Ok, guys, on Monday night I started to set up my top cabinets for the wall of shelving in my studio. I stopped after getting the first frame in place. I wasn’t feeling it.
The height of the IKEA Besta cabinets left an awkward gap between their tops and the A/C duct in the ceiling, and aside from the looks of it, I just hate wasting space.
With the set of top cabinets coming in at about $200 total, I hemmed and hawed over it and last night I decided that I just can’t settle for so-so.
And this is a lesson it’s taken me a while to learn. But if your gut feeling is that a solution isn’t really working for you, trust it. Because you don’t want to spend the next few years just regretting a decision.
The only solution I’m liking now is to build my own shelving unit with adjustable shelves. And the more I thought it out and sketched ideas, the more I feel like it’s something I can knock out in about 5 days. Heck, I could do it in one day if I didn’t have a job – It’s not as scary as I originally thought.
Even though I’m not sure where I’ll find the time to get this done, I’m excited. I can make it a little more shallow (the current picture shows a 15″ deep top cabinet) and I can make it conform to the odd corner in the ceiling. And it won’t be as bulky or as expensive, I hope.
Blog may be silent for a few days as I just focus on getting. this. done. Time is of the essence – I’ve got fall craft shows to sew for!
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10 Comments
Idk if you can return it but if not, can’t you hack the shelf? Maybe build a piece to go between the black and white shelves? And honestly how much would you put at the top that you would use on a regular basis? For me the top shelf holds more seldom used/ decoraticve items. Just a thought; whatever you do will be great!
Hey Lindsey –
Yep, I can totally return it (without even disassembling it) which is an awesome thing about Ikea.
May be a little OCD of me, but I want every inch to be useable storage space – just in case 😉 Also, it’s hard to describe effectively, but when you’re actually in the room it just looks silly and stunted and bulky. I think it’s because the room is small with a really low ceiling, and then the A/C duct work causes it to be even lower in the corner, so all those broken lines just look messy and unfinished.
I’m getting excited to do the custom shelves, I think it will look more seamless, so fingers crossed. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
-Jane
I’m such a slacker…I don’t think the gap would bother me…but maybe I’ll feel differently when I’m trying to make decisions for my office down the line. Good luck, J!
I’m shocked to hear you say that! You are always my inspiration for doing things the right way – you seem to take your time, find the perfect solution, and then as a result your home looks spectacular 🙂
I swear if you were here in person, though, you’d hate it with me. It feels incredibly bulky and messy – I think because of the low ceilings and the small size of the room. I just can’t stand it. Plus, I want to use all the wall for storage if need be. No point doing it only part way. Also, not as important, but the gap is so small that I can’t really even put something cute in it.
First world problems. . .
I’m sure that your custom-build will look much better than what’s gone before.
My only thought when I was looking at what you’ve done with the Besta, apart from the gap at the top which I can understand why you hate it, is that the double up of wood between your lovely white wood topped Book shelves, looks a bit wrong too.
When you’re making the custom build, will you join it to that Shelf so there’s just the one thickness, or will you be doing something different?
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