Well storage ain’t necessarily the most exciting subject matter but given the comments on last week’s fire surround install I thought you might appreciate this week’s Rock My Room update.
As you’ll notice in the before pics, to the left hand side of the faux chimney breast there was an empty space which was being filled by our lack lustre TV cabinet. We felt the space was crying out for a hefty bit of storage where we could store CDs, DVDs and all sorts of technical regalia.
Originally I was on the hunt for a carpenter to build a bespoke cupboard but I couldn’t find anyone who was available in such a short space of time. After a bit of research James clapped eyes on custom-made MDF furniture maker Jali. This clever little company offer a snazzy bit of software where we designed our own piece of furniture over the internet. The finished design was then sent off to be cut in the factory and a week or two later we received the flat packed pieces ready for us to construct. Three gigantic boxes arrived complete with all the screws, bolts and fittings to turn the MDF jigsaw into a four-door low cupboard with an internal shelf.
Now if we’d have double checked our measurements and ordered the unit in the correct size I think we could have had the cupboard erected and in place in an hour or two. It took us a while longer than we hoped but when we order again we’ll be more careful with our skirting board measurements.
I have to disclose here that Jali expedited my order free of charge to help keep in line with my four week challenge. However I did pay full price for my wares and was extremely impressed the very sturdy bit of furniture came in at just over £220.
We chose not to have the unit pre-primed and instead primed the new cupboard ourselves and then painted a few coats of Farrow and Ball Cornforth White Estate Emulsion. I’m still on the hunt for hardware to finish off the cabinet but haven’t been too successful so far. I’m in love with School House Electrical’s hexagonal knobs but would have to remortgage to get them sent over from the US.
In other news I’ve also been tracking down the final bits of pieces for the room so had to embark on the obligatory trip to Ikea loading my trolley with a laptop table (more on that hack next week) and grey curtains. As I’m still incapable of using a sewing machine I’ve battled with the wonderweb and finally have two pairs of curtains hung at the windows.
To remind yourself of the #RockMyRoom progress then do cast your eye over our archives and have a gander over on instagram at the hashtag for a collection of your own progress.
How are you getting on with your own four week challenge? Anyone else been adding storage to their home?
Lauren it looks amazing and I am impressed at your not pricey ideas! Very inspiring! Thanks!
Thanks Marine. I am a budget queen 😉
What a great find and a good price too. The room is coming together really nicely. I love the door knobs – if you find something similar in the UK definitely share on the blog. I’ve ordered these yesterday for my bathroom cabinet: http://www.campprovisions.com/product/leather-brass-pulls . I’m trying not to think about the fact they cost nearly half of the entire cabinet. Sometimes I wish pinterest never existed.
Oh Kat, they are lovely. Quite similar to ones I had in my old downstairs loo x
I know…may have been a little bit inspired by yours 😉
I love them. Good find Kat.
Oops Lauren, it just shows what a subconscious effect you’ve had on my brain. I’ve just re-visited your downstairs bathroom post and I’ve accidentally bought a very similar mirror. I saw it a good few weeks back and thought ‘oh that’ll be nice in the bathroom’ now I know why!!
Single White Female over here!
Seriously everyone, this storage unit looks SO EXPENSIVE. Adam, Lolly and I were all round at Lauren’s admiring it – and we are all clearly going to copy her ideas! x
You are too kind my love x
This looks so good!! I’ve looked at Jali in the past but got a bit overwhelmed by the measurements and the thought of making a huge mistake! Will definitely give it another look for any future storage needs. My built in units under my TV are painted in the same colour and over 3 years later they still look so fresh – love that colour!
We must have checked it about fifteen times Lisa! Glad your cornforth is holding up well x
That is a bargain and it looks great!
My own Rock my Room project is going very very slowly but we did also sort out some storage. We had 2 bedside tables built by an amazing place in Brighton called The Wood Store (http://www.woodrecycling.org.uk/). They use reclaimed wood to make the most amazing furniture. We had 2 bedside tables made to our design and measurements from old Victorian floorboards – they are similar to this in style: http://www.westelm.com/products/emmerson-nightstand-g666/?pkey=cdressers-nightstands%7Cnightstands%7C but for a bargain £90 each. They’ve left us to pick the handles so I think we are opting for something like this https://www.simplydoorhandles.co.uk/search?q=FF44 again a bit of a bargain.
Next on the list is trying to find a lampshade for the ceiling light -which I’m really struggling with….
Oh wow – the Wood Store looks like a great find and those handles are a bargain!
Lighting can be a bit of a pain can’t it? BHS are often worth checking out x
The Wood Store is brilliant – one of my favourite shops in Brighton.
And thanks for the tip – I am finding it hard to form an opinion on lampshades!
The cupboard looks brilliant Lauren – am so impressed! I’ve never heard of Jali but what a brilliant idea – doing it online makes it so much less of a faff.
This post has definitely inspired me – we’ve got Wickes coming in next week to re-do our kitchen and I’ve been dreading it a bit as I’m off on maternity leave on Monday and feeling knackered and just want to veg in front of the re-runs of Four in a Bed but ACTUALLY all the inconvenience and work is worth it and will look fabulous (fingers crossed!!).
Can’t wait to see your room when it’s all finished. 🙂
It will be well worth it Kate. You will have a fab kitchen very soon, and a new baby too! x
I love this cupboard. I might have to steal this idea later this year as I need a TV unit to fit in an alcove and it has been near impossible to find something I like at a reasonable price. It really does look a lot more expensive than it is.
Thanks Claire x
Lauren i now look forward to Thursday to see the progress on your room! we have just had an offer accepted on our first home and it needs a fair bit of work doing so i keep sending my husband links to what you have done so far and i think i’m just going to copy everything! (i didn’t comment on the post last week but that electric stove is genius!) looks wonderful and i can’t wait to see the end result
Ahh Lucy, this is so nice to hear as I thought folks might be bored now with me waffling on every week.
Best of luck with your new home x
Absolutely gorgeous Lauren xx
You need to come round soon and see it for real! x
Love it Lauren, I’m definitely tempted to have a little play at building a unit online… just to have a look!
We’re doing much better than I thought on the bathroom. After ditching it and returning to the hall/landing, Lee is now firmly back into the groove with the bathroom. We’ve painted the walls and ceiling, he’s tiled and boxed in and last night started putting up some wall panelling. It’s really starting to take shape and I’m loving the colour on the walls. A real moody blue.
In the meantime i’ve been doing important things like making a terranium.
not far off now! xx
I love your making your own terranium! I need to see the finished article!
Lauren, any tips you have on how you got on with measuring and what you would do differently next time would be very welcome! I have wanted custom built ins for quite some time but the quote I got from a local carpenter was around £1k so very excited that this could be a good budget option for us. I have made some horrendous measuring mistakes in the past though so any advice you have on getting it right (e.g. skirting boards) would be really helpful.
Thanks in advance : )
Hi India, it’s funny you mention skirting boards as this where we failed. We had originally planned to have the skirting across the front the same height as the skirting boards in the rest of the room. However we realised the cupboard then wouldn’t be tall enough to hold the sub-woofer and amp (James wanted the TV to be at a specific height – he’s a very fussy television viewer) so we dropped the skirting height across the front, forgetting this would reduce it at the back and sides too. We did a lot of jiggery-pokery to get it in but next time we’ll just take the skirts off first 😉
Lauren – I am so excited about this storage idea. We are a long way from 4 week challenge (damp proofing and replastering have to happen first) but when we do I want to change the inbuilt cupboards – and this looks like a great way of doing it yourself (with a little bit of expert design help!) THANK YOU
My pleasure Abi x
Looking great, wish I’d know about Jali when I got built in dressers made! Our bathroom is taking longer than 4 weeks but we now have a sink, bath and loo and this weekend another wall of tiling and new radiator and towel warmer going in, then final push for a shower before we can decorate and do all lovely faffing and rearranging of pretty bits!
I am loving this new mini-series Lauren, I look forward to my Thursday morning RMS post with great excitement to see what you’ve been up to each week. Based on your fantastic post last week I ordered a fire surround from the same eBay seller for our playroom. It arrived within a couple of days despite being custom made to our dimensions and was assembled in no time, all that remains is for me to choose a paint colour but having seen how beautiful yours looks I’m very tempted to copy you Lauren with a few coats of Cornforth White!
Hiya,
I have an ornament / memento overload. Trying to find solutions to having them on display but without them being a complete pain to dust. I am NOT giving in to the glass display cabinet solution, far too much like my gran.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
Lauren, I love love love the transformation I read this a few weeks ago and the brass knobs stuck in my mind! Just having an afternoon browse and cuppa when I came upon these! http://m2.hm.com/m/en_gb/productpage.0335863002.html
Not sure if these cut it but for £7.99 a pair what’s to lose!
Oh Charlotte I like. I’ve ended up with some grey ones but these ones could be perfect for the dressing room. Thank you! x
Great article and good inspiration. It looks just great!