4 min read · · by Luke Adkins
Built-Ins vs. Furniture: When to Build It Into the Wall
A bookcase from a store takes up floor. A built-in gives it back. That is the whole argument, but there is more to it.
A built-in uses the wall’s depth
Between the studs and out to the face of a standard cabinet, a built-in can hold as much as a piece of furniture twice its footprint. In a small living room or a mudroom, that is the room.
It solves the awkward wall
A vaulted ceiling, a chimney chase, a wall with an offset. Furniture never fits those. A built-in is cut to them, which is what the entertainment wall on this site is doing under a sloped ceiling.
It stays with the house
Buyers read built-ins as quality and as storage. Furniture leaves with you. For resale, a built-in is one of the few remodel dollars that shows up in the appraisal.
How it is built to look original
Face frames scribed to the wall so there is no gap, baseboard and crown carried across the piece, the same paint as the trim, and outlets and lighting built in. Done right, a visitor assumes it came with the house.
When furniture wins
If you move often, if the wall might change, or if you want a piece with real wood character that you can take with you. Then Luke would rather build you a walnut bench.