Get More Function and Style with Built-In Living Room Cabinets

Tired of cluttered living spaces? Seeking ways to maximize storage while elevating your home's style? Built-in cabinets provide the perfect solution, offering customized spaces that both organize your belongings and act as beautiful architectural details.

Unlike freestanding cabinets and shelving units, built-ins are specially constructed and permanently installed in your home. When thoughtfully designed, they seamlessly integrate into rooms, providing much-needed storage while complimenting your interior. Continue reading to learn all about the benefits of incorporating built-in cabinets into your living room.

Benefits of Built-In Cabinets

Maximize Storage

One of the biggest perks of built-in cabinets is their ability to maximize storage capacity. Since they are fixed installations, built-ins can fully utilize available space from floor to ceiling. You can incorporate customized configurations with various shelving heights, pull-out drawers, and slide-out trays to neatly accommodate all your belongings.

Built-ins are excellent for concealing media items, books, decorations, and other living room staples that can quickly lead to clutter. Keep these items easily accessible but out of sight in enclosed cabinet spaces. Glass doors allow you to view prized possessions while protecting them from dust and damage.

Customize to Your Needs

Unlike mass produced furniture, built-in cabinets offer near-endless customization options. You can select cabinet shapes, sizes, and placements that work perfectly for your living room's proportions and architecture. Include design details like glass cabinet doors, open shelving, closed cabinet spaces, drawers, and more to create the ideal blend of form and function.

Further customize your built-ins with choice of high-end wood finishes, hardware, molding, and trim details. Integrated lighting options like puck lights or LED lighting strips add both aesthetic appeal and practical illumination. The ability to tailor built-ins to your precise storage needs and design taste is a major benefit.

Enhance Style

In addition to providing organized storage, built-in cabinets inject style into living rooms. Their seamless, flush-to-the-wall construction gives a polished, upscale appearance. Built-ins act as architectural focal points that enhance the room's aesthetics.

The integrated look creates a unified feel that is not possible with standalone storage units. Built-ins also allow you to infuse your personal style into the room's design through your choice of materials, finishes, hardware and configurations. Let your cabinets make a stylish statement.

Added Home Value

Investing in built-in cabinets can directly increase your home's monetary value. These customized elements are generally perceived as higher in quality compared to freestanding, ready-made furniture. Built-ins give living spaces a more upscale, upgraded feel that appeals to potential homebuyers.

Additionally, since the cabinets are fixed installations they remain with the home, adding value for future owners who will enjoy their stylish appearance and practical utility. If a future upgrade is desired, the fact that they are integrated into the walls also makes the cabinets easy to adapt to new configurations.

Types of Built-In Cabinets

Now that you know the many benefits of incorporating built-ins, let's explore some of the most popular cabinet options for living rooms:

Entertainment Centers

Entertainment centers take center stage in many living rooms. Custom built-in entertainment centers seamlessly blend in with surrounding cabinetry and architecture. TVs can be completely or partially concealed within cabinetry to maintain a streamlined look when not in use.

Entertainment center built-ins often incorporate media storage needs with options like shelving sized for DVDs/Blu-Rays, cabinets for hiding clutter like gaming consoles and cords, and media equipment racks. Thoughtful design elements like ventilation, integrated speakers, and remote-friendly IR glass allow for both style and optimal media functionality.

Display Cases

Show off your fine China, decorative objects, trophies, and curated collections within built-in display cases. Glass cabinet doors allow items to be viewed without exposure to dust and curious hands. Adjustable shelving, accent lighting, and mirrored backdrops all help enhance displayed items.

Display case built-ins add visual interest to living rooms while keeping precious possessions secure. They come in numerous configurations including corner displays, wall-mounted units, and stately floor-to-ceiling cases. For ultimate drama, install a circular display case.

Bookcases

Custom bookcases make wonderful built-ins for bibliophiles and those with ample media collections. Maximize every inch by including adjustable shelves, slide-out trays, and enclosed cabinets to accommodate books, records, photo albums, and memorabilia.

Consider including ladder rails, lighting, and glass cabinet doors to add elegance. Bookcase built-ins provide both form and function, keeping favorite reads within easy reach while exhibiting them in an artful way.

Pantry Cabinets

While not strictly for living rooms, built-in pantry cabinets create valuable shelving and storage adjacent to kitchens and dining rooms. The seamless appearance gives a custom look compared to standalone pantries. Maximize kitchen storage overflow with slide-out trays, pull-out drawers, and floor-to-ceiling shelving.

Built-in pantry cabinets are also easily incorporated into laundry rooms, mudrooms, craft rooms, and offices. Take advantage of the seamless, hidden storage possibilities they provide throughout the home.

Design Considerations

Achieving an integrated, custom look requires careful planning. Be sure to consider the following before constructing your living room built-ins:

• Room dimensions and layout
• Existing furniture pieces and fixtures
• Window and door placements
• Ceiling height
• Intended cabinet purpose and uses
• Types and sizes of items being stored
• Traffic flow and accessibility
• Practical cabinet placement guidelines

Measure the room and your possessions carefully. Make detailed drawings depicting cabinet configurations and placements within the space. This will help you determine optimal built-in designs before construction begins.

Preparation

While the installation process may vary based on cabinet design, there are some key preparatory steps:

• Carefully measure the entire space and account for any moldings or baseboards.
• Purchase all necessary building materials, tools, and hardware ahead of time.
• Ensure you have proper structural support in the walls to install large built-ins.
• Demolish any existing closets or walls if needed to create space.
• Buildinspiration by browsing living room built-in photos and ideas.

Having detailed plans, all supplies on hand, and proper structural support will make the installation process go smoothly. Safety should always come first during any demolition or construction steps.

Installation Process

Constructing living room built-ins is an ambitious but rewarding DIY project for skilled carpenters.

While the steps seem straightforward, intricate built-ins with lots of custom details require precision cutting, jointing, routing and installation work. Consider hiring a professional carpenter for structural changes or complex designs.

Customization

One of the appeals of built-ins is the ability to customize. Personalize your living room cabinets with unique details:

• Finishes: Stain, paint, glaze or finish the wood to your liking. Distressed, whitewashed and dark walnut are popular choices.
• Doors: Opt for solid wood doors, or glass panes and mirrors for an open feel.
• Hardware: Use knobs, pulls, hinges and locks to reflect your preferred decor style.
• Shelving: Make shelves adjustable or fixed. Incorporate drawer organizers.
• Lighting: Install puck lights, strip lighting or sconces to illuminate interiors.
• Molding: Frame built-ins with crown molding, baseboards, or trimwork.

Visit home improvement stores for supplies and hardware you can incorporate. Use found materials like reclaimed wood for rustic appeal. The options for customization are virtually endless, limited only by your imagination.

Hopefully this overview has shown how built-in cabinets can provide exceptional utility while looking like a cohesive part of your living room's architecture. Proper planning and installation are key to maximizing their potential.

Built-ins offer seemingly endless possibilities for specialized storage and display. They add value and free up floor space by using vertical space efficiently. With some carpentry skills and creativity, you can craft living room built-ins that will both organize your belongings and be admired by guests.

So don't settle for a disorganized living room or generic ready-made storage units. Look into integrating custom-built cabinets that provide specialized places for all your possessions. With their seamless look and custom configurability, built-ins are truly the best of both form and function.