There are many reasons why built-ins continue to be so popular and functional in the home. Built-ins bring character and charm, while remaining timeless in any home. While many trends seem to come and go within the design world, built-in cabinets are tried and true. Whether you're consider putting in built-ins to your home, want built-ins but don't know exactly where to put them, or how to style your built-ins, read on.
What Built-Ins are Right for your Home?
Built-ins can make a great addition to any room in your home, however they can become pricey, so picking and choosing what rooms they'll be most beneficial in is important. Built-ins can make a living room feel more complete and home-y when framing the fireplace. We love built-ins around the fireplace because when styling them, you are able to make them reflect you, your family, and your home. However, if you are wanting built-ins more for practicality, installing some in the dining room/kitchen areas or the office are a great bet. We love using built-ins in dining rooms with closed door bottoms because it provides ample storage room for decorative china and serving platters, that can easily be accessed and out of sight. Our favorite way to complete this look is with glass door uppers. With the see through uppers, you are able to style the shelves and make them your own, show your creative side, while still using it as storage space (We love multi-functional!)
While there are so many ways to use built-ins, our last favorite is in a library/office/study space. It brings so much elegance to a room, makes the room look so organized and put together! If you and your family are book collectors, this would be a perfect built-in for you. It's a perfect blend of storage space and interior design.
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How to Style Built-Ins
You may have the idea down that built-ins are a great solution for storage and adding character in a home, but styling them correctly may be hard for some. Often, leaving the built-ins looking over-filled and lacking a decor direction. Our favorite tip is to keep it simple, and don't overthink! We like to start styling a built-in by taking down all the decor (if the built in is full) so we can take a look at all of my pieces. If starting fresh, don't rush out to buy all new decor pieces! We like to look around the house to see what we already have that could work and start to incorporate new and old pieces (also you can add items over time)!
Adding to your collection over time will most likely stop you from buying all of your items from well-known, big box stores. Add larger and sentimental pieces first, and then build around those. It's important to add different textures, so we love to add some brushed brass, black, and wood textures in built-ins. Of course, you can't forget greenery! Greenery is always the last piece to pull everything together when decorating. It brings light to the space and the outside in, seriously can't go wrong! If you have pieces that you don't feel necessarily fit with your decor items on the shelves, always keep them because it is fun to refresh and restyle your built-ins every once in a while. The best part of styling shelves is that it is not a one and done, they can always evolve with you and your design style!