Storage is one of those things that shapes how a home actually functions day to day. The right piece in the right place keeps a room organized without making it feel like a series of filing cabinets. The wrong piece, or worse, no piece at all, means clutter finds somewhere else to live, usually somewhere you would rather it did not.
At Element Furniture, storage has always been part of what we do. We are primarily known for tables, but we have been handcrafting custom storage pieces alongside them for years, working in close collaboration with our Amish builders to create hutches, buffets, dressers, bookcases, media centers, and entryway pieces that are built to your specifications and finished to match whatever else is in the room.
Here is a look at how custom furniture with storage works, and what makes sense for each room of the house.
How Custom Storage Furniture Works
The starting point for any custom storage piece is a conversation about what you actually need. Not just the dimensions, though those matter, but the configuration. Because the configuration is what determines what the piece does.
Think of it this way: you start with a box, and the elements you add to that box change the purpose entirely. A run of drawers gives you a dresser. Mix some drawers with doors and add cord cut-outs in the backing and you have a media center. Pull the doors, adjust the shelving layout, and you have a bookcase. Blend drawers and doors without the cut-outs and you have a buffet. The same base form, entirely different pieces depending on how it is configured.
That flexibility is what makes the custom process worth it. You are not choosing between the configurations a manufacturer decided to produce. You are telling us what you need the piece to do and we design around that.
Your Options: Standard, Semi-Custom, and Fully Custom
Not every storage piece needs to be designed from scratch, and not everyone comes to us with a blank slate. We offer three levels of customization depending on how specific your needs are.
Standard: You work from a pre-existing design, adjust the size to fit your space, and select the wood species and stain. This is a good option when you like a design we have built before and want something similar without starting over.
Semi-Custom: You modify the layout, adjust the height and dimensions, and select wood species and stain. This is the most common path for customers who have a clear sense of what they need functionally but want to use one of our existing designs as a starting point.
Fully Custom: You bring us a photo of what you have in mind, or describe the piece you want, and we bring it to life. More likely than not we can recreate the style you are after while hitting your exact dimensions and specs. The options are nearly endless: swap standard doors for glass, add shiplap backing, supply your own hardware, choose wood or glass shelving, adjust the internal layout however it needs to go.
One detail worth knowing: we can have pieces finished by our Amish builders in one of their standard stains, or we can have the piece sent to us unfinished and stain it in-house with one of our own colors. That second option is particularly useful when you are building a set where the storage piece and the dining table need to match exactly.
Living Room Furniture with Storage
The living room is where storage needs to be invisible. You want pieces that hold things without announcing that they are holding things, and that contribute to how the room looks rather than just solving a logistical problem.
A custom media center is the most functional living room storage piece we build. It can be configured to hide cables and electronics behind doors while keeping displays and shelving open, and the dimensions can be dialed in to fit the specific wall and TV size you are working with. The cord cut-outs in the backing are something we build in from the start rather than drilling after the fact, which keeps the finish clean.
Bookcases and built-in style shelving units are the other major category. Open shelving in walnut or white oak reads as furniture rather than storage, which changes how it sits in the room. A well-proportioned bookcase in the right wood species can anchor a living room the same way a good sofa does.
For living rooms that need a piece that bridges storage and surface space, a console with drawers or a low cabinet with doors are both options we build regularly. They work behind a sofa, along a longer wall, or as a sideboard in a combined living and dining space.
See examples of open shelving in our Floating Shelves collection, or browse Console Tables for console options.
Bedroom Furniture with Storage
Bedroom storage comes down to dressers and, in some cases, pieces that combine drawer storage with display or organizational elements.
A custom dresser is one of the more straightforward pieces to design once you know what you need: how many drawers, what height works for your space, and whether you want a simple case piece or something with more visual presence. The wood species choice matters more in the bedroom than anywhere else, because the dresser is typically one of the largest pieces of furniture in the room and sets the tone for everything else.
Walnut is the most requested species for bedroom storage. The depth of color and the grain character give a dresser the kind of weight that makes it feel like a serious piece of furniture rather than something functional. White oak is the other strong option, particularly in rooms with lighter walls and more natural light, where walnut can feel too heavy.
For bedrooms that need more than just drawer storage, we can build pieces that combine drawers with open shelving, closed cabinet sections, or a hutch top. The configuration is determined by what you actually need to store and how you want to access it, not by what a standard product line happens to offer.
Browse our bedroom furniture collection for dresser examples.
Standard Design
Standard Design
Hutches and Buffets: Storage Furniture with Drawers and Doors
Hutches and buffets are the pieces we build most often alongside our dining tables, and for good reason. A dining table and a matching buffet or hutch in the same wood species and stain creates a set that looks designed rather than assembled, and the storage the buffet provides changes how the whole dining room functions.
The distinction between a hutch and a buffet comes down to configuration. A buffet is typically a lower case piece with a combination of drawers and doors, providing storage for linens, serving pieces, and anything else that belongs in or near the dining room but does not need to be on display. A hutch adds an upper section, usually with open shelving, glass doors, or a combination of both, which provides display space above the lower storage section.
Skip the doors on the upper section and adjust the shelving layout and what would have been a hutch becomes a bookcase. That is the level of flexibility the custom process allows. Same basic form, different configuration, entirely different function and look.
For customers who want a piece that works harder than a standard buffet, we have built hutches with built-in wine storage, pull-out drawers inside cabinet sections, and custom hardware sourced by the customer. If you can describe it or show us a photo, the likelihood is that we can build it.
See examples in our Hutches & Buffets collection.
Entryway Furniture with Shoe Storage
The entryway is the room that sets the tone for everything else, and it is also the room that takes the most daily abuse. Shoes, bags, coats, keys, mail: everything that comes in and out of the house passes through the entry, and without a piece designed to handle that traffic, it becomes the room where things go to pile up.
A custom entryway piece with shoe storage solves that problem at the source. The configuration can include a lower section with doors or pull-out drawers sized for shoes, a bench surface at seat height for putting shoes on and taking them off, open cubbies for bags and frequently used items, and hooks or a hanger rail above for coats.
The dimensions matter here more than in most rooms. Entryways are often narrow, and a piece that is too deep or too wide makes an already tight space feel cramped. Because we build to your specifications, we can design a piece that fits the exact footprint of your entry, uses every inch of available wall space, and still leaves comfortable clearance for traffic flow.
In terms of wood species, white oak and walnut are both strong choices for entryway pieces. White oak is a good option in spaces where the entry connects to a lighter, more casual living area. Walnut works well where the entry opens into a more formal or richly finished interior.
Choosing the Right Wood Species for Storage Furniture
The species choices for storage pieces are the same ones we work with across all of our furniture: walnut, white oak, and maple. Each brings something different to a storage piece, and the right choice depends on the room, the surrounding finishes, and the look you are going for.
Walnut is the most versatile choice for storage furniture. The rich brown heartwood and tight grain give any piece a sense of substance and quality that holds up across traditional, transitional, and contemporary spaces.
White oak is the right call for lighter, more casual rooms or spaces where the storage piece needs to feel airy rather than heavy. The ray fleck pattern in the grain gives it visual interest without the weight of darker species.
Maple is the cleanest, lightest option. A good choice for a contemporary storage piece where the form is the focus and the grain is meant to stay in the background.
Start the Conversation
The custom process is more collaborative and less complicated than most people expect. You do not need to come to us with finished plans or detailed drawings. You need a sense of what you are trying to accomplish, a room to put it in, and a few ideas about the look you want. We take it from there.
Browse our portfolio of storage pieces for inspiration, or contact us or call 847-401-7753 with a description of your space and what you need the piece to do. As plenty of our customers have said with a smile, there are a lot of choices involved. That is the whole point.
