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Before & After: Best Built-Ins

Sep 22, 2020 | Posted in Before & After | Share

Photo of a well-appointed kitchen, with dark wood upper and lower cabinets, silver and black appliances, a speckled countertop and backsplash edging, and a blonde wood and silver metal rolling table acting as a kitchen island, with a pair of red metal and matching blonde wood counter seats. To the right is a stacked washer-dryer set in white and silver, which is partially hidden behind a white rolling column that matches the rolling bookshelf in the next photo.
Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer

As a designer, I’ve created a multitude of of built-in features, from window seats, to bookshelves, and even clever hidden storage elements. Today I’m sharing three of my favorite built-in residential features, before and after.

Beautiful Bookshelves

Before photo of a black metal circular staircase with a white rolling bookcase that closes around the stairs, with black handles to pull the bookcase open and shut. The outside of the rolling case resembles a white column. The flooring is a tan polished concrete, with stark white walls beyond.
BEFORE

In this San Francisco loft, space is at a premium. My client wanted something cool and stylish, so I delivered the unexpected in this rolling bookcase that wraps around the circular stairs.

After photo of the same circular staircase, but now the railings are a modern silver, the bookshelves have orange inside and are dressed with plates, books, and art, and the orange matches the orange inside an arched inset on the nearby wall, dressed with a statue and art. The exterior of the moving bookshelf is now finished with a modern patterned silver and grey, and the rest of the room is filled with furniture, rugs, and plants.
AFTER Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer

Now with a splash of orange inside the shelves, repeated in the alcove just outside, and a modern finish on the exterior of the sliding case and handrails, this built-in is sure to impress when revealed. The shape and movement are repeated in the hidden washer/dryer unit in our introductory photo of the loft’s kitchen, at top.

Window Seating Wow

In another client’s Bay Area condo, an underused window space felt unloved and empty.

In this before image, a bay window has the left window covered by a dark roller blind, while the center and right windows are open. In front of the window is a desk or seat surface of blonde wood, with a video game console sitting on top.
BEFORE
After the renovation, the full double-height windows are open and on view without window dressings, revealing a blue sky. Now the surface in front is a window seat of soft tan padded pillow, with multiple throw pillows in yellows, blues, and greens, some striped, some patterned, and some solid colors, stacked in front of the window.
AFTER Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer

With my redesign, now it’s a welcoming, comfortable window seat that can be used to read the morning paper, admire the view, or relax after a long day. The double-height of the window inspires star-gazing and cloud-watching!

Custom Storage Wall and Desk

This urban couple needed storage and organization to tame their newly-combined belongings.

Before image of a dining room and office or storage space, filled with boxes and stacks of books and items in plastic bins, behind a circular glass table and brown modern microfiber chairs. Track lighting can be seen above and a passthrough to the kitchen is just visible on the left side of the rear wall.
BEFORE
After the renovation, now the space features a wall of storage with a square in yellow and a rectangle in red, while all the other cabinet surfaces are white. Open shelving displays 3 vases at the end of the storage wall on the left. A wall-mounted television is included to the right, and to the right of that, frosted glass covers additional storage doors and drawers. Open shelving and a corner desk are at the far right on the rear wall. Next to it on the right is an open, bright window. In front of that are two grey patterned tub chairs. Back in the center front of the image is a marble patterned dining table dressed with yellow flowers, and red modern dining chairs. Above are some glass bubbles with yellow bulbs inside, hanging as a chandelier above the dining table.
AFTER Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer

And for that special touch, we built a custom corner desk that makes paying bills and writing letters a delight, surrounded by photos and happy memories.

Closer view of the built-in corner desk after the renovation by Kimball Starr. The desk has chunky square silver legs, a white surface that wraps around and joins the built-in drawers and door cabinetry,
AFTER Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer

Kimball Starr Interior Design creates inspired built-ins and custom cabinetry for homes throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Nevada. Contact her today for a consultation by phone, video chat or in-person with social distancing!

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