Kids Play Room | Closet Factory Design Consultation
Closet Factory Design Consultation
Recently we decided that we wanted remodel our children’s play room. In a previous article we also announced that we’ll be using the design and installation services from the Closet Factory. One of the reasons that we’re going to use Closet Factory for this remodeling project is because they offer design services. We wanted to take advantage of a designer’s creative experience to create a functional and attractive room.
You might be wondering why we chose a company called “Closet Factory” for a room that has no closet. The fact is these folks understand organization and they are a completely custom product so we felt they had the most to offer for a project like this. In fact, they sell products for entertainment centers, garage storage solutions, mud rooms, laundry rooms, home offices and many more applications.
Design Consultation
We recently made an appointment with Senior Design Consultant Laurie Miller from the Boston Closet Factory. Laurie came to our home and spent about an hour and a half visiting the space and creating a preliminary design for the space based on our needs, budget and the style of our home.
The design consultant spent time showing us photos of previous jobs they’ve done, sample materials and also sample of their cabinet construction details. After showing us what they offer she spent quite a bit of time learning what our needs were and what types of materials we prefered.
Once the designer finished going over all of the products they offered she took detailed measurements of the room. Not only does the designer measure the room but they note details such as electrical outlet locations, window and door trim, height of baseboard and any other features that might affect the final design. Our play room contains a pull down attic staircase that creates a definite design constraint that needed to be accounted for.
It didn’t take long for us to realize that having a designer visit our home makes a huge impact. Laurie offered us some really creative suggestions that we simply would never have come up with on our own. Having someone with that kind of experience is crucial to creating a unique functional space.
Play Room Design
We wanted several key features in the play room design. First we wanted to be sure there was plenty of storage for toys, books and DVD’s. Secondly we wanted a place with a desk for the kids to work on projects and we were hoping for some type of window seat where the kids could read books. Lastly we wanted to have some type of storage cabinet that would be used to support the television.
While our designer was here she took all of our needs and desires and came up with a brilliant preliminary design. It really captured all our needs and it fit into a room that has lots of constraints. As you can see from the following sketch the design includes a desk area, two window seats with storage components and a credenza for the TV.
Refined Play Room Design
After the design consultation we spent some time absorbing the design and thinking about our final material selections and any tweaks that the design needed. We picked out some hardware that we liked and decided that we wanted to go with white cabinetry. Our designer suggested that we consider white cabinets with mahogany wood tops at the window seats and credenza and a mahogany colored laminate top for the desk. She showed us some pictures of a similar project and we just loved the look. See the adjacent photo for a similar project that Closet Factory did with the color scheme that we chose.
We also asked her if she could incorporate some shelving above the desk. She also suggested we consider adding some beadboard elements to the design. In the following sketch you can see the final design. You’ll notice that she added beadboard backing to the shelving units and some of the cabinet doors. There’s also a set of shelves above the desk (this was a bit tricky as the shelving cannot go all the way to ceiling or it will interfere with the attic stairs).
Design Experience
Our experience working with Laurie Miller from Boston Closet Factory was really great. Her experience and creativity have us very excited to see the kids play room when it’s finally finished. We’ll be signing off on the final design shortly and then setting up an installation date. In the mean time we need to decide if we want to paint the room a new color and start thinking about window treatments and a new TV for the room.
Our experience with having a designer come to the house was very satisfying. This is something that really sets Closet Factory apart from some of our previous experiences purchasing similar products. Furthermore we were really impressed with how custom their product line is. Several times I asked our designer what our choices were and she simply said tell us what you want and we can get it. From hardware to door styles they seem to be able to create any look without hesitation. Because of that we feel our design will ultimately look the part of a custom installation!
Material Selections
Another topic worth pointing out is the huge selection of materials that Closet Factory offers. We ultimately chose melamine cabinets and thermofoil doors and drawer faces with a combination of wood tops and laminate tops. However, they offer several different products from melamine to wood veneers and also painted MDF. The variety of choices is endless, you can mix and match between melamine, thermofoil, veneer and even painted MDF.
We were very torn between the white melamine and the painted MDF. The painted MDF looks and feels just like painted wood which is a nice option for folks that don’t like melamine products. However, we went with the melamine because of the price and we felt it was more durable for a kids playroom. The selection of wood veneer products is very beautiful and also a nice option for higher end installations.
Be sure to keep an eye out for future articles on the installation and final reveal of our kids play room remodeling project.
Wow Todd! You want to adopt me?
I need an office space like that!
Keith
Very nice. I have always thought using a designer became too costly.
@ Deborah – With the economy the way it is I think more and more companies like this are offering design services as part of their pricing. It’s a great value and certainly helps create a distinction between one company and another.
Todd is correct design services are usually included in the whole package. I don’t know of a company in our market that has design services as a separate fee.