Marking out a built in

I'm getting closer to pulling the trigger on the Ikea built in project for the bedroom. I've taped out a couple different scenarios, but I think I have one that I definitely want to implement.

The first thing I had to do was settle on a style. I looked at everything Ikea has to offer, from kitchen and bath cabinets to wardrobes. The winner by far is the Pax system, which can go as high as 93 inches, and is still priced fairly. Plus the doors can be changed based on style, a big plus in my book.

Next, I used some masking tape to mark out where that would be, and what it means for the room. My initial goal was to build a single unit with two doors, but it actually left a fair amount of space to the left of the unit.

See? While the unit is deeper than our drawers, it's only a little more than half as wide.

So I poked around a little more and looked at the different bookcases that are available. The Billy system has a small one that's about half as wide as the one you've seen a million times. And it's pretty shallow--11 inches--so it's a nice way to have the unit step back gradually into the wall.

This is not quite as deep as our drawers, so you have to get close and personal to see the projected footprint. Please excuse the dust, apparently it's been a while since I've gotten under there. (Next chore noted.)

I have about a day to live with it, and I'm excited. I think it'll give us a lot more storage while using less space. Gotta use up all of that height, right? In fact, the only downside that I can see is that I might need another foot stool for the bedroom. And yes, I did say ANOTHER, because I do in fact have one exclusively for the kitchen. What can I say? I'm a shortie.

And on that note, I'm going to go check out the selection and see if I can actually make this happen in the next day or two. Wish me luck!