At what point is the laundry room no longer just the laundry room? When there's a built-in space designed for gift wrapping and storage? How about when the cabinet drawers are filled with supplies for scrapbooking, sewing, or crocheting? Or when there's a pantry for quick snacks?
Welcome to the versatile power of built-in cabinetry. With builders and remodelers trying to create unique spaces that set their homes apart, cabinet manufacturers are touting the flexibility of their products that allows for convenient, stylish storage beyond the traditional applications of the kitchen and the bath.
"It's a way to differentiate yourself," says Paul Radoy, design services manager for Merillat, which designed a multipurpose room concept to show how cabinetry can allow one room to accommodate a variety of activities, like laundry and hobbies, while providing extra storage. "When a woman comes to see a new home and sees this kind of space to multi-task—and it's a cool place to hang out—it has that 'wow' factor."
Form and FunctionWhether in the laundry room, living room, home office, or elsewhere, built-in cabinetry provides a wealth of options that standard furniture can't match, asserts Connie Edwards, director of design for Timberlake Cabinetry. "With standard furniture, your choices are your choices," she says. "With built-in cabinetry, you have the ability to create anything that your imagination and design requirements need."
"People are realizing it's practical," says Jodi Schoenfeld, designer and vice president of Woodsman Kitchen and Floors and of Interior Design Solutions, both in Jacksonville, Fla. "They want to improve every living space. They're using every corner."
Built-in cabinetry can provide custom features that homeowners won't always be able to find in regular furniture, points out Rebecca Guentner, senior product manager for Canac. Wire-rack pullouts, rolling shelves, tip-out units, and even giftwrap holders can keep a room tidy and organized. "It's more of the functional storage that people want," Guentner says.
The popularity of open floor plans also is inspiring builders and designers to incorporate cabinetry into the living room that matches the style or color of the kitchen cabinets. "Close to the kitchen, that's where the concept of having the cabinets match or coordinate comes into play," Radoy says. "It provides some consistency of décor throughout the house."
Make RoomKitchen and bath designers have been adapting cabinetry to the living room and home office for years, but homeowners are asking for it in other rooms, as well. While Radoy acknowledges many builders won't spare the floor space for a large laundry and multipurpose room, manufacturers agree that larger laundry rooms with versatile storage are a growing trend.
Transforming an ordinary room into something more functional and multi-purpose is limited only by the depth of the imagination. For example, the laundry or mud room can become a secondary serving room with an oven and refrigerator, envisions Timberlake's Edwards. "If you're having a big party or family reunion, you can spread out those tasks to somewhere less popular than the kitchen," she says. Stacked washers and dryers can be concealed behind cabinetry or elevated with drawers underneath to make them easier to access. Even relatively small additions, like a craft or giftwrap station, can turn the laundry room into a hobby or pet center, manufacturers say.
Built-in cabinetry also can turn a spare bedroom into more than just a makeshift home office. Radoy suggests creating a double desk with a flat-screen TV in the middle that can be used as a monitor for work during the day and allow the space to transform into an entertainment room at night. Schoenfeld imagines turning the bedroom into a play room for children, with storage for games, toys, and electronics, and perhaps a desk for homework.
Built-In BudgetingMore elaborate cabinetry means a higher price tag, of course, so custom designs will likely remain in the realm of high-end homes. But designers point out that homeowners can create some simple storage in other rooms with less-expensive stock cabinetry.
A lot of people are looking for the boost in resale value built-ins add to the home, Schoenfeld says. "Realistically, building in other-room cabinetry can be as price-effective as buying a piece of furniture."
That approach has its downsides, however. Some homeowners may be wary of remodeling their living room with a beautiful and costly built-in entertainment center if they can't pack it in their moving truck when they leave.
So how can professionals sell their clients on a built-in cabinet package in a room they've never considered? It helps to inspire them with some new ideas. "It's about thinking outside the box," says designer Debbie Williams of Reico Kitchen and Bath in the Mid-Atlantic. "When you're talking about different spaces, just mention it as a possibility: 'Have you thought about storage cabinetry in the garage?'"
Whether you deck out your model with a variety of cabinet options or send them to a design showroom with ideas, your clients will appreciate the opportunity to upgrade their storage in unexpected places. --BUILDING PRODUCTS
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| Yorktowne Cabinetry. This desk area is in the Hallmark maple door style with honey finish and mocha glaze. The style is a solid wood square raised panel with a mitered, triple-beaded door frame. The cabinet line can be constructed with Gold construction or Platinum construction, which offers thicker woods, a superior drawer and runner system, and natural maple veneer interiors. 800-777-0065. www.yorktownecabinetry.com. |  |
 | Omega Cabinetry. This office area features the Pacific door style in alder throughout. The perimeter cabinetry includes a Baroque finish, and the desk is finished with a sage stain and onyx glaze. 319-236-2256. www.omegacabinetry.com. |
| Crystal Cabinets. This entertainment center features a modified transom door with black speaker cloth. Its Signature Portrait bisque finish with Van Dyke brown brushing is achieved by hand-applying the brown color over the flat surfaces and softly brushing to add a subtle brushed characteristic, says the firm. 800-347-5045. www.crystalcabinets.com. |  |
 | Quality Cabinets. This kid's room concept features Axiom Maple Natural cabinets, which have a clean, plain look that is ideal for a child's room, according to the company. A desk area for homework and projects is at the center of the unit and is flanked by a combination deep-drawer base cabinet and wall cabinet that form a dresser unit for clothing storage. 800-284-3888. www.qualitycabinets.com. |
| Woodharbor Doors & Cabinetry. The multi-functional entertainment center concept was designed to house a large flat-screen TV and provide additional storage for children's books, games, and toys in base cabinets, drawer units, and open display cabinets. The clean, simple lines of the Seabrook door style in knotty alder with a clove finish create a warm, homey look, according to the manufacturer. 641-423-0444. www.woodharbor.com. |  |
 | Plain & Fancy Custom Cabinetry. The Saddle Chic mudroom concept includes a place to hang hats or store boots, as well as a pet bath and built-in doggy retreat. The nook, in the Singleton door style done in maple with a frosted chocolate finish, complements the distressed wormholed and knife-cut cherry armoire, the manufacturer says. 800-447-9006. www.plainfancycabinetry.com. |
Aristokraft Cabinetry. The Room Solutions collection is composed of 20 different design configurations for the most-requested applications, such as entertainment centers, wet bars, hutches, and desks, ordered by the builder using one SKU. They provide the feel of custom cabinetry without the high price,says the maker. The collections are available in the majority of the manufacturer's door styles and finishes. 812-482-2527. www.aristokraft.com. |  |
 | Homecrest Cabinetry. Clean lines and simple details are the hallmarks of the beadboard-style Bayport line. The line is one of the options available through the company's Custom Choice system, which allows designers to integrate modified cabinet options with the manufacturer's standard cabinets. Customizing a few items gives an entire room a unique flair but with a lower cost, the maker says. 574-535-9300. www.homecrestinfo.com. |
StarMark Cabinetry. This home office features the Milan door style in oak finished in java. Options from the Personal Design Choices collection include decorative wood and metal hardware, carved wood and metal onlays, carved moldings and turned posts, textured glass, decorative valances, and more. 800-594-9444. www.starmarkcabinetry.com. |  |
 | St. Charles Cabinetry. This recently revived line of contemporary, frameless, full-overlay cabinetry is available in brushed stainless steel and 24 colors of powder-coated cold-rolled steel. The line offers integrated eco-friendly lighting; door options of stainless steel, powder-coated steel, and eight tempered-glass patterns; and tall doors up to 96 inches, pictured here in apple red. 662-451-1000. www.stcharlescabinets.com. |
Wood-Mode. Outfitted with the Westbury door style in the brandy finish on cherry, the Gentleman's Quarters concept is meant to double as an attractive library and home office, according to the company. Classic arch moldings and Gothic arch mullion inserts in all the glass doors enhance the sophistication of the room, the maker adds. 877-635-7500. www.wood-mode.com. |  |
 KraftMaid Cabinetry. This white laundry and sewing room uses full-overlay laminate doors in the square raised-panel style. An easy-reach cabinet is used in the hard-to-reach corner storage area. Small spice drawers tucked under a cabinet provide a home for small items that can be lost in larger drawers. 800-433-0404. www.kraftmaid.com. |
Canac. New Haven thermofoil doors in a white low-gloss finish are part of the manufacturer's Ultra collection. Thermofoil doors are characterized by a strong, impervious surface that is formed when a thin layer of PVC film is heated and pressed over MDF. The doors are dependable, easy to clean, affordable, and resistant to scratches and stains, according to the maker. 800-226-2248. www.canackitchens.com. |  |
 | Wellborn Cabinet. This window seat sub-base is pictured in Madison Square cherry with a sable finish. The look adds a warm and inviting French country feel, according to the manufacturer. The style offers full overlay doors with a raised square center panel and cope-and-tenon construction. Five standard and four specialty finishes are available. 800-336-8040. www.wellborn.com. |
Timberlake Cabinetry. This bench unit is in the Montana maple door style with a coffee finish. The cabinetry, from the Portfolio Select line, features dovetail hardwood drawers, full-access hidden glides, adjustable hidden hinges, full-depth shelves on base cabinets 24 inches wide or less, and 3/4-inch-thick wall cabinet shelves. The doors are square with applied molding. Other finishes include natural, honey, spice, and mocha. 800-967-9674. www.timberlake.com. |  |
 | Canyon Creek Cabinet Co. This office area and multipurpose room uses the Cape Cod solid recessed door panel in maple from the Cornerstone line. The office area features crème paint with chocolate antiquing, and the rest of the units have sage paint with the manufacturer's sand-through-to-wood finish option. The Cornerstone line features framed or inset construction. 800-228-1830. www.canyoncreek.com. |