Built in Bookcase/Desk w/Mantle

[tiralie]

Tim,  I did not mean to step on your toes - just trying to help you get more options.

No worries Peter, it's all good. I would never have posted this if I though you guys wouldn't comment.

I would suggest that you think about considering an applied picture frame style molding on the pilasters (verticals) of the mantle to create shadow lines which would break up the visual width.  Then, if necessary, I would look at the imitated plinths and try to incorporate something vertical to make the eye think that they are more vertical versus horizontal.

I am not sure I understand, probably too late in the day...to be fair, the mantle was not rendered completely in my original drawing so it could be screwing up the overall design. I will fill it in and re-post later.

You have a tough one here, I hope that you take all this as constructive.

That's why they pay us the big bucks! Seriously, I appreciate all the suggestions. Everyone on the FOG have helped me very much.

Thanks
Tim

 

[tiralie]

The space was slightly bigger than Tim's job both in width and ceiling height. 

Great background thanks.
Just so you have an idea of the proportions here. The wall is 12' 8" wide and about 8' tall. The room in total is probably 12' 8" x 10' at most.

 
The desk would have a computer and a shared desk space for both husband and wife to work at.  This desk really would be used daily.  The other side would be their entertainment center, large screen TV on a super spiffy bracket, cable box, sound system, X box/play station, DVD and so on.  The mantle use would change seasonally with family pictures some of the year, holiday displays or maybe artwork.  They wanted an outlet on top of the mantle for Christmas lights.         

The client does not plan on putting any AV into this cabinet but you know as well as I do that plans change as quickly as the weather as soon as the possibilities are presented.

You bring up a good point about the mantle use. I need to clarify that.

I asked them if they realistically expected to keep the glass upper doors closed most of the time since they'd want access to the storage for the desk and all the AV crap.  Between the inconvenience of opening/closing and the additional cost they decided to pass on the upper doors.  Above mantle, I suggested recessed lights, we settled on two fish eye lights. 

The mantle itself, no decision was made.  We literally made up the design and built the mantle two hours before we finished the job. 

Another thing to factor in is the fireplace, our job it was no longer functional.  If it had been there are code requirements to consider for how close you can have combustible materials. 

The fireplace is a gas, and the box is sealed. I am fairly certain that you can have combustible materials right up to the edge of the fire box, but you do bring up a good point. I am also fairly certain that the crown molding and wainscoting in the room was done by the last homeowner/renovator on a flip and it just may not be to code.

I will discuss lighting in the cabinet (task lighting) as well as a mirror or something above the mantle as Peter has suggested.
Thanks again.
Tim

 

[tiralie]

As always everyone likes different things.  So im sorry but i preffered the first design with the cabinets away from the fire surround & the mantle overhanging.

I am going to present both we'll see what they say.

If the space between the surround & the cabinet was the same colour as the rest of the walls then i am sure it would look better.

Here you go:

[attachthumb=#]

But as Jesus says, its up to your clients.

Thank God (no pun intended) for that. I sure don't want to make the decision.
Tim

 

[peter halle]

Tim,

To the right of the firebox is a simplistic drawing of what I meant about applied moldings.  But when I looked at it again, I colored the section of the mantle below the firebox a dark color (imagine the firebox color) then the fireplace / mantle looked normal in proportion to me.

I am out of change.  No more two cents worth from me.

Good luck buddy!

Peter

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[honeydoman]

Tim,  yep doing a pic show as you build it would be great and post as you go. Also what about bead board for backs?

 

[jmbfestool]

Tim,  yep doing a pic show as you build it would be great and post as you go. Also what about bead board for backs?

You with your bead boards.  Thats your signature on built ins  [tongue]

JMB

 

[honeydoman]

yep jmb!

tim, another thing I do in this case is on the left side where the tv goes I attach one of those pull out lazy susan type deals that you see at motels etc that you make a nice maple stained top and attach to it,,, then they can pull out the tv a bit and swivel it also to view better in the room

my website has several pics of this in case you or them mainly them since they are paying the bill !  might like... they run around 100 bucks or so plus top and you put an edge around it to hide the brackets, which is about 1 1/2" thick i think.

 

[tiralie]

Tim,  yep doing a pic show as you build it would be great and post as you go. Also what about bead board for backs?

Kreg:
Believe me I thought long and hard about using bead board. I have the Windsor One components in my library and I am dying to use it...might not be appropriate for this design though...

I attach one of those pull out lazy susan type deals that you see at motels etc that you make a nice maple stained top and attach to it,,, then they can pull out the tv a bit and swivel it also to view better in the room

my website has several pics of this in case you or them mainly them since they are paying the bill !  might like... they run around 100 bucks or so plus top and you put an edge around it to hide the brackets, which is about 1 1/2" thick i think.

I looked on your site (the new one) and didn't find a pic of that unit. If you or anyone else can tell me where I can find it, it might be a good solution.
Thanks
Tim

 

[honeydoman]

I will post some pics later tonight of to show you on my way to an appt now to look at a mudroom bench. To build. With bead board! (they don't now it yet but it will have bead board!)

 

[woodguy7]

Kreg, do you have shares in the local Bead Board factory ?  [scratch chin]  ;D

 

[honeydoman]

Nope but this is funny went to my appt and the house is on 3 acres horses etc nice huge house. Walk in and the walls have bead board all over,  up the stairs etc and the lady says we love bead board !!!!!  I was laughing to myself. And said yep so do I.

my kind of customer!

 

[lumbajac]

Tim,  yep doing a pic show as you build it would be great and post as you go. Also what about bead board for backs?

Kreg:
Believe me I thought long and hard about using bead board. I have the Windsor One components in my library and I am dying to use it...might not be appropriate for this design though...

I attach one of those pull out lazy susan type deals that you see at motels etc that you make a nice maple stained top and attach to it,,, then they can pull out the tv a bit and swivel it also to view better in the room

my website has several pics of this in case you or them mainly them since they are paying the bill !  might like... they run around 100 bucks or so plus top and you put an edge around it to hide the brackets, which is about 1 1/2" thick i think.

I looked on your site (the new one) and didn't find a pic of that unit. If you or anyone else can tell me where I can find it, it might be a good solution.
Thanks
Tim

Or maybe one of these -->  check out the video at the top of the page:  http://www.reversica.com/products.html  Have no idea what the hardware costs, but has got to be pretty pricey I would think.

 

[honeydoman]

here are the pics of the tv pull out deal and you can make the board that fits on the pull out any size and put a 1x2 or so around the edges to hide it and it will hold a tv no problems  flat screens I will usually drill a hole in the back of the bottom of the stand attached to the tv and then screw it to the pull out board... just so it holds in better .

 

[tiralie]

Nope but this is funny went to my appt and the house is on 3 acres horses etc nice huge house. Walk in and the walls have bead board all over,   up the stairs etc and the lady says we love bead board !!!!!  I was laughing to myself. And said yep so do I.

Kreg:
You should be in "bead board" heaven there!

here are the pics of the tv pull out deal

Thanks, much appreciated I will check them out.
Tim

 

[tiralie]

Tim,

Just thought I'd mention one aspect that stood out to me - in my humble opinion, the top of the cabs don't quite match the bottom.  What I mean is, since the top of your cabs are wrapped in the ceiling crown, they look like architectural built ins.  But then at the bottom of the cabs you have the legs which look like furniture.

I'd suggest to either change the base of the unit and run the room's baseboard around it just as you did with the crown, or leave the legs as is but then alter the top to not wrap it in crown either.

Just my amateur opinion...

Bob

Hey Bob:
Thanks for the comments. I did consider those issues when I was first designing this but decided against it for a couple reasons:
I really liked the fireplace surround with the craftsman look to it, which influenced my design decisions somewhat. The fireplace mantle is some weird amalgam of craftsman, colonial and with some dentil molding so that's what I have changed. 
When I originally proposed these cabinets there were no doors on them and the legs added some interest to some fairly plain looking bookcases.
I also felt the feet added a bit of "lightness" to the design, there is a sliding glass door on the left hand side wall which gives the room an airy feel. I wanted to compliment this affect.
I am not crazy about the baseboard they have put in this room and if I designed the bottom of the cabinets with out feet I would have to use this molding around the bottom.
I felt that if I built cabinets that stopped lets say 2 feet below the ceiling and had some sort of crown, I would loose that space for storage, and it would add another visual element to a room that is not that big and with the addition of these cabinets is starting to get quite busy looking. The room is 8' feet tall so there is not a lot of room for a visual break between the crown and the cabinet top.
Because the Crown is fairly dominate in this room, I thought I should use it to bring the various elements together.
If they decide they want the cabinets to go right against the fireplace surround, I would most definitely not keep the feet and do as you suggest.
Hope that helps explain/rationalize my decisions.
Tim

 

[Jonhilgen]

Tim,

Great thread going!  

I would definitely talk to the client about a/v needs and equipment, as these really can affect design.  As well as in cab lighting, glass shelves (upcharge) etc.

I would say nix the pullout tv swivel and go for an articulating bracket instead, almost everyone has a plasma or lcd at this point.  If putting a tv on right side...

Keep it up, looking forward to seeing this as it goes along.

Jon

 

[tiralie]

I would definitely talk to the client about a/v needs and equipment, as these really can affect design.  As well as in cab lighting, glass shelves (upcharge) etc.

Jon:
Thanks. We have a meeting scheduled in a week or so to discuss this, finish samples, any design changes etc. in greater detail so I will be able to update then. Should be interesting.

I would say nix the pullout tv swivel and go for an articulating bracket instead, almost everyone has a plasma or lcd at this point.  If putting a tv on right side...

They want to put the TV on the left hand side but that may change. If you notice from the picture of the room in the first post of this thread there is a coaxial cable on the right hand side so that will have to be moved.
Also, there is a plug on the left hand side that will get buried in the cabinet so that will have to be moved as well.

Tim

 

[Top Knot]

Hey Tim have you finalized your dezign or do you still have time for another 2 cents with regards to design changes? I'm sure you may very well be tired of all these ideas going around...

 

[tiralie]

Hey Tim have you finalized your dezign or do you still have time for another 2 cents with regards to design changes?

Definitely! I have a week or so before I go back to the client for final decision.

I'm sure you may very well be tired of all these ideas going around...

Not really, it's been somewhat like drinking from a fire hose in terms of learning.
Tim

 

[tiralie]

Or maybe one of these -->  check out the video at the top of the page:  http://www.reversica.com/products.html  Have no idea what the hardware costs, but has got to be pretty pricey I would think.

That looks like a pretty good. I can't use it here but it's pretty cool.
Good to know for next time, I would never have found this on my own.
Thanks
Tim