We've been plodding through updates here at our digs--and by plodding, what I mean is living our very full lives, drinking enough water, driving our kids to all their things, holding down our jobs, being present humans, getting our required 8 hours of sleep, and trying to not eating sugar even when they're practically gift-wrapped on a counter, shaped like a cruller and calling my name like the sirens in Ulysses.
If that seemed specific, that's because it was.
But back to the cabinets.
Our entry is small with low ceilings and had no storage (see here for a brief overview on progress from moving in to now).
I've been gathering some ideas over the past year and one thing was abundantly clear: I wanted all our junk hidden. We had shoes spilling out of bins, jackets laying on the floor, book bags scattered, laptops charging on the windowsill, mittens sprinkled around like sad, homeless confetti. We need closed-door and drawer, Fort-Knox style storage. There would be no cute bench with a wreath hanging on a spare hook above it. Ha, that's cute but nope--that's for someone else's house. We have too many people and too much stuff spilling out and I want everything hidden from the eye forever.
I priced out an Ikea hack with Semihandmade doors, but with our space there would have been a lot of wasted space, both horizontally and vertically. This required some professional help (which often seems to be the case in this home).
We've known about Custom Cottage for several years: their mission is to build quality furniture while also providing work opportunities for the people who live around their home base at 30th & Burleigh. (Win-win businesses are rad.)
I contacted them with my initial vision and measurements and sent a couple inspo shots. Michael came out and measured and we talked through all the quirky aspects of this project: the two different wall depths, the asymmetrical door entrances, bench depth and all that good stuff. Also, I wanted ventilation holes to help the air circulate inside the cabinets, which is especially important if I want those snow pants to dry out without stinking.
They hit me back a couple days later with a sketch that encapsulated all the good things I'd hoped for.
There's six of us in this house and two people would share each of the three cabinets. Each person would have their own drawer for their flutes, laptops, hats, mittens, etc. The shelves on top would be additional storage like beach towels, dog gear, sunscreen, and bug spray.
I also planned on hooks for everyone. I thought about having at least one closet rod with hangers for coats, but I knew that system would be destined to fail. "Take my coat off and hang it up and then hang the hanger on the rod?" ask my children, blinking and looking offended at the notion. "Nope."
Hooks then. Hooks will solve all the problems. And not just any hook. I wanted a double hook (for double-duty hanging) made of solid brass so it would be able to hold the very heavy book bags by kids lug around. I found some hooks on Rejuvenation and they were beautiful, but more than I wanted to pay. I found solid brass hooks from this Etsy Shop (sadly, the hooks aren't available right now) in the UK and they arrived within a week. I ordered 15 double hooks so we have all kinds of hanging capability now. That's 30 hanging opportunities, folks. There's no excuse for my girls to have coats laying on the floor. It's a foolproof plan. I ordered the unlacquered brass knobs and pulls from Rejuvenation to match the brass elsewhere in our house.
But then the paint color. We did a green-gray on the kitchen cabinets, but this space called for something different. I wanted to go dark and moody, but this is an already dark space: would it feel like a black hole if I went dark?
While I obsessed about the paint color, Custom Cottage began building the cabinets and I took a couple field trips to their shop to see the updates.
I could show you copious amounts of pictures to show the design agony of choosing the paint color, but I'll spare you. I decided on Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore, which was, as a Enneagram 4, also agony because everyone is using that color right now. I was rooting for Railings by Farrow & Ball which I have in my laundry room, but it was just too dark.
Alas.
Anyway, install day came around and it was tricky in all kinds of ways. It turns out the walls were square in the front, but in the back they came in ever so slightly and the bench didn't fit. A day and a good shave-down later, we were back in business.
Now we're in storage heaven.
I'm still wrapping my mind around how much better this part of the house is. It functions so much better and on school mornings, everyone knows where to find their stuff. It feels just right. Thank you to Amanda & Michael at Custom Cottage for their great work (and puppy loving skills).
Here's a little before and after goodness:
I wish I could tell you that my genius, completely over-thought plan with 30 hooks and all the storage bliss will work perfectly forever. But I have kids.
