Nonetheless Looking For Studio Cupboard Choices (Contemplating Shelf Assist)

Issues are coming alongside on the house health club, and that implies that I’m inching nearer and nearer to the beginning of the studio mission. The largest (and most overwhelming) a part of ending my studio shall be constructing the cupboards. That room is large, and would require a great deal of storage to be a helpful, organized, and environment friendly room for me.

I’ve checked out so many cupboard choices during the last 12 months, and I haven’t discovered an possibility that I actually like. I’ve checked out every little thing from IKEA to numerous RTA (able to assemble) corporations. Nothing I’ve discovered to date appears fairly proper.

Then the opposite day, somebody talked about Shelf Help in a remark, and I made a decision to check out that. Shelf Assist isn’t fairly an RTA service. It’s simply merely an organization that can reduce your plywood in your mission and ship it to you. That’s it. They don’t present face frames, crown molding, baseboards, another trim, backing boards, doorways, or drawer fronts. They solely present the plywood for the carcasses reduce to your specs.

I do know from expertise that absolutely the worst a part of any cupboard constructing mission goes to House Depot, choosing out plywood, loading up plywood, bringing it residence and unloading it, attempting to wrangle it into place, and reducing every particular person piece to specific specs. It’s so unbelievably time-consuming and again breaking. So this firm’s service takes away all of that preliminary hurdle that often goes together with any cupboard constructing mission.

So I made a decision to make use of their design instrument to design my cupboards simply as I wished them, and see how a lot this selection would value. I’ve three separate zones of cupboards that I wish to construct, so let’s begin with…

The Cupboard At The Room Entrance

That is the cupboard that can go on the left wall as you enter the room from the breakfast room. The cupboard shall be virtually 16 inches deep, 96 inches excessive, and 72 inches vast. Right here’s the mock up I earlier did with IKEA Pax cupboards…

Ikea Pax wardrobes for builtins in studio - entrance wall

The Shelf Assist customizer instrument lets you select what number of bays (I selected three), and what number of sections shall be in every bay. I don’t know that that is precisely how I’d need it, however it’s shut.

After which the subsequent step lets you visualize how it might look with crown molding, face frames, paint, and many others.

You may even add door fronts. However take into account that they don’t present any of this. That is simply so to visualize how the completed mission could look. They’re simply offering the plywood for the carcasses, although.

That’s a reasonably large cupboard, and the plywood for the carcasses alone involves $775.00.

I’ve to confess that it’s arduous for me to contemplate paying that a lot once I know that if I do it myself, it might be lower than half that worth. However let’s transfer on…

The “Workplace” Space Cupboards

These are the cupboards that go on the wall behind my desk space. These cupboards will flank a window, and I need deeper cupboards on the underside, and shallower cupboards sitting on prime of these.

Once more, simply so that you perceive the place these would go, right here’s the earlier mock up I did utilizing the IKEA cupboards…

Ikea Pax wardrobes for builtins in studio - desk wall

One factor I didn’t like in any respect in regards to the IKEA possibility is that I actually do need the decrease cupboards to be deeper than the higher cupboards. I couldn’t discover an IKEA possibility that gave me the look I wished.

With Shelf Assist, I configured the decrease cupboards flanking the window to be 45 inches vast, 32 inches excessive, and 20.25 inches deep.

And as soon as the drawer fronts are on, it might look one thing like this…

The higher cupboards sitting proper on prime of the decrease cupboards would be the identical width, however shall be 64 inches excessive, and solely 15 inches deep. (I see I entered the unsuitable depth, so I’m certain that may deliver the fee down.)

This most likely isn’t how these doorways will look. They’re means too tall and thin. However there shall be doorways on the higher cupboards.

Once more, as a result of these would flank the window, I’d want two of the decrease cupboards and two higher cupboards. I’d have to reconfigure for the shallower depth on the higher cupboards, however it might be round $1682.50 for that wall.

The Entrance Wall Cupboards

And that brings us to the final zone of cupboards, which is the entrance wall (i.e., the wallpapered wall) of the studio. On that lengthy wall (about 19.5 ft), I need one financial institution of cupboards at every finish, after which a decrease cupboard proper within the center.

Right here’s the mockup utilizing IKEA cupboards for this wall…

Ikea Pax wardrobes for builtins in studio - long front window wall

However I had the identical downside with these cupboards as I did those for the “workplace” space of the room. I need the decrease cupboards to be deeper than the higher cupboards, and I didn’t see any IKEA possibility that would offer the look I need.

With Shelf Assist, the decrease cupboards on every finish of the wall will look one thing like this…

And with drawer fronts, they may look one thing like this…

Identical to within the “workplace” zone, these higher cupboards may even sit proper on prime of the decrease cupboards, and they are going to be a bit shallower, at 15.25 inches deep.

On this one, the visualizer allowed me to place only one door on either side. This has a cleaner look, however that’s most likely not the ultimate look I’d go for.

After which for the middle cupboard, this could be the association.

And with drawer fronts, it might look one thing like this…

So the plywood for the carcasses for that wall of cupboards would come to $1812.25.

So all collectively, for the plywood and having all the items reduce to specification and delivered to my entrance door, the value for the entire studio involves $4269.75. Along with that worth, I’d should buy all the crown molding, baseboards, lumber for face frames, doorways and drawer fronts (or the provides to make them myself), primer and paint.

Fairly actually, I can’t resolve if that’s a great deal or not. I do know it’s a ton of cupboards, and if I had them customized constructed, I’d be most likely $15,000, if no more. So with me doing it myself, and if I constructed my very own doorways and drawer fronts, I’d most likely be a further $1500. (Possibly. I actually don’t know. With lumber costs as they’re, I discover estimating a lot more durable than it was once.) So I’d estimate that I might get all of these cupboards completed for a complete worth of $6000-$7000.

After I take a look at it that means, for that a lot cupboard space and that a lot cabinetry customized constructed to specs, that worth doesn’t appear outrageous. And it’s means lower than what I’d spend if I paid another person to construct the entire thing for me.

But it surely’s so arduous for me to half with that a lot cash once I know I might do it myself for means lower than half of that. On the identical time, they might be doing the very issues for me which can be an obstacle to me beginning the mission as a result of it appears so overwhelming. Plus, it’s simply again breaking work coping with that a lot plywood once I’m working on my own. If I had a helper (as in, a husband who might do the heavy lifting for me or a minimum of assist me unload, carry, put issues into place, and many others.), it might not appear as daunting. However I don’t have that. I’ve a husband who’s the most important supporter and cheerleader on this planet, however he struggles to make use of a TV distant, so he has no bodily assist to supply me.

What do you suppose? Would you do it?

EDIT: As I used to be simply trying over these plans once more, it dawns on me that I might save much more cash by not separating the drawer bays into sections. When including drawers, there’s no have to have plywood bases separating out the drawer sections. It may be one massive, open bay for drawers. If face frames are used, that’s the place the dividers are added for every drawer house. I’m unsure if that is sensible to everybody, however it is sensible in my thoughts. 😀