A Wall of Built-Ins in a Master Bedroom

I’m so happy that you guys have been going gaga over my mom’s new condo in the last post. We’ve gotten such amazing feedback from every spot I’ve showcased. It’s so fun for us to show off spaces other than our own homes and we enjoy tip-toeing outside of our personal design style. 

Plus, my mom is thrilled with all of the lovely comments you guys have left regarding her spaces. Thank you for those! At first, she was a little nervous about showing her bedroom on the internet for the world to see (it is a little weird to think that strangers can see where you sleep each night…), but luckily she has gotten over that aspect of showing her home on the blog.

My Mom’s Condo

To recap, I’ve revealed a few of her spaces here on the blog. First, this awesome symmetrical gallery wall I added to her bedroom hallway.

Most recently, I showed you guys this simple entryway we added right when you walk in the door of her place. The perfect little spot to throw down your keys and mail each day.

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore “Gray Owl” // Bed // Art (local from The Painted Lady Chicago) // White Duvet // Blush Quilt // Blush Pillows  // Lumbar Pillow // Woven Shades // Gold Frames // Nightstands // Rug (Ink/Salmon Color) // Sconces // Wicker Tray // Flower Vase // Cream Vase // Faux Greenery // Black Built-In Hardware // Ceiling Fan // Black & White Frames // Hallway Sconce (from Rejuvenation; no longer sold)

And (by far!) the most popular spot is her blush bedroom design.

Such a stunning space for a stunning woman! Today, I’m here to show off the OTHER side of this room. When I photographed her bedroom the first time, the other side looked like this…

Not the same as the other bright and pretty side. After Craigslisting the jewelry cabinet and chair, we were left with a blank space and loads of potential.

Choosing Master Bedroom Built-Ins

From the start, my mom knew she wanted to add a wall of built-ins to this side of her bedroom. Not like the built-in shelves we have in the living room, but large cabinets built into the wall with loads of storage space! That way she could have drawers for clothing and jewelry, and large wardrobe cabinets for random items (like wrapping paper!). It would essentially be a large wall of extra storage, with a spot in the middle to mount a TV.

Choosing A Closet Company For Built Ins

So we started calling around to find a contractor who was up for the job of custom built-ins. So many guys came out and looked at the space, but no one ever committed to taking on this large project. Months and months went by, and my mom was still staring at a big blank wall every morning when she woke up.

That’s when Bridget came up with a genius idea. She suggested that we look into hiring a custom closet company to do the job! How did we not think of that?! Within a couple of days, my mom had quotes from both California Closets and Closet Works.

Pricing Out The Built-In Cabinets

We figured that the California Closets estimate for built-in cabinetry would be pretty high, but when it came back at around $6,800 we were in shock. Yikes. That’s a hefty price to pay!

Luckily, the Closet Works quote was lower…around $5,000. Not cheap by any means, but it was what we were expecting considering the size of the space and is comparable to what Bridget and I have paid for our large walls of built-ins. The first step is the custom design and then once everything is ordered, they come out for the big install day!

Jan gave Closet Works the green light and in less than a month, her new primary bedroom built-ins were installed!

Master Bedroom Built-In Storage

I mean can you even?! This wall is so insanely gorgeous and this adds so much character to the room. It’s truly the perfect solution for this small bedroom.

We had them build the unit directly into the back wall going all the way across the room. They didn’t go all the way to the ceiling because they were worried about matching the ornate trim pieces at the top. Going most of the way up still gave us that high-end look we were going for here.

Warm Gray Cabinet Color

My mom chose shaker-style cabinets in the color “Morning Dew.” I’m so happy we didn’t go with white in here. This warm greige color is stunning. 

Let’s discuss the ridiculous amount of built-in storage my mom has now. The first couple of drawers hold all of her jewelry. Kinda like my DIY jewelry drawer, but a much higher-end version. With all of the drawers, she now has tons of room for her clothing too. 

These large cabinets have super deep drawers and my mom is so excited to fill them on up with random items she has around her house. When I took these photos, she was still deciding how she wanted to organize them (always good to be intentional when filling up a new cabinet or drawer!). I think creating a linen closet for towels and extra sheets would be a great use of all of that ample storage space.

Choosing Matte Black Hardware

You can go with some of the handle choices provided by Closet Works, but we decided to provide our own. My mom just gave them to the workers on install day and they attached them right then and there. We bought these from Rejuvenation and they are perfect. The black against that warm greige works beautifully, plus I love the hefty size. 

In the open shelves at the top, I added some baskets from HomeGoods. A little texture can go a long way on a large wall of cabinets like this. 

My mom had the TV mounted in the opening in the middle. She still needs to buy a cord cover for the TV cords (like how we have it on our built-ins), but I was just too excited to share these pictures with you guys to wait for that! 

I love that she also has a little bit of room for small decor items on top of the drawer area. A plant, gold box, and picture frame keep the look simple and streamlined. 

Loving Her New Built-Ins

All in all, my mom is so happy that she added master bedroom built-ins. While it was certainly an investment, it adds to her home value and elevates the entire look of her condo. A worthy home improvement cost if you ask me! And this truly was the perfect place to add them.

So many of you guys have reached out wanting to add built-ins to your own homes and we’ve never been able to point you in the right direction toward a specific place or contractor who does them. But now we’re so happy to know that you can always look into a custom closet company to get the job done! 

My mom was able to get multiple estimates and once she decided…these bad boys were installed in about 3 weeks.

Before & After

Pretty amazing transformation if you ask me! This is now the focal point of this beautiful bedroom.

Casey

Want to see what these look like inside? Here’s a peek at how we organized these adjustable shelves!

More Built-In Ideas

If you want to go the DIY route, I ended up building these navy blue built-ins in our home office. It was quite the project, but we saved lots of money doing it ourselves. Here’s the full tutorial.

In our daughter’s room, we went with a sage green built-in window seat along with bookshelves for her room. You can read more about them here.