Nonetheless Looking out For Studio Cupboard Choices (Contemplating Shelf Assist)

Issues are coming alongside on the house gymnasium, and that signifies 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 can 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 all the pieces from IKEA to varied RTA (able to assemble) corporations. Nothing I’ve discovered to this point 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 may minimize your plywood on your mission and ship it to you. That’s it. They don’t present face frames, crown molding, baseboards, every other trim, backing boards, doorways, or drawer fronts. They solely present the plywood for the carcasses minimize to your specs.

I do know from expertise that absolutely the worst a part of any cupboard constructing mission goes to Dwelling Depot, selecting out plywood, loading up plywood, bringing it house and unloading it, making an attempt to wrangle it into place, and reducing every particular person piece to express 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 software to design my cupboards simply as I needed them, and see how a lot this selection would value. I’ve three separate zones of cupboards that I need to construct, so let’s begin with…

The Cupboard At The Room Entrance

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

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

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

You possibly can even add door fronts. However needless to say they don’t present any of this. That is simply in an effort to visualize how the completed mission could look. They’re simply offering the plywood for the carcasses, although.

That’s a fairly 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 will 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 would like deeper cupboards on the underside, and shallower cupboards sitting on high 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…

One factor I didn’t like in any respect concerning 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 needed.

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

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

The higher cupboards sitting proper on high of the decrease cupboards would be the similar width, however can be 64 inches excessive, and solely 15 inches deep. (I see I entered the mistaken depth, so I’m positive that will deliver the price down.)

This in all probability isn’t how these doorways will look. They’re approach too tall and thin. However there can 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 will 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 would like 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…

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

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

And with drawer fronts, they are going to look one thing like this…

Identical to within the “workplace” zone, these higher cupboards may even sit proper on high 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 both sides. This has a cleaner look, however that’s in all probability not the ultimate look I’d go for.

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

And with drawer fronts, it will 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 the entire items minimize to specification and delivered to my entrance door, the worth for the entire studio involves $4269.75. Along with that worth, I’d need to buy the entire crown molding, baseboards, lumber for face frames, doorways and drawer fronts (or the provides to make them myself), primer and paint.

Fairly truthfully, 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 taking a look at in all probability $15,000, if no more. So with me doing it myself, and if I constructed my very own doorways and drawer fronts, I’d in all probability be taking a look at an extra $1500. (Perhaps. I actually don’t know. With lumber costs as they’re, I discover estimating a lot tougher than it was once.) So I’d estimate that I might get all of these cupboards completed for a complete worth of $6000-$7000.

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

Nevertheless it’s so arduous for me to half with that a lot cash once I know I might do it myself for approach lower than half of that. On the similar time, they might be doing the very issues for me which are 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 no less than 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 the planet, however he struggles to make use of a TV distant, so he has no bodily assist to supply me.

What do you assume? Would you do it?

EDIT: As I used to be simply wanting 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 area. I’m undecided if that is sensible to everybody, however it is sensible in my thoughts. 😀

Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I transform and beautify the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do nearly all of the work on the home on my own. You possibly can be taught extra about me right here.

I hope you’ll be a part of me on my DIY and adorning journey! If you wish to observe my initiatives and progress, you possibly can subscribe under and have every new submit delivered to your e mail inbox. That approach you’ll by no means miss a factor!