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The window seat thread got me thinking...I do have a bedroom I plan on using as an office and built in cabinets would most likely be more functional and look more appealing than using furniture in this room. If I had custom built ins installed desk/ nice shelving but left it so it could still easily function as a bedroom would that be a pro or con to most buyers??? Would it be better to do this in a large loft rather than a bedroom? I absolutely want to keep resale in mind.
4 bedroom house in a neighborhood where that is the minimum number of bedrooms typically seen. The office will be in a secondary bedroom.
Built-in's in a master bedroom would be a deterrent to buying for me. It can often difficult to place furniture in a room becaue of windows, doorways, French doors, closet doors, etc. Built-ins would be one more difficulty in my opinion. Other rooms would be fine for built-in's as long as there is room for additional furniture like beds, etc.
Catnip is not wrong. But we can bend the rules. Built-ins were the rage in the south west during the boom years from 1999 t0 2004 yet on business trips to Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and the New Jersey area, upon talking to other people in this biz I learned that they can not give them away. Some showrooms I visited had one or two displays showing what can be done with stock cabinet boxes but they just sat there.
The trend among what few home buyers there are out there still want a home office. Many times they will be happy to sacrifice one bedroom for a nice complete comfortable home office. Afterall....who has 4 kids anymore. The average children per household is still less then 2 which means there is always an extra room which could/should be a home office.
A built-in is removable and even a non handy home buyer will know they can tear it out if need be. With that said, why not make it easy. Just like my posts on window seats using stock componants, do the same for your home office. Every major cabinet manufacturer has various bookshelf and home office cabinet choices. They are already built and finished to dozens of color choices. You can gang several together to make long runs of bookshelves.
To this you can also build the desk using stock cabinet parts. They have many home office options including file drawers, desk drawers among some ideas. You can do any countertop you wish but of about 3000 I have built, I can not remember ever not doing a matching wood top rather then granite or whatever. And after dressing them up, no one on earth can tell that they are/were kitchen cabinets.
And once again, half the cost of having a custom shop build them for you. And much easier to remove for a future home buyer. Or.....you can dismantle the whole built-in and take it to your new home.
Soho, many home offices can be abandoned and reused as a kids room again with a built-in left behind. What kid would not want this in their room to sit at and do their work? Even place their TV on it some place.
Go to: http://www.city-data.com/forum/home-...ry-office.html post #2
where you will find some more examples of simple but awesome home offices. These are all kitchen cabinets dont forget. Can you tell? Read my post there too.
I did something very similar to what you are proposing. I am currently using a bedroom as office space and I needed more shelving. I built two built-in bookcases to the ceiling on either side of a window, and put a window seat in between. I thought that this would be a win-win all the way around--and I did study that this current arrangement wouldn't impede future furniture placements. I think it just adds a richness to the room. Good luck!
We've got a huge amount of custom built-in bookshelves in a dining room we converted to a library. (and yes, the shelves L around behind the cat until they reach the edge of a pass through to the kitchen) I figure that if we sell, we'll end up telling potential buyers that it's their call if they stay or go, and we'll do what they want to make the sale happen.
A built-in is removable and even a non handy home buyer will know they can tear it out if need be.
To this you can also build the desk using stock cabinet parts...
And much easier to remove for a future home buyer. Or.....you can dismantle the whole built-in and take it to your new home.
So true, so true!
Not so sure on the price part though. I'm sure with some hunting and shrewd negotiating you can get a reasonable price for custom.
So true, so true!
Not so sure on the price part though. I'm sure with some hunting and shrewd negotiating you can get a reasonable price for custom.
Yes but I wont call it shrewd negotiating. Today's consumers are brutal. Good thing or bad thing but people know that in this economic depression that everyone is begging for work and will work for peanuts, box tops and grocery coupons rather then a pay check. When in history can you remember giving your bid to a customer and then they make you an offer rather then negotiate when they dont like your price?
They take the bids from 10, 15 and sometimes more contractors and play eachother off. I had one come in back mid summer with a stack of bids that was 2" thick. I guess she collected bids like they were baseball cards. Profit margins are real real thin these days. My granite guy charges me his cost plus $300. It's hard to pay the bills when you are selling a $4000 slab of granite for $4300.
If I had custom built ins installed desk/ nice shelving but left it so it could still easily function as a bedroom would that be a pro or con to most buyers??? Would it be better to do this in a large loft rather than a bedroom? I absolutely want to keep resale in mind.
Floor-to-ceiling open bookshelves=plus. You can store stuff in cute containers and baskets and personally I prefer a large work-table to a desk.
Desks, kitchen cabinets etc. =minus. I'd be figuring the cost/effort of removing them when I made my offer. They wouldn't be appropriate should the next buyer want to use the space as a nursery for example.
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