When I first talked to the owner of this 2-bedroom townhome she was clear about what she wanted, but was not sure how to have it all. She wanted a guest room for those times when friends or family came to stay, but that was only the case periodically throughout the year. At Valet Custom Cabinets & Closets we are committed to enhancing the use of each client’s individual space, so I set out to solve the dilemma for this client.

As I approached this project, my challenge was that there was not a lot of square footage to work with. How could we accommodate occasional guests when most of the free space was in the main living area? There was also a lack of storage in general that I would have to solve at the same time that I provided some options for guests’ belongings.

If you’re raising a family anywhere in the Bay Area, you can’t get a more picture-perfect neighborhood than Los Gatos. Old-growth trees flanking unique homes and the stunning Los Gatos Creek Trail make for a beautiful place for kids to ride bikes or draw with chalk in the driveway. 10 square miles of residential perfection sandwiched between Saratoga and Sierra Azul couldn’t be more quaint.

The holidays have officially descended upon Silicon Valley, and we are in full decorating swing. Now would be the perfect time to have a custom Christmas room like the one a recent client wished for. She wanted space for tree storage, gift wrapping, and year-round functionality to boot—which provided a fun challenge for our design team. If you’re green with holiday envy right now, don’t worry. There’s still more than enough time to get a custom room ready for you before the new year, and definitely before the holiday rush of 2017.

The new Sorellas housing development in Los Gatos is beautifully under construction this holiday season near Summerhill, and I’ve seen a slew of customization-minded home buyers jump at the opportunity. Retirees with plenty of time for crafting throughout the year can really benefit from including a crafting space in the floorplan. All you need is a functional way to make the best use of your new space, and custom cabinetry can make that happen.

While plenty of Silicon Valley cities aim to be as high-tech as possible, I’ve always considered downtown Los Gatos the perfect mix of old and new. It was one of the first areas to offer free outdoor WiFi hotspots but still has remnants of brick architecture from the late 1800s—in addition to upscale shopping and dining. Given the number of lofts and condos that have sprung up within walking distance of downtown, plenty of folks seem to enjoy this balance.

One of the truisms of home ownership is that your stuff expands to fill your space. I’ve seen it time and again. A client of ours in Los Gatos moved from a smaller house to a larger one in the Rinconada Hills neighborhood and was excited about the extra room. But the clutter followed her family like a magnet until their new house was as crowded as the old. When she and her husband came to us for help, I mustered up my years of experience and asked the crucial question: did they have any children?

Apart from its historic downtown, excellent wineries, and booming economy, one of the best parts of living in Los Gatos (or the Bay Area in general) is how close you are to the great outdoors. Hiking and camping beckon, with Sanborn County Park 20 minutes away and Big Basin only a half-hour’s drive. If you’re a “weekend warrior” who enjoys leaving town to spend time with Mother Nature for a couple of days, it’s a great spot.

Any time we do work in Los Gatos, we see the same thing: families strolling around the beautiful, walkable downtown, people getting ready to hike the Santa Cruz foothills, and friends having brunch at the Los Gatos Cafe. It’s a great area, and since it’s within commuting distance of the tech businesses in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, it’s an ideal place to live, especially for people who are moving out of the city and starting a family, and they’re looking for more space.  But we also see people whose big houses simply don’t have enough storage and clothing space because the builder made the closet an afterthought.

California’s health-consciousness is often gently teased in pop-culture parodies that paint us as wheatgrass-slurping “hippies”—but that healthy, environmentally-conscious California lifestyle has also informed the West Coast’s undeniably significant contributions to the fields of architecture and design. For example, the legacy of California Modern architecture, with it’s well-lit and clutter-free interiors, offer more than a chic, contemporary look. That sunlight and airy, open space can actually cut your stress and keep you healthy. Likewise, a Spanish colonial home with ample windows and a clutter free interior epitomizes breezy California style in Los Gatos. By “designing sunlight” into your home in the early stages of planning with your architect and furniture craftsman, you can maximize the light and space in your interior, and enjoy the health and happiness afforded by the extra rays. The key is to plan for ample storage that's integrated into the walls—a hideaway wall-to-wall media center with in-wall storage opens up your main living spaces to the sun for a healthier, happier space for living.

Our featured project this month was designed by Ward Wildanger, a senior designer at Valet Custom Cabinets & Closets. He is a recent finalist in the “Garage” category for his project “The Dream Garage” in this year’s National Top Shelf Design Awards presented at the 2015 Cabinets & Closets Conference and Expo in Schaumburg, IL. Ward brings over 25 years of design and engineering expertise to his work, and it shows in his projects, like this one in Los Gatos. Chris wanted a room that would do double-duty as a guest room and sewing room.