Hosting shows you what your home is missing
Fall brings people into the house. There are game days, birthdays, and Thanksgiving. Then December arrives. By the second or third gathering, you know where your home falls short.
Coats pile up on a bed. Serving dishes live in a basement closet. The good glasses are hard to reach. These are small problems, but they add up.
We build custom cabinetry and built-ins in the Des Moines area. This post looks at a few places where built-in storage can make hosting easier. Use it as a guide for taking notes this season.
Start at the front door
Guests arrive with coats, boots, and bags. If there’s nowhere to put them, they end up everywhere.
Our mudroom cabinets in Des Moines often include benches, lockers, coat and shoe storage, and drop zones for bags and gear. We build them for spaces that handle winter gear and daily traffic. We also design entryway and hallway storage for homes that don’t have a separate mudroom.
A bench gives guests a place to sit while they take off their boots. Lockers or compartments keep each person’s things apart. A cabinet for shoes keeps the floor clear.
Think about where your guests actually walk in. Then ask yourself where their things go.
Give the dining room a storage wall
Platters, linens, and extra glassware tend to come out a few times a year. They don’t need to live in the kitchen the rest of the time.
A built-in along a dining room wall can hold them. We size built-ins to your walls and ceilings, so the storage fits your room. We can include adjustable shelving, which helps with tall platters and odd-shaped serving pieces. We can also add drawers with soft-close hinges and full-extension slides where they make sense.
It also helps the room look finished. Our custom built-ins in Des Moines are designed for continuity with the existing or new cabinetry in your home, so the piece looks like it belongs.
Think about a serving station or bar
Drinks tend to pull everyone into the kitchen. That gets crowded fast.
A serving station or home bar gives guests a place to gather that isn’t in the cook’s way. Our About page lists bars among the cabinetry and millwork we offer. A cabinet with a counter, a shelf for glasses, and a spot for bottles can handle most of what you need.
Where it goes depends on your floor plan and how your family entertains. We’d look at that with you on site. Some homes have a corner or alcove that suits it. Others need a different approach.
Free up the kitchen cabinets
Holiday cooking fills a kitchen. If your cabinets are crowded with items you only use in November and December, you feel it every time you reach for something.
Moving seasonal items to a built-in elsewhere can open up the space you use every day. That’s often easier than adding more cabinets to the kitchen itself.
Take notes while you host
You don’t need to decide anything this month. You just need to pay attention. Here are a few things to notice at your next gathering:
- Where do guests set their coats and bags?
- Where do dishes and serving pieces get stored before and after the meal?
- Where do people gather, and where do they get in each other’s way?
- What do you carry from room to room more than once?
- Which wall or corner sits empty and could hold storage?
Take photos. Jot down rough measurements if you’d like. A few notes make the first meeting much more useful.
A word about timing
If you start a conversation with us this fall, a built-in may not be ready for this year’s gatherings. Scope and our schedule decide that, so ask us directly. We won’t promise a date we can’t keep.
Starting early still helps. You can use this season’s holidays to learn what you need. Then next year, you’ll host with a plan.
Our work is cabinetry and woodworking. We don’t offer full remodels. When a project involves a builder or designer, we collaborate with them so the details fit the plan.
Let’s look at your space
If you’d like to talk through a space in your home, contact us to schedule a consultation. We serve Des Moines, West Des Moines, Clive, Grimes, Urbandale, Altoona, and other communities in central Iowa. We’d be glad to take a look.