Cabinets are the most underappreciated furniture in every house. Not only do most homeowners allow their cabinets to go out of style, but plenty of designers fail to recognize the unending versatility of such an excellent storage space.
Cabinets are not just there to hold up counters in kitchens and bathrooms — they are the answer to any room’s storage and organization predicaments. Plus, cabinets come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, ands styles, making them the perfect furniture for every design.
If you are beginning a home remodel, it behooves you to think outside the cabinet box. Here are six custom cabinet ideas that any house can benefit from.
1. Beverage Bar
Unlike a bulky wet bar or a delicate breakfast buffet, a beverage bar can be compact, utilitarian, and tasteful. Built in the same style and materials as your cabinets, your beverage bar can blend seamlessly into the rest of your kitchen and dining areas but provide some unique perks. For example, an extra mini-fridge can house water bottles, juice boxes, and other individual drinks to make grab-and-go easier.
The bar can also house your coffee machine to free up counter space in the kitchen, and you can hang mugs overhead for a space-saving decorative touch. If you have the tools, you can make your own like this family did, or for a more polished look, you can ask your professional cabinet makers to customize your cabinets in this or any of the following ways.
2. Plastic Container Organizer
Almost every American family hoards leftover containers. Tiny, huge, square, round — we have them all. What we don’t have is a way to keep them neat and tidy. Though there are a few hacks around the Web that make use of inexpensive materials like pegboard and drying racks, plastic containers are as permanent in your kitchen as your plates, so we suggest finding a permanent solution, like this custom divided drawer.
3. Trash Tilter
A necessary evil, the trash can is difficult to fit esthetically into any space, but in the kitchen — where every square foot is reserved for movement, storage, or entertaining, the trash can is especially unsightly and cumbersome. Most families hide their trash under the kitchen sink, but this requires frequent trips to the dumpster as the space is small and fills up quickly. A far better solution is constructing a cabinet expressly devoted to containing the trash. Commonly, these cabinets pull out like drawers, but we are particularly attracted to the tilting kind, like this.
4. Shoe Organizer
Cabinets aren’t just for kitchens and bathrooms — this genius cupboard brings the essential furniture into the bedroom to keep your shoes well-ordered and spotless. Unlike other shoe organizers, like those that hang on doors or slide into closets, a shoe cabinet is a tool you are apt to use because it sits tastefully in plain sight. Plus, you can use the cabinet’s top like a bedroom vanity and adorn it with other useful tools, like perfume or makeup.
5. Laundry Cover
Even when laundry machines are separated from entertaining areas in their own tiny rooms, they aren’t particularly attractive appliances. Giant metal boxes with flashing lights, washers and dryers don’t often mesh with a house’s style. That is why we love the idea of covering them with custom cabinetry. Instead of shoving your laundry space in a closet or closing the door on an unattractive room, you can hide your laundry spot in plain sight with gorgeous faux cupboards. Plus, you can add delightful storage space and a useful folding table (or ironing area) like this home.
6. Hidden Step Stool
As home designers pay more attention to adult preferences, some aspects of home design are becoming less kid-friendly. For example, the height of kitchen and bathroom countertops remained constant for about a century and a half, between the mid-19th century and the 21st: between 28 and 30 inches tall. However, now that adults are clamoring for higher task spaces, cabinets are reaching as high as 36 inches, and children are having a hard time reaching the tools they need. Fortunately, there is a way to have the best of both worlds: a hidden step stool. At the base of your cabinets, you can have a platform pull out like a drawer to allow little ones a boost.