closet rods to length. He had me install the divider off to one side because they didn't have a lot of long clothes to hang up. As usual, I used cabinet-grade plywood with solid wood edging, which gives it more durability than the usual particle-board systems you get from big hardware stores. While I was there, he had me build a custom cat condo similar to the one I've already featured on here. It's enclosed in hardware cloth to keep Kitty inside while still giving him access to fresh air and sunshine. I was too busy to take pictures, but soon afterward I got this by text: The cat condo was kitty-approved! My client and I got along so well that I'm coming back soon to install a semi-custom kitchen island. The color is still to be determined, but here's our initial drawing. To keep costs down, we're using pre-made Shaker cabinets, and I'll be installing Shaker-style paneling on the back. I'll also be modifying the cabinets to allow a recessed kick all the way around, which will make it more comfortable to use.
If you'd like to see more of our custom and semi-custom cabinet work, check out our sister site at Artisan Built-ins. Or just give us a call for a free estimate. We're always glad to chat!
In last week's post I showed off a couple of custom Shaker-style barn doors that I've been working on in my studio.
So naturally this week's blog post is all about those doors, and where they ended up.
It all started when Leslie Huntley of Roost Interior Design contacted me about putting a pair of sliding barn doors in her clients' home office in their downtown condo. They had a perfectly good door there...
...but floor space in these condos is limited, and they wanted a new door that didn't swing open, so they could put more furniture on the wall.
We couldn't find any pre-made doors that would work well in the space, so I got to work in my shop.
By the way, check out that respirator! It's my new toy... top of the line and easy on the lungs.
Plus it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.
Side note: I never realized how many sci-fi astronauts are wearing standard dust-filter respirators until I started researching dust filtration. It seems to be a Hollywood shortcut: buy a mask from Lowe's, spraypaint everything black, and slap on a few extra gadgets and hoses.
And once I noticed that, I started noticing all kinds of things, like plastic French drains being used as spaceship "pipes." Low-budget Netflix space operas just haven't been the same since then. Anyway, back to the job... I also make custom cabinets at our sister company, Artisan Built-ins, so Leslie commissioned us to build a set of white bookcases with a custom shelf to hold a printer. Here's the 3D model we created so she could preview the design.
And here they are in our workshop, alongside another project for the same condo... an electric chimneyless fireplace.
As you can see, our model was very accurate.
Back on the job site, the office walls were painted a striking cobalt blue...
...the better to set off the crisp white sliding barn doors and the bookshelves.
If you've got sharp eyes, you might notice that the printer shelf is a little lower than it was in the drawing. That's because I planned ahead and made it repositionable or removable so that if they don't need a printer there any more, they can take the shelf off and have a plain bookcase once again.
The whole project came together beautifully, and the formerly bland room is now a striking office that looks just as interesting as the view of downtown Asheville.
If you've got a tight floor plan that needs a custom solution to make it workable, give us a call. We can come up with a plan that optimizes your office and makes it fun to go to work.
I've committed the cardinal sin of blogging (which is being "too busy to blog") but I finally caught a moment to show off a semi-recent project: installing wire shelving in a kitchen pantry and a laundry room. There are definitely some pros and cons to this kind of shelving, so I thought these photos might give you all a chance to see how well they would function in your home. I'll start with the "before." The shelves went into an empty hallway near a back door. This is the door that the family uses, so it's a great place for pantry shelves, because you can come in and stack groceries on them and so on. We used fairly deep shelves from a kit from the hardware store. Here's how they looked right after I put them in. Not too shabby! Very neat and tidy. But as I said, there is a down-side to these as well. Let's dig into the nitty-gritty. Pros and Cons to Installing Wire ShelvesI always like to start with the upside. PROS:
CONS:
But for a pantry or laundry room, these are great... ...although if you want to upgrade to solid shelving or even cabinets, we can do that, too. It's become a growing trend to add high-end laundry rooms and pantries to a home, and it could lead to a nice increase in your home value for a modest investment. Either way, we're always glad to help. Call or email today to get started.
One of our customers just moved to Asheville and bought a beautiful new luxury home on the banks of the French Broad river. But luxury is in the details, and in this case one or two details were missing. For example, the cabinets were very stylish, but when you opened them up, they just had a shelf inside. Things kept getting lost in the back, and you had to dig around for them. She had me replace the shelves with pull-out drawers. Now it's easy to see what's in the back. Something like this would be a really nice Mother's Day gift for your mom or spouse. No need for them to get down on their hands and knees on the hard tile floor every time they're looking for the dish soap. They can just pull the drawer out and it's right there in front of them. Plus, these are soft-close drawers, so the kids can't slam them shut, and nothing gets knocked over or jarred around. While I was there, I added another great little improvement: an extra cabinet and a valet rod in the laundry room. The rod is over the sink, so the homeowner can hang her handwashables here to dry and the excess water will just drip right down into the drain. If your laundry room is inefficient and hard to work in, give us a call. We can add counters, cabinets and drawer pull-outs to make washing clothes easy and maybe even fun. Like this pretty walnut counter which we installed over a customer's washer and dryer, so no more socks will get lost behind the machines. Plus, a good-looking laundry room adds a lot to your home value for a very modest investment. So give us a ring.
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