From House To Home

Built-ins are the ultimate invention for houses. They are truly a win-win for the homeowner. For new houses, built-ins have the ability to reduce the amount of square footage needed for the space to function. A perfect example is a sofa in the living room. Most living rooms today have multiple seating elements for entertaining guests. Most homeowners do not entertain on a daily basis, so try this on for size: instead of buying an expensive couch, build a comfortable seating element in a bay window space. This effectively removes a minimum of 3 feet out of the space, which can cut 50 square feet out of a medium-sized living room. At an average construction price of $130 per square foot, that is a $6,500 savings—not to mention the savings of not having to buy the expensive sofa, either. But wait; there’s more. With a built-in seating element, the lower portion can be turned into storage for things such as blankets and throw pillows and board games. You’ve effectively turned your couch into a closet and saved $8,000.

Where else would built-ins work in a new or existing home? Check out these ideas:

Mudroom

Clean up the clutter of a dirty, high-traffic space by finding built-in nooks, crannies, cubbies, and bins for items such as winter boots and outdoor clothing, pet items, school bags, and sports equipment. This is also the perfect space for a mail/paper center, gardening center, and a built-in bench to sit on and use for donning/doffing boots. If I only had space in my own house…

Bedroom

I love the built-in bed frame and base. This puts the bed slightly higher to proportionately fill the space created by typical higher ceilings. It also allows the designer or homeowner to bring in the architecture of the house and integrate these designs into the wood or trim motifs of the bed-turned-cabinet. Storage can be introduced at the head, sides, and foot. An elegant head piece could be added for additional architecture, and an ascending TV can even be built into the foot of the bed. Now the bed is a sleeping space, closet, and entertainment center all in one!

Stairways and hallways

Does a hallway or stairway need to be just a space for getting from one place to another? Absolutely not. I like to think of these spaces as perfect opportunities for library spaces. Imagine walking up stairs with built-in shelving for books, sculptures, etc. The landing can be extended by a few feet and turned into a reading space complete with a comfy chair, lamp, and coffee table. What a wonderful place to dive into a great book!

Smaller houses once used the upstairs hallway for a series of built-in chests of drawers. That’s another neat and efficient idea to bring out character in an ordinary, blah space.

Closets

You can see from reading magazines today that there is an increased need for closet organization. We need to think about what goes into a closet and how it needs to be accessed and how often. A few more shelves and drawers in a closet can actually double or even triple the space inside. Let’s use the space we already have in smarter ways.

Bathroom

I once heard of an architect who designed a bathroom towel closet that was also a dumbwaiter/clothes chute down to the lower-level laundry room. When the towels were washed, dried, and folded, they were placed onto the dumbwaiter shelf. Up the shelf went to the bathroom to serve the occupants. When the towels were used and ready to be washed, the shelf was lowered down the dumbwaiter shaft; down went the towels to the laundry room. I am dying to try that in one of our homes someday.

What are you thinking for your home? Even a quick walk-through with a designer can give you some great ideas for your existing home or create some food for thought for your new dream house. Use your wonderful creativity and have fun!

Philip Stahl is a practicing residential architect at Stahl Architects in Fargo, North Dakota.