Artful Kitchens

View Original

STOCK CABINETS IN CUSTOM SPACES

 Sometimes I’m called upon to do the impossible, or almost.  It's easy for a home owner to blow the budget when purchasing a new residence or fixing up an old one.  Trust me, everything always costs more than you think it will!  If you're starting out remember to pad that budget.  Sometimes I’ll get a perfect storm consisting of a very custom architectural arrangement and a homeowner who chooses to spend a minimal amount.  That means custom cabinetry is out.  No fear!  I had a situation recently in which this exact thing happened.  In fact I often have to make stock cabinets work to meet the budget.  It’s sort of like a puzzle, a cabinet box rubiks cube, if you will.   There are three basic components to a cabinet job and they all have to be friends with each other.  They are:1)      Design2)      Product3)      InstallationIn this case I had to come up with a design for a wet bar in this area utilizing stock sized cabinets and then,  most importantly, our professional installer had to make it work which did require some fancy bladework. Here’s how we solved this one.We utilized two 30” high 12” by 12” upper cabinets as bases (on the bottom)  in order to avoid the nasty angles in the back.  These cabinets are fine at 12” deep as they will be used to store liquor bottles.  (You definitely don’t need to be losing your booze in the backside of an oddly shaped cabinet!) We used a 24” wide sink base cabinet to accommodate the bar sink and since there is no room for drawers in the layout we’re adding a roll out shelf on the bottom underneath the plumbing.The top is where it gets tricky.  We used a standard glass door cabinet over the sink, raised a bit to lend a little more spaciousness over the sink.  Our installer altered the two upper cabinets on either side to accommodate those angles and I ordered an extra panel of interior cabinet material to finish the remade interior.  Crown moulding and moulding under the uppers to conceal undercabinet lights finish off the traditional look.  Yes, in this case the installation is a bit more expensive than normal but the savings from using stock cabinetry more than made up for it. One thing I  say is that there is always a solution and this is a prime example.  We had to give up a little space by going stock but  custom base cabinets would have been an awkward shape and I'm not sure the benefit would have been worth the extra cost.  The example you see here included cabinets, assembly, delivery, the remaking of the upper cabinets, installation and glass.  The price was $3,400. Counter tops, lighting and plumbing fixtures were by others.