Built-In Joinery: How Floor-to-Ceiling Cabinets Make a Home Calmer
Updated: 4 days ago
Floor-to-ceiling built-in joinery makes a home calmer because it turns dozens of separate objects, doors and gaps into one quiet surface. A single wall of cabinets can hide a structural column, a washing machine, an electrical cabinet or a whole pantry, so the room reads as architecture instead of furniture.
By Maya Sheinberger | 11.07.25
Most apartments don't lack storage because they are small. They lack it because storage is scattered: a dresser here, a shoe cabinet there, a tall fridge standing alone in the kitchen. When I plan joinery, I look for the walls that can do several jobs at once, and I let them run from the floor all the way to the ceiling.
Key takeaways
Run built-ins from floor to ceiling, so there is no dusty gap on top and the wall looks built, not bought.
Use joinery to hide what you don't want to see: columns, appliances, the electrical cabinet, even a door.
Keep the fronts calm: flat doors, integral handles or carved lines, and one finish per wall.
Plan joinery at the start of the renovation, together with the electricity, air conditioning and lighting.
Why do floor-to-ceiling cabinets make a room look bigger?
Built-in joinery is custom carpentry fixed to the walls and designed with the architecture, as opposed to freestanding furniture.
A cabinet that stops halfway up the wall creates two lines: the top of the cabinet and the ceiling. The eye notices both, and the room feels busier and lower. When the joinery runs to the ceiling, it reads as one plane, the same way a wall does. Storage also grows a lot, because the top part, which is usually wasted, becomes space for suitcases and seasonal items.
The second reason is order. Closed fronts mean the everyday mess disappears behind doors. In a minimalist home, that is what keeps the space calm long after the photographer has left.
How can joinery hide a column or a washing machine?
In the AA apartment in Tel Aviv, the first thing you see when you open the front door is a custom cabinet. It wraps around and hides a structural column, forms the backdrop to the dining table and holds a lot of storage, including the washing machine. We chose a light, warm gray and carved vertical lines into the wood. The lines make the space feel taller and hide the cabinet doors, so the whole piece looks like one clean volume. In front of the door, a built-in black niche with a golden light fixture adds a small piece of jewelry to the entrance.
In the RA apartment, the kitchen's long wall is a tall cabinet painted in soft black. It holds the refrigerators, the oven and the microwave, and it also hides a door to a storage room that works as a spacious pantry. The result is one calm black wall with a full storage room hidden behind it.
Can joinery replace a room?
Sometimes it can. The E apartment is a 120 sqm new-build apartment in the heart of Tel Aviv, designed for a family with three teenagers. During planning, we gave up the guest toilet the contractor had planned and turned the space into a work corner and extra storage. It is a niche in a deep olive green, with a dark veneer desk and integral cabinets. The clients wanted a place to work that is part of the living space but doesn't interrupt its flow.
In the same apartment, the joinery starts at the entrance and continues as wall cladding behind the dining area. It includes double-sided cabinets and hides the electrical cabinet. Smart wall cabinets line the hallway, and mirror cabinets above the bathroom sinks add storage. The goal was to feel there is plenty of space, without giving up function.
How do you design built-in cabinets that don't feel heavy?
Decision | What I do | Why |
Height | Floor to ceiling | One plane instead of two lines |
Fronts | Flat doors, integral handles or carved lines | The wall reads as architecture |
Finish | One finish per wall | Fewer textures, a calmer room |
Color | Light warm gray, soft black or a deep color on one wall | The wall either disappears or becomes the focal point |
Mirrors | Mirror fronts in bedrooms and bathrooms | More light and a sense of space |
In the E apartment, the bedroom wardrobes have gray mirror fronts that make the room feel larger, and a dark veneer dressing table along the wall can double as a second work corner. In the RA apartment's main bedroom, a low concrete wall works as a partition between the wardrobe and the bed, so the closet doesn't face the bed directly.
A heavy-looking cabinet is usually a busy cabinet: many handles, many materials, many small boxes. Keep the number of materials low. In my projects, a room rarely has more than three dominant textures, and a joinery wall counts as one of them.
When should you plan built-in joinery?
At the very beginning. Built-ins depend on the electrical plan, the air-conditioning routes and the lighting, and they often hide them. In the E apartment, the work corner, the hidden storage and the smart electrical system all had to be planned at the earliest stage. That's true of every new-build apartment: decide on the changes early, so there are no surprises later. I go deeper into this in my guide to customizing a new-build apartment before you move in.
Frequently asked questions
Are floor-to-ceiling cabinets worth it?
Yes, in most homes. They add storage in the top section, remove the dusty gap above the cabinet and make the wall look like part of the architecture.
What can built-in joinery hide?
Structural columns, a washing machine, the electrical cabinet, air-conditioning units, kitchen appliances and even a door to another room, such as a pantry.
What color should built-in cabinets be?
A color that suits the role of the wall. Light warm gray or white helps a wall disappear, while soft black or a deep green turns it into a focal point.
Do built-in cabinets need handles?
No. Integral handles, push openers or carved grooves keep the fronts flat and calm, which is what makes the wall read as one surface.
Can joinery replace a guest toilet or a small room?
It can. In the E apartment, the planned guest toilet became a work corner with integral storage, which served the family better.
Planning built-in joinery for your home in Tel Aviv or central Israel? I'd love to hear about your project.
Maya Sheinberger is an interior designer with more than 17 years of experience. After five years at a leading architecture firm, she founded her independent studio in 2012. She holds a B.Des with honors from the College of Management. Her work has appeared in more than 150 publications in Israel and abroad, including eight Archilovers Best Project awards, and one of her apartments features in the book The New Minimalist Style.
Photography @itaybenitphotographer · Styling @maya_livnat_harush
