What do you mean you don't have built ins?

 We have been living in our 'Owner builder' home for 12yrs. There are many advantages to owner building there are also MANY disadvantages both of which i shall cover another time. The one thing we did not build was the built in cupboards and wardrobes. Actually we didn't build a lot of things straight away.

 Originally when there was only 4 of us I had decided that built ins were ugly and so I had My Beloved knock down the block wall separating two rooms to make it one and was quite happy with those white melamine wardrobes you can buy from just about everyman and his dog these days.

 Having grown up with a Brick & Block Layer as a father, for me everyone built their own homes just like a mechanics daughter assumes all men can fix cars or a rich girl thinks everybody loves her, so I fought hard with My Beloved about everything we did or did not do and early on built ins were 'ridiculous' and 'our house' would be different. ( If only I could go back and slap that younger me with 2 kids senseless!)

 After a few more years and and a few more kids I started to realise that built ins would actually be a really awesome and handy (understatement of the year) household feature. By then though My beloved was working away three weeks a month and on the weekends he was home he was too tired and just wanted to relax and be with family.

 So began my love affair with 'collecting' storage furniture. The term collecting actually makes it sound more than it is. The correct term would have to be hoarding i think. I had so many wardrobes, bookshelves,chests cubes, desks and even milk crates over the years as storage that it is actually quite depressing looking back.

 Family would give us some, or the many garage sales Adam would try so hard to keep me away from also kept me well supplied. Some I even 'had to have' and put on store credit, others i found at the local 'recycling shops' but we all know what it really is... the Dump!! (THE most environmentally friendly way of shopping. It is becoming acceptable, even Home Beautiful magazine had an article and house featured with 'stuff from the dump', the term is re-purposing.)

 12yrs later I have a grand total of 2 built in cupboards (and 3 spaces for the built in wardrobes that may well take another 12yrs to get) in a very basic wood work as My Beloved is not really a woodwork kinda guy! I have the house upside down whilst sorting everything into my plastic tubs and have come to the realisation I need those built ins...A.S.A.P.