Trimming Out a Stock Bookcase Again a Wall

Our house is a three bedroom, two large bedrooms and one smaller. The smaller is of class the all-time option for either an office or nursery. We wanted to program for an office now, and if we ever needed it down the road, an piece of cake transition to a nursery.

Part Before (sad most erroneous bookshelf in the fashion!)

The space is 10.v'x8′, has a unmarried closet and a skylight. We wanted to build in some storage, as nosotros take a ton of books and decorative pieces that don't really fit into our open up concept main floor. After researching our options, (and doing a lot of Pinterest-ing) nosotros decided to build a wall of Ikea Baton bookcases.

We already endemic a black full size Billy, and originally were just going to purchase more of these. However, we learned that we had bought the "inexpensive" black one (not the black/chocolate-brown wood grain one) and at that place were NO matching pieces to become along with it. So, we either had to throw out our current Baton and get-go new, or re-use the blackness ane somehow. Later on much contend, and seeing how awesome a job they did over at 247reno.ca we decided to do a Billy Congenital-In, trimming them out and painting to go a nice custom look.

This meant acquiring i more Billy total size, iii skinny Billy'southward, and the 5 corresponding top extension units. On a trip to the states I found all the height extensions on clearance for $5 each, so that saved us a ton of money. We then purchased the additional pieces from our local Ikea.

We assembled them all (without shelves or backs) and started to prime.

Assembling & Priming the Baton'south

I used Behr'due south Enamel Primer & Undercoater. It is good for all surfaces, including glossy ones. I figured I was complimentary and clear to prime willy-nilly. NOT SO, evidently the finish the the height extensions and the sides of i of the bookcases was fabricated from a more glossy or waxy cease, and the primer refused to stick… And then… out came the sandpaper. I removed all the primer and scuffed up the surface. I so cleaned and re-primed, which still produced mediocre results. I nonetheless wasn't completely happy, but decided I (and my sanity) had plenty priming, and would deal with it later.

At present for the bookcase backs; the full size Billy'south backs come folded into iii panels, and when assembled expect like inexpensive donkey Ikea bookcases. So we measured them (30.5″ x 76.5″) and went to our local Home Depot and got 1/8″ hardboard cut to size. I then sanded and primed it, and information technology slid into the bookcase grooves perfectly, and looks MUCH better! We too replaced the meridian extension backs, as they were made from a more flimsy cardboard, and attached the extensions to the bookcases.

We wanted to remove the baseboard on the the wall the bookcase was going for ii reasons. One: then nosotros could get the bookcases closer to the wall and two: so that we could re-employ the piece of baseboard. We scored the caulking/paint that was existing on the top of the baseboard and carefully pried the baseboard from the wall, very very careful not to damage information technology.

Baseboard Removed from Wall

Nosotros then congenital the platform for the billy'due south out of ii×3 pine (and then that they would be off the ground plenty for our baseboard to sit down flush). We secured the base of operations to the the studs in the wall (but not to the floor in instance someone ever wants to remove the bookcases).  We then placed the bookcases on the base and decided on spacing.

The Base

Billy'due south Placed On the Base and Approximately Spaced

Ane of the bookcases was right in front end of an electrical outlet. We wanted to incorporate it into the bookcase, then got an electrical box extender, and cut a respective hole in the dorsum of the bookcase with an oscillating multi-tool.

Cutting out a pigsty for the electrical outlet

El Granto Pre-Drilling for Spacers

We had constitute some 1/iv″ x 2″ trim that nosotros liked, then we spaced the bookcases ane/2″ apart. We cut ane/2″ spacers out of plywood, and attached all the Billy'due south together with the spacers and some screws.

1/2″ Plywood Spacers

We then secured everything together with 2 x 4'southward running along top of the bookcases and screwed them into each bookcase. This fabricated one very solid piece.

El Granto Installing ii×4'southward Across the top of the Bookcase

We attached the bookcase to the wall with the Ikea provided 50 brackets, and to the base with the aforementioned L brackets. If you plan on doing this yourself, retrieve alee to how much space you're gonna take left between the bookcase and the ceiling. Nosotros had virtually 6″, which seems like a lot, but it was SUCH a pain to put in the L brackets. We should take pre-attached them to the bookcases before we'd set them in place. You could only fit a stubby screw driver in there, and I lost many a screw that fell behind the bookcase!

Nosotros notched out the baseboard on the side walls with the oscillating multi-tool, and inserted the baseboard dorsum in, and secured with brad nails. Now its fourth dimension for the pretty stuff!

The Baseboard Notched Out

Nosotros fastened all trim with brad nailer. We also picked up some i/4″ x 2″ polar trim, and used it to fill the gaps at the bottom where the shelves are inset into the bookcase, and the baseboard left a gap. We besides decided to trim out the center and top shelves with more of this trim.

The Baseboard, Trim Pieces and Filler Strips

We then went on a hunting trek to find the perfect sized crown molding. This was problematic, equally we need some big big molding and our house isn't fifty-fifty close to level or square. The ceiling is over 1″ taller on one side of the room, so we needed something that would cover that gap, but not dip into the bookcase. We ended up finding some bang-up molding in a dusty corner (literally!) of our favourite local lumber store; Downtown Lumber. We nailed upwardly the crown as best we could, dealing with the terribly unlevel room. We used more of the poplar trim to fill the spaces and considering what nosotros were dealing with, it looks pretty good!

Nosotros and then had a gap of 5″ or so on each side of the bookcase to the wall. We rip cutting some MDF boards, so scribed them to the very crooked wall, installed and trimmed. At this point in time nosotros as well installed the chair rail (click for chair rail mail service).

The Bookcase with its Trim and Moldings Installed

Every bit we really wanted a built in look, nosotros decided to fill all the unused shelf holes (this actually makes a divergence!) We used DAP paintable caulking to painstakingly fill all the shelf holes, too as all the screw and nail holes, and small gaps around trim. This was tedious work, merely really polished the unabridged piece. We likewise had a very proficient helper who was e'er then eager to get in on the activity.

Odin helping with the Reno

Now comes the fun bit (enter sarcasm). Nosotros installed all the shelves and painted some other coat of practiced primer over the unabridged bookcase (we learned our lesson, and this fourth dimension nosotros used Zinnser BIN primer, and it was so much better than the Behr, simply use in a well ventilated surface area, and stir stir stir it). One coat of primer took over 8 hours to consummate (actually). Over the next few weeks, we followed it up with 3 coats of high gloss white interior/exterior paint, and an extra 2 coats on the previously blackness bookcase.

After many trips to the hardware store for more paint, lots of sore muscles, and an incredibly upset puppy who was fabricated to hang out in the hallway behind a babe gate while we were working, it was finally washed!

The Right Side of the Bookcase

Left Side of Bookcase

Bookcase Complete

Now we go to sit and look at it empty for 2-four weeks until the paint completely cures…

I hope I will have a FINISHED Bookcase postal service to come!
*Check out the Pallet Crates we made to fit in the bookcases here.

Its hard to get a shot of the whole bookcase in such a little room! Pitiful about the wide angle!

SOURCE List:

Materials:
ii Full Size Billy Bookcases: Ikea
3 Skinny Billy Bookcases: Ikea
2 Baton Tiptop Extension Bookcases for full size Baton: Ikea
3 Billy Meridian Extension Bookcases for skinny Billy: Ikea
2×iii Lumber for base: Home Depot
2×4 Lumber for securing bookcases together: Home Depot
1/four″ ten 2″ trim: Downtown Lumber
1/four″ 10 2″ poplar flat stock: Home Depot
one×vi″ MDF Boards for side filler pieces: Downtown Lumber
Crown Moulding: Downtown Lumber
Dap Paintable Caulking: Home Depot
Behr Sealer and Undercoater: Dwelling house Depot (would non recommend for this project)
Zinnser B.I.N. Primer: Home Depot
Behr Premium Plus Interior/Outside Paint in Pure White: Abode Depot

Tools Used:
Miter Saw, Measuring Tape, Compressor & Brad Nailer, Level, Oscilating Multi-Tool, X-acto knife, drill, swear words, paint rollers & brushes

Difficulty Level (on a scale of one-5):

Total Toll: About $400 (about $100 of that was primer/pigment)

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Source: http://www.storefrontlife.com/from-billy-to-built-ins/