I am going nuts. Here is what I want for storage in my office craft room space:
- Base cabinets with open shelving that are 24″ front-to-back (like kitchen cabinets), so that I can add a 25″ deep work surface counter on top.
- The overall installation needs to be 36″ high – also just like a kitchen.
- On legs.
- The inside sides need to have those little pegs on the side to you can adjust shelf sizes. I’ll add brass grommets.
- In my dreams, chunky natural wood frame, with white shelves.
- In my dreams and here’s where it gets really complicated: I’d like the design to allow me to adjust the width of the shelves and back and therefore, the width of the cabinet to fit the exact dimensions of my space. Like: The legs and side pieces would be a fixed depth and height (24″ deep, 36″ high with the legs and counter). The width of the shelves and back (if you wanted a back) could be adjusted easily by cutting down the shelves or using different sizes of shelves.
- Affordable — considering I am talking about a simple wood frame, and am fine with piney legs and MDF shelves.
Kinda sorta like the Ikea Varde freestanding kitchen cabinet unit above (now discontinued but see Ikea kitchen islands section for proxies available today) — but my design need to be shelves only and needs to be infinitely adjustable in width. Haha, that’s all I need: “infinitely.” Does anyone know of something available to suit my needs?? I have already spent, like, 30 hours online looking, and I am finding it’s constitutionally impossible for me to “settle“.
So far, the closest I am coming is the idea of using Ikea Akurums (1) in plain white (2) without the doors (3) put onto natural wood legs and (4) somehow, further framed by me in some kind of wood, to get the white-within-wood effect. However, this does not allow infinite flexiblity, as the Ikea Akurum shelf-only cabinets go only up to 24″. Also, I am not too keen on going the Ikea route. Ingredients of these pieces include and I quote: “Particleboard, Polypropylene, Melamine foil, Fiberboard, Acrylic paint”. I an not anti-plastic, just anti-plastic in this particular room quest. And third, even at “just” $70, this Ikea cabinets strikes me as overpriced compared to other items on their site. I think that because it’s called a “kitchen cabinet” the price is about $30 too high. For plastic, and those legs are even extra…
Meanwhile, I am doodling a design of my own — one that tries to use stock lumber and woodworking pieces — even though I have never tried to design furniture before.
Lynne says
Pam, have you considered just mounting counter top lengths on the wall at your 36″ height? Then, having the adjustable shelving underneath, with the adjusting brackets also mounted on the back wall. (Menards sells laminated shelving at VERY good prices, all with varied depths and widths.) Personally, I would prefer my shelves to be above the counter. The older I get, the easier it is to reach up for my stuff than to bend down. You could space the shelving at any interval you chose, giving you leg room.
You could also possibly get an unfinished base cabinet or two for under the counter top as well. 18 or 24″ ones. That would give you some drawer and concealed storage. It would look kind of like a long L shaped desk in the corner of your room. Almost a built in look, I think.
If you chose to go the Ikea route, which I did in my laundry room, check out the BESTA line. I have a 15″ deep , 48″ long, 2 door cabinet mounted on the wall. Then, I have the LAK floating shelves mounted above that. If I could figure out how to put a picture in this post, I would!
Pam says
Another idea would be a rectangular bar table, just cut down legs and add shelves.
Eartha Kitsch says
I say get a carpenter too. In the end, it might not cost tons more than buying what you need – and it will be *exactly* what you want. And if you did go with an IKEA piece, you’d probably be so insane before you got it put together that you’d wish that you’d just paid someone to make your dreams come true. Says the person who helped put together IKEA cabinets for my own studio and had to keep sending back and reordering pieces because they kept arriving chipped and cracked.
Pam says
Maybe, if you come across a cheap kitchen island on Craigslist, you could modify it in depth and add shelves. I think the legs and heighth would be great but adjusting the depth may be a pain. You might even end up with a couple of drawers on top. My friend did something similar but she did not need to adjust the depth.
Kelly says
The problem w/trying to find something with 1) a particular design sensibility; 2) exact measurements; and 3) that isn’t made of particleboard (read: not very well made/sturdy/etc.) is that it’s near impossible, as you’ve found.
I’m on the carpenter bandwagon – you might be surprised at how affordable it is. We had a handyman completely outfit our kitchen with open shelving and cabinets for specific applicances/pots/etc. in our tiny space. There’s NO WAY we could have purchased anything out of the box like that. Cost us virtually nothing because I designed and prepped/painted everything myself. Sometimes a designer in High Point/Stockholm/Chengdu can’t figure out exactly what your space needs.
natalie says
i was going to say book case too. to me it’s not really a cabinet if it doesn’t have doors.
pam kueber says
needs to be 24″ deep – base cabinet
lady brett says
yeah, i think you’re talking custom. but while you are looking for something very specific, you are not looking for something complicated, which helps.
i’d love to help, but i’m afraid i’m a bit far (oh, and my wife would kill me if i started working on other people’s projects with all ours unfinished)! but, if you’re interested in trying it yourself, i’d highly recommend ana white for an intro to woodwork and some simple plans. a few that seemed along the right lines:
http://ana-white.com/2011/02/easy-kitchen-island-plans (fancier than what you’re after, but the right general shape)
similar to that – http://ana-white.com/2010/03/plans-michaelas-kitchen-island.html
more enclosed, and with drawers – http://ana-white.com/2011/07/cyndi-console-table
but as jay said, basically what you want is a bookshelf, so something much simpler than the above would work. good luck, however you decide to do it!
Jay says
kinda sorta. Essentially. you are building a book case. I think you need to have a carpenter build in the supports and counter top and have multiple holes in your vertical supports so that you can adjust the vertical spacing between the shelves. The width of the space across the front is determined by the overall length of the shelving. There is a limit to the width based on the thickness of your shelves and the linear feet run of shelving you want. A good carpenter should be able to build what you want and it will look much nicer.
pam kueber says
yes, I want 24″ deep bookcases on legs that sit like a kitchen base cabinet! YES
Kate says
I think you might be in a “it doesn’t exist so you have to build it” situation. You can do it Pam! Otherwise, maybe a local carpenter could build it for you?
Nancy says
Build your own. Take a look at all the plans Ana White has compiled on her website of the same name. Affordable, do-able for the first time DIY’r and custom-able to whatever your whims desire. We’re going to use several of her plans to do a custom storage wall in our walk-out basement.