I’m back to my Home Office Organization series! After a whirlwind couple of weeks filled with joyous events (see my last WIR post for more on that if you’re curious), I had some time to finish up work on the organization of my Built-Ins. I’ve actually had most of the cabinets’ contents set for the past year or so, but decided to dedicate time to working on bookshelf organization (check back next week for a video & post on that!). I wanted the entire unit to look put together before I posted even though I’m mainly focusing on the storage areas of the built-ins this week. I love the look and functionality of the final result!
I picked this room as my office/craft room as soon as we decided we were going to buy the house over six years ago. I started dreaming up the layout of the space soon afterwards. I knew I wanted some type of shelving and seating area on the side of the room with the picture window, but couldn’t find the right arrangement of store bought furniture in my searches to fit the space. I decided to design built-ins to span the entire wall with a deep window seat (a longtime dream of mine!) flanked by two bookshelf and cabinet units. I worked with a local carpenter who made my vision a reality. I couldn’t be more pleased with the results and am just as happy with them six years later! The built-ins afford so much extra storage in my office and serve as a beautiful and functional space saving alternative to store bought furniture.
It was important to me to incorporate both bookshelves and cabinets into the design. I’ve loved the look of these types of units I’ve seen in magazines and catalogues over the years, which is where I drew my inspiration. In order to use the space as efficiently as possible, I decided to have the unit span the entire wall. There’s a bit more room on the left side of the window than on the right, which allowed for an extra half size cabinet on that side. I’ve always been keen on symmetry, but this design fits the space so perfectly, I hardly notice one side is bigger than the other.
I’ve designated each side of the built-in’s cabinets for particular storage needs. The left side’s cabinets are dedicated to photo storage. One cabinet holds four large white bins with handles (top left photo). I purchased these many years ago from the Container Store, but they are sadly no longer available. The bottom shelf bins hold items to scrapbook. The top shelf bins hold family photos from across the generations, cartoons drawn by my late Grandfather, and extra photo frames (top right photo). The half cabinet (not shown) is where I keep my yearbooks and binders, including my moving binder, some medical records, and Thanksgiving planner. The right side’s cabinets are split into two categories of storage. I keep mailing supplies in one cabinet, including boxes of all sizes and a Reisenthel Large Fabric Storage Box that holds bubble wrap, packing paper, and padded envelopes (bottom left photo). The other cabinet has four Reisenthel Fabric Storage Boxes (two medium and two large) filled with my holiday packaging, gift wrap, crafts, and office decor (bottom right photo). As you can see, these deep cabinets can hold quite a bit!
The window seating area has three very roomy cubbies for additional storage. I bought three lined laundry baskets from Target (no longer available) when the unit was first installed. These baskets are the perfect width for the cubbies, but there is still quite a bit of room behind them due to the depth of the window seat. I’m not one to put extra space to waste! I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect bins to sit behind the large baskets for many years and just came across the TAGstore Boxes this past week at the Container Store (bottom right image source). I can fit two 3.2 gallon boxes with two 2.1 gallon boxes on top of them tucked into the very back of each cubby. I love that they’re white, because they camouflage nicely with the white cubby interior so that they’re not noticeable sitting behind the baskets. These bins are waiting to be filled for future storage needs. In the meantime, I’m so happy I finally found the perfect storage solution for this area!
I go over my Built-Ins organization in much more detail in the video (shown below) if you’re interested in a closer look. Check back next week for a post and coordinating video showcasing my Bookshelf Organization!
* I am not affiliated with any of the brands or stores mentioned in this blog post or video. All opinions are my own. *
