Don’t let the name fool you: Kitchen cabinets have utility far beyond the cooking space.
After all, a cabinet is just a box with shelves or drawers, and most rooms in the house could use a few of those for storage. Think closets, sewing and craft rooms, laundry rooms, and mudrooms.
The best part is that using kitchen cabinets to create storage units outside the kitchen is a good deal cheaper than having a custom piece made or buying a piece of expensive furniture to do the job. Using kitchen cabinets in other areas can be an option for home builders to save some money by not having to do something custom while still supplying storage that home buyers want.
“We think about 25% of Home Depot’s Hampton Bay cabinets (a line of stock cabinets) end up outside the core kitchen,” says cabinet expert Justin Brown. Even homeowners with a higher end home might not want to spend a lot on a finished basement, and stock cabinetry would be perfect for creating storage there, he says.
“Anywhere you need holding space is an option for adding cabinets,” he says.
In an open plan home, builders can use the same cabinets used for the kitchen throughout the space to create a seamless look, if the budget allows, or mimic the look with stock cabinets.
San Francisco kitchen and bath designer Joanne Cannell likes using semi-custom lines of cabinetry to create storage outside the kitchen because “semi-custom gives you more options, and you can do a lot more with it.”
Here are some good ways home builders can make use of kitchen cabinets outside their normal habitat:
- Stock cabinets can be used to create a buffet for a dining room by joining several cabinets together and adding a top and stock molding and feet.
- For a more modern look, home builders can use frameless cabinets to create a floating credenza or buffet for use in a dining or living room.
- A work station can be artfully crafted from kitchen cabinets with the addition of a top for a desk and feet. Add open or closed shelving above the station for even more storage.
- Laundry rooms are a natural spot for creating storage with cabinets. Cannell has done a number of laundry rooms where she was tasked with hiding a litter box. She did so by creating an opening in a base cabinet. In several cases, she has made the opening in the shape of a cat’s head, a popular choice for fastidious cat-owning clients.
- A mudroom screams for extra storage, and cabinets can be gainfully employed in this space by using a row of shorter cabinets (the size that normally go above a refrigerator) plus top and stock feet to create a low bench.
- The same applies for creating window seats, which are easy to create out of kitchen cabinets, and provide not only seating with the addition of a top and a long cushion, but also a home for everything from extra pillows and linens to holiday decorations.
- A wall of stock cabinets with a mix of shelves and drawers can offer organization in a basement or craft space.
