Prewar living rooms on the Upper West Side, in Morningside Heights and across Brooklyn often have tall windows with radiators below and long walls without storage. Built-ins can solve both and look as if they came with the building.
01Run one base along the wall
A continuous base cabinet, about 30 to 34 inches high, with ventilated radiator covers under the windows and closed storage between them, gives the room a clean line and a long surface for lamps and objects.
02Add bookcases between the windows
Shelves above the base, between the windows, make a library wall. Keep the shelves the same depth as the base or slightly shallower.
03Ventilate the radiator covers
Use slotted or perforated fronts, leave space behind and above the radiator, and make the tops removable for maintenance.
04Match the room's profiles
Copy the existing baseboard and crown moldings so the built-ins look original. We take the profiles from the room during the site measure.
05Scribe to plaster
Prewar walls are never flat. Built-ins are scribed to the walls on site so there are no gaps.
06Lead-safe work
Older layers of paint often contain lead. Any cutting into walls or trim should follow lead-safe practices; Kloset Worx is EPA lead-safe certified.
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