Built in cabinets

After the bookcase fell down, I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I think I’m closer to a decision but no matter what I do, I had to paint the now exposed brick and paneling and I also knew, I’d still paint the built in cabinets.

As I prepped for the paint job, I pondered the usefulness of the drawers. They held pencils and a couple decks of cards in case a euchre game breaks out. Clearly, we weren’t really utilizing them.

Just like I did in the kitchen, I opted to get rid of the drawers. For us, cabinet space is more useful. Of course, making this decision meant taking a saw to the framework to create two large openings in one cabinet. The cabinet above held a challenge, though. Notice anything? It didn’t have a center piece that spanned the height of the opening. I removed the partial piece and I added a new one.

Of course, opting for just doors meant I had to make new doors. Off to Lowe’s I went for some MDF. I had them cut it for me to make life easier. I added the trim just like I did in the kitchen. Painting things is SO satisfying to me! It makes everything feel new.

New doors

I painted the cabinets white on the inside and gray on the outside. The now exposed paneling above the cabinets were painted to match the rest of the walls. Things are starting to come together.

Added a shelf

I thought the cabinets had a lot of space vertical space in them so I took one of the old bookshelves and placed it inside to see if it fit. It did!! It made the cabinet space more organized and usable.

I started to return the cabinet items to their rightful places. It’s always so exciting when you can start putting your room back together. I’m convinced one of the most stressful things about remodeling is having your home in chaos for a period of time.

That shelf made the space so much more organized that only one of these cabinets has anything in it. (That little gold box is the one I got at the thrift store that led to THIS story.)

While we haven’t filled the void above the cabinets yet, it was really nice to bring some of my things back in and make it a smidge more stylish and homey.

Better but not done

We’re still working on the mantel and how to hang it. I still need to decide what to do above the cabinets and we still have to install the floor but for now, I’m going to bask in the glow of lovely built in cabinets.

Come back soon to see the mantel.

xoxo

Donna

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