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I just bought a new house. When I remodeled my current house 3 years ago, I added lots of built-in cabinets on one wall of a large bedroom, and I sized them to fit some custom-made CD-DVD boxes that a carpenter made for me. Alas, I have to leave those built-in's behind, and the new house has nothing like them.
I was going to ask my carpenter friend to build some deep (20-21") bookcases for me to mimic the built-in's at my old house, but I suspect that will be very expensive. So I was thinking of buying some stock cabinets and having him put them together/stack them for me.
I've attached 2 photos of the current cabinets. They have a 2-drawer base (not seen in photos), then two 30x30 wall cabinets with increased depth to 24", all stacked. I don't need drawers in my new cabinet, as it will JUST be used to store cd's and dvd's in the custom boxes. If it has doors (as do my current cabinets), that would be great, but plain old bookcase-like shelving would be fine as well -- except the shelves have to be at least 20" deep and it's hard to find bookcases that deep, hence my search for kitchen cabinets.
In the first photo, you can see that the cabinets don't actually need to be 30" high -- there's actually space I can't use for the DVD boxes so I just put some file storage boxes there instead. I think 24" high would probably work fine for 3 shelves, each of which can hold 4 boxes.
So I THINK this could work: a 30"-wide, 34.5"-high base cabinet (the normal 24" depth) plus 2 30"x24"x24" wall cabinets stacked on top = 82.5" tall cabinet.
I found these online (just for info, I don't know that I will actually buy these):
(Yes, I know they're not great quality, but this is just for long-term storage in a spare bedroom. For now and for probably many years, this would be the only furniture in the room.)
An alternative might be a 24"-wide pantry cabinet (would fit only 3 boxes per shelf, but I can live with that for the convenience of not having to have my carpenter stack other cabinets).
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!
Last edited by karen_in_nh_2012; 05-05-2012 at 05:16 PM..
MrRational, thanks for the link -- I like a lot of their products (and I really like that it's a small business based in the U.S.A.), but in their brochure I can't find the specific ones that I need. I will look further and/or email them to see if they actually have them (e.g., 30" wide by 24" high by 24" deep).
The RTA ones I posted actually come in an assembled version as well. So what are you objecting to: the RTA itself (e.g. how hard it is to actually assemble) or the quality of RTA items, or what? I am curious because I have bought a LOT of RTA items in my life -- some Walmart quality but others really substantial pieces of furniture that you would never know began as RTA. So please clarify, if you don't mind!
I just bought a new house. When I remodeled my current house 3 years ago, I added lots of built-in cabinets on one wall of a large bedroom, and I sized them to fit some custom-made CD-DVD boxes that a carpenter made for me. Alas, I have to leave those built-in's behind, and the new house has nothing like them.
I was going to ask my carpenter friend to build some deep (20-21") bookcases for me to mimic the built-in's at my old house, but I suspect that will be very expensive. So I was thinking of buying some stock cabinets and having him put them together/stack them for me.
I've attached 2 photos of the current cabinets. They have a 2-drawer base (not seen in photos), then two 30x30 wall cabinets with increased depth to 24", all stacked. I don't need drawers in my new cabinet, as it will JUST be used to store cd's and dvd's in the custom boxes. If it has doors (as do my current cabinets), that would be great, but plain old bookcase-like shelving would be fine as well -- except the shelves have to be at least 20" deep and it's hard to find bookcases that deep, hence my search for kitchen cabinets.
In the first photo, you can see that the cabinets don't actually need to be 30" high -- there's actually space I can't use for the DVD boxes so I just put some file storage boxes there instead. I think 24" high would probably work fine for 3 shelves, each of which can hold 4 boxes.
So I THINK this could work: a 30"-wide, 34.5"-high base cabinet (the normal 24" depth) plus 2 30"x24"x24" wall cabinets stacked on top = 82.5" tall cabinet.
I found these online (just for info, I don't know that I will actually buy these):
(Yes, I know they're not great quality, but this is just for long-term storage in a spare bedroom. For now and for probably many years, this would be the only furniture in the room.)
An alternative might be a 24"-wide pantry cabinet (would fit only 3 boxes per shelf, but I can live with that for the convenience of not having to have my carpenter stack other cabinets).
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!
It's hard to find bookcases that deep because they almost don't exist and they almost don't exist for a reason.
Stay away from RTA or knock downs as they are also called. They are not all junk but the vast majority are made in China and they are made with enough formaldehyde, sulfur and lead to kill a young child from exposure. The good news is that will change soon since the EPA has passed into law some new regulations concerning these very very dangerous Chinese cabinets. The bad news is we gave China 2 years to clean up their act.
The real bad thing about RTA are that options are limited. Most RTA cabinet manufacturers do not even sell bookshelves for example. Nor do they sell prefinished panels so you can make your own. Their offerings are just simply too small.
Kitchen Kompact was mentioned as a helpful post but very incomplete. Kitchen Kompact is indeed a great product made in America and is very very inexpensive. Not because they are junky but because the offerings are very very limited which keep production costs down. For example they only offer 3 color choices and 2 door styles. That is it.
I am no fan of having a Carpenter building you something in place. Few individuals today are a true trained Carpenter but rather own a pick up truck and a tool box and call themselves Carpenters. The day of the Skilled Craftsman are from times gone by. Most today can just build you painted wooden boxes, not cabinets. Especially where I live, it's a big joke here but that's another conversation.
I could come up with a few inexpensive cabinet brands that offer some amount of office and entertainment cabinet products. But it does take a Kitchen Designer with some smarts, experience and insight to make all the components work for what the customer wants. And make it all look like a built-in rather then some kitchen cabinets stacked up to look like an office.
That pantry cab you mentioned. The shelves are adjustable so don't just think about how many boxes you can fit on each shelf as you mentioned. You can put the shelves anywhere or use none at all. When you order a pantry cab, the shelves are ordered separately.
Hi Desertsun! My "carpenter" actually IS a master craftsman who has won many awards for his work. He teaches woodworking & construction at my college and has been in the business for close to 40 years now. He made some litter box cabinets for me and they are both nice looking and extremely functional (I did drawings & specs and he took it from there).
RE: pantry cabinets, I know that shelves are adjustable, but in the 30"-high cabinets, there's enough room for 3 shelves of DVD boxes but not 4 -- it misses by a couple of inches (as seen in the first photo, I could only fit short items on the 4th shelf). In a hypothetical 33"-high cabinet -- which I couldn't find -- there would have been enough space for 4 shelves of DVD boxes. I don't know if 3 shelves of DVD boxes could fit in a 24"-high cabinet -- there might only be enough room for 2 with the 3rd missing by an inch or two. I have asked for detailed specs from the cabinet seller, but so far the manufacturer has already given them bad info on one of my questions, which makes me worried.
I am now leaning toward having my carpenter build the cabinets for me -- even though they'll be very expensive, I know they'll be exactly what I need. (And I am worried about the Chinese-made cabinets -- I will find out where the ones I am considering are actually made.)
Perhaps you are not fully examining the full problem.
I have a lot of CDs and a number of DVDs. The space required for the full boxes is excessive and ever since I had walls of bookcases filled with VHS tapes, I have not been a fan of the design teams for media containers.
What I have done is to take the CDs and DVDs out of the boxes. I bought large 3 ring binders, and use sleeves made for CDs and DVDs * and then index what is in the binder on the front panel. About fifty DVDs will fit in a binder only 3.5" wide. Compare that to 25 inches if stored in their original boxes.
Storage is neater, more compact, and looks decent on standard shelving.
*Actually, I don't like the commercial plastic sleeves. I make my own by using a paper cutter to cut down file folders then staple/glue two simple paper CD sleeves to each. The file folder tagboard doesn't flop around or stick to the sleeve next to it, and I can write comments on the tagboard.
Any cabinet manufacturer you are considering, if you go to their web site you will find a link to SPECS. This is a down loadable catalog of every specification to every product they sell. You will find the actual openings of the box size you need.
Not sure why you mentioned 33" high since there is no such thing in the kitchen standard height line up. Some manufacturers have 33" tall for bathroom vanities.
Any base cabinet will come with just 1 shelf so you will have to buy optional ones to add. Most bases will only have 3 perforated holes which means you will have to have more drilled to put in more then the standard 1 shelf.
That one link you had showed a top drawer and bottom door. You can buy tall doors. The Nomenclature is FHD or B33 FHD (full height door). Now you have additional height for those 3 shelves you want in there. A cheap cabinet brand may not have a tall door no drawer option.
Before you pay your Carpenter to build something, consider going with a high quality brand like Kraftmaid. They have nearly every imaginable box option you can dream up, hundreds of finish options, and a lifetime warranty. All things a Carpenter can not offer. Most Carpenters, professional or amateur can only offer paint grade wood.
Perhaps you are not fully examining the full problem.
I have a lot of CDs and a number of DVDs. The space required for the full boxes is excessive and ever since I had walls of bookcases filled with VHS tapes, I have not been a fan of the design teams for media containers.
What I have done is to take the CDs and DVDs out of the boxes. I bought large 3 ring binders, and use sleeves made for CDs and DVDs * and then index what is in the binder on the front panel. About fifty DVDs will fit in a binder only 3.5" wide. Compare that to 25 inches if stored in their original boxes.
Storage is neater, more compact, and looks decent on standard shelving.
*Actually, I don't like the commercial plastic sleeves. I make my own by using a paper cutter to cut down file folders then staple/glue two simple paper CD sleeves to each. The file folder tagboard doesn't flop around or stick to the sleeve next to it, and I can write comments on the tagboard.
Harry Chickpea, thanks for the reply! Take a look at my first photo in post #1 of this thread, the 3rd shelf down -- see the boxes with the label holders in front? THAT is what I mean by "DVD box." I have literally thousands of DVDs made from that many videotapes from "the good old days" as well as originals and back-ups of hundreds of DVDs that I own (taken out of their cases -- they waste WAY too much space!). I use them all the time in my teaching/research, so I definitely had to come up with a better storage solution than the plastic DVD boxes that DVDs come in. (I am also in the process of taking my thousands of CDs out of their jewel cases -- they'll go in these "DVD boxes" as well.) My carpenter made me a few dozen boxes and I am still filling them. Those boxes (like those in the photo) fit onto cabinet shelves. One shelf can hold several hundred in 3-4 DVD boxes, depending on how wide the cabinet is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertsun41
Any cabinet manufacturer you are considering, if you go to their web site you will find a link to SPECS. This is a down loadable catalog of every specification to every product they sell. You will find the actual openings of the box size you need.
Not sure why you mentioned 33" high since there is no such thing in the kitchen standard height line up. Some manufacturers have 33" tall for bathroom vanities.
Any base cabinet will come with just 1 shelf so you will have to buy optional ones to add. Most bases will only have 3 perforated holes which means you will have to have more drilled to put in more then the standard 1 shelf.
That one link you had showed a top drawer and bottom door. You can buy tall doors. The Nomenclature is FHD or B33 FHD (full height door). Now you have additional height for those 3 shelves you want in there. A cheap cabinet brand may not have a tall door no drawer option.
Before you pay your Carpenter to build something, consider going with a high quality brand like Kraftmaid. They have nearly every imaginable box option you can dream up, hundreds of finish options, and a lifetime warranty. All things a Carpenter can not offer. Most Carpenters, professional or amateur can only offer paint grade wood.
Desertsun, I mentioned 33" just as a hypothetical example -- the 30" high boxes don't fit 4 shelves of my DVD boxes. A 33" would but doesn't exist (I had figured that out! ).
What do you think of the idea of a 24"-wide by 84"-high by 24"-deep pantry cabinet? I think that might work better than having several other cabinets stacked. EG this: Harvest Oak 24x84 Wall Pantry .
RE: Kraftmaid, that's what I went with when I remodeled my kitchen in the summer of '09. I actually have a 24"-wide pantry cabinet in that kitchen and I absolutely love it. I may go this route, although I don't want them built in -- I would rather have these be stand-alone. I assume Kraftmaid cabinets can be made into stand-alone furniture.
Harry Chickpea, thanks for the reply! Take a look at my first photo in post #1 of this thread, the 3rd shelf down -- see the boxes with the label holders in front? THAT is what I mean by "DVD box." I have literally thousands of DVDs made from that many videotapes from "the good old days" as well as originals and back-ups of hundreds of DVDs that I own (taken out of their cases -- they waste WAY too much space!). I use them all the time in my teaching/research, so I definitely had to come up with a better storage solution than the plastic DVD boxes that DVDs come in. (I am also in the process of taking my thousands of CDs out of their jewel cases -- they'll go in these "DVD boxes" as well.) My carpenter made me a few dozen boxes and I am still filling them. Those boxes (like those in the photo) fit onto cabinet shelves. One shelf can hold several hundred in 3-4 DVD boxes, depending on how wide the cabinet is.
Desertsun, I mentioned 33" just as a hypothetical example -- the 30" high boxes don't fit 4 shelves of my DVD boxes. A 33" would but doesn't exist (I had figured that out! ).
What do you think of the idea of a 24"-wide by 84"-high by 24"-deep pantry cabinet? I think that might work better than having several other cabinets stacked. EG this: Harvest Oak 24x84 Wall Pantry .
RE: Kraftmaid, that's what I went with when I remodeled my kitchen in the summer of '09. I actually have a 24"-wide pantry cabinet in that kitchen and I absolutely love it. I may go this route, although I don't want them built in -- I would rather have these be stand-alone. I assume Kraftmaid cabinets can be made into stand-alone furniture.
Thanks again for the replies!
The 24" wide pantry-utility cabinet would work just fine. The interior ID height should be about 66" if you buy American brands. In most cases a pantry-utility cabinet only comes with shelves on the top. The bottom you order a 5 shelf kit separately. That is because one can also order pull out shelves or just nothing at all.
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