The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

The Practical Built In Funiture

It usually is best to attach the built-in pieces firmly to the house structure, but you can use screws or bolts that can be removed readily without seriously damaging the walls, ceilings, or floors. You may want to change things later on. Or if you sell the place the new owner may not want them. And he certainly won't relish tearing the house apart to dislodge your handiwork.

On the other hand, building into a space, and attaching more or less permanently, generally simplifies construction and provides strength and solidity at lower cost. The whole thing therefore merits careful planning and consideration.

Room Planning

In deciding what built-ins you need it pays to survey the room in question and see what the basic cause of clutter actually is. Sometimes furniture rearrangement will help, but in any case there are some excellent guides to go by. It has been found, for instance, that traffic lanes through rooms should be 30 inches wide; 36 inches is the average space needed to open a drawer; there should be 54 inches seating space between a table and a wall; 6 to 12 inches between a chair and ottoman; 36 inches chair space between a desk and the wall; and 15 inches knee space at a coffee table.

With your furniture arranged to these minimums you can see what you have room for and what other provision you need to make to get the best out of that room.

Most of us need to be careful in separating things we need access to often from those we need only occasionally. In other words, it pays to make separate provision for active storage and dead storage. The fact that we may rarely do this is responsible (for example) for kitchens that are crammed with ceiling cupboards full of items and gadgets that are used no more than once a year. The result is an unpleasing appearance and far too little air space, actual or apparent. The remedy is to store such things elsewhere. This means planning — and often the exercise of ingenuity — so that the built-in pieces can be designed for some specific purposes and not just as catchalls.

The Value of Planning Built-ins In designing your cupboard and closet built-ins remember that capacity is more important than overall size! With careful planning you can economize space and so save time and lumber and do a better job. Here are some standard unit sizes that may help you. in laying out cabinet or cupboard space.

Bookcases

Average books need only 10 inches between shelves; some larger books will need 12 inches.
Kitchen Shelves

Ordinary dinner plates need shelves 12 inches deep (back to front). In some instances, slanting shelves in shallow cupboards will accommodate larger pieces. For very large pieces, including trays, use vertical racks either back-to- front or transverse. You will need about 16 square feet of shelf space to store china and glassware sufficient for 6 people.