I’d like to be able to start this post by promising you a bundle of perfectly stylish storage solutions that are budget friendly to boot. Except that I can’t…I’m actually REALLY struggling and that this post is born from a selfish motive, that is where I ask you for your advice and recommendations for super gorgeous armoires and cabinets. I already have a profusion of suggestions from readers, and most of them suggest me to get some custom cabinets Green Bay, but I still am undecided.

Let me explain. I’m now in full throttle decorative mode after having an amazing colour consultation appointment with Farrow & Ball last week (more on this very soon!). Now that I’ve landed upon the exact colour schemes for the whole of the downstairs I feel as if I need to know the exact furnishing arrangements for every room.

I am (as my sisters would say) ridiculous. Yes I’m fully aware of this personality trait but I’m the kind of person who needs to mentally map out how every room is going to appear before I’ve even unpacked. This does admittedly cause problems when the reality doesn’t quite match up to the vision I have in my head but generally it saves a whole heap of indecision in the long run. Not to mention preventing the tedious shifting round of multiple stacks of boxes.

But I’ve for perhaps the first time ever become unstuck. It all began when Emily – the lovely Farrow and Ball consultant – asked me what furniture would be going up against one of the walls in the kitchen to which I replied….well nothing yet. I’d been so caught up in what colour I needed to paint the kitchen cabinets, which dining chairs I needed to purchase to harmonise with the table that we’re intending to have designed, I’d completely forgotten the kitchen/dining room cabinet side of things. Plus the budget is beginning to be more than a little stretched to say the least. But it’s worth thinking about…the furniture that is…which is where I turn to you lovelies for help.

The Kitchen

Ideally I’d like some kind of simple freestanding shelving unit that is self-contained. It needs to look pretty but complement the generally masculine/minimalist vibe that we’ll have going on in the kitchen (you can see the aesthetic we’re aiming for on my Pinterest boards). Oh and it needs to work hard too…I don’t just want some shelving for the sake of it, this will be where I’ll be storing my wine and cocktail glasses, occasional tableware, table linen, vases and no doubt a few crafty odds and ends, so it needs to be practical and functional and very well made.

I adore this White Company shelving unit (and have ever since it launched) and wonder whether it’s worth just biting the bullet and accepting that I might just have to pay all the money to have the self-contained shelving of my dreams. After all I’ve not yet found anything that comes close in terms of the simplistic design. I’m not fussy am I….?

Have you seen anything similar? But that is cheaper…please say you have.

Hector’s Room

The kitchen isn’t the only area where I’m looking for storage suggestions. Hector’s new room doesn’t have as much inbuilt storage as his current bedroom at my mum’s so I’m looking for a vintage style armoire that has a mixture of shelving and a rail to hang up some of his clothes. This will need to see him through to his early teens (hopefully!) so it needs to be something that won’t date as he grows and which scores highly on the practicality side of things. I loved the look of this Brissi number which has just the right amount of detailing and shelving to rail ratios. It’s also perfectly unisex too but it’s £1000 which is just not feasible budget wise at present.

I love the look of some of the images (from kids rooms) in the gallery above of smaller miniature cupboards and this is something I’d like to replicate bearing in mind that I have a space of approx 150cm widthways in which to fit the unit. But that’s about as far as I get…I seem to have come up against a bit of a brick wall. I’d like something with character but I simply haven’t got the time to sand down and restore a lovely antique piece so I need a ready-functioning wardrobe/armoire that’s good to go.

Can you help? With either storage requirements? Have you seen anything on your travels that I need to check out? Or is it just a case of praying to the furniture gods and hoping they come up trumps….

Please share any thoughts in the comments box below…