Every time I post a little glimpse of our bookshelves on Instagram I end up with a few questions from people. Truth be told I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for a very long time now. But life keeps happening around here and I kept putting it off (for almost a year! Yikes!). Now I’m finally ready to pull everything together and share more about one of our biggest projects to date: BUILT INS!!!
This project took us a very long time to complete. But I’ll try my best to show our process and at the end I’ll try to give a timeline break-down. We tackled this project with a newborn and didn’t finish until he was almost walking! What an adventure 🙂 haha!
So let’s get into it and start at the beginning…
Here is what our back living room looked like initially. This is a photo from the MLS listing.
And here’s what it looked like on move-in day.
After we moved in we immediately painted all the walls white. Then we eventually ripped out the pony walls and added laminate flooring.
But there was still just a huge, empty wall of nothing (about 14 1/2 feet of nothing to be exact). But I always knew that I wanted to add shelving or more storage of some kind down the road.
So once we saved up a little money I started planning the design and dreaming up what this huge empty wall would become. And I must say, we did pretty well sticking to this plan. The only place we deviated was eliminating one shelf from the design.
Choosing base cabinets
After doing a lot of research on pre-made base cabinets I decided to go with IKEA. The total depth of our wall that we had to work with was 17 inches, and so this really limited our options.
You can find pre-made upper cabinets at most big box stores that are about 12 inches deep (too small) and base cabinets that are about 24 inches deep (too big). Luckily IKEA sells base cabinets that are almost 15 inches deep. And that worked perfectly for us!
At the time that we started this project our closest Ikea was in Schaumburg, IL (they FINALLY opened one in Milwaukee just a few weeks ago – REJOICE!!!). I wasn’t able to make it down there to purchase all the supplies (#babylife) so we ordered everything online. I’d say it was definitely worth the extra $100ish delivery charge to not have to deal with the 4+ hours of driving and chaos that is IKEA. Although I did miss out on the Swedish meatballs.
But when ordering online I just had to plan like crazy and quadruple check that we got absolutely everything we needed.
So here’s everything we got:
- 3 SEKTION base cabinets, 36″ x 14 3/4″ x 30″
- 3 packages of UTRUSTA shelves (2 per package), 36″ x 14 3/4″
- 2 SEKTION base cabinets, 30″ x 14 3/4″ x 30″
- 2 packages of UTRUSTA shelves (2 per package), 30″ x 14 3/4″
- 3 FORBATTRA toe-kicks 84″ x 4 1/2″, matte white
- 2 SEKTION suspension rails
- 5 packages of SEKTION legs (4 per package)
- 10 packages of UTRUSTA hinges (2 per package)
- 5 packages of UTRUSTA door dampers (2 per package) **
**Note: IKEA no longer sells the UTRUSTA door dampers. But they now sell hinges with built-in door dampers! So nice. These hinges weren’t available when we did this project so we didn’t use them. But if we were doing the project now I would just buy the hinges with built-in dampers.
Choosing cabinet doors
I opted to not get door fronts from IKEA and instead ordered them separately through Semihandmade. Their doors are made to fit IKEA cabinets perfectly and are great quality wood doors. They’re much nicer than the ones you can get from IKEA.
I went with the DIY shaker style from Semihandmade so that we could paint them ourselves the same color white to match our kitchen cabinets and trim.
I primed the cabinets first with a white Zinsser spray primer. And then Max used our paint sprayer and gave them two coats of Sherwin Williams Pro Classic. The color we used is Extra White in a satin finish. The paint job looks really professional and so far it’s been holding up great!
Moving and adding electrical
Before we started to install the base cabinets we had electricians come out and they added two outlets to counter height for us.
And they also added 5 wires to the ceiling for the sconces. They left the wires hanging and inactive so that we could build the whole upper frame and then later drill holes, pull the cords through, and hang the electrical boxes and sconces. There were a lot of steps to think about in this whole building process.
Assembling the base cabinets
I put together all five base cabinets myself and honestly the assembly didn’t take much time at all. Then once the cabinets were all assembled we attached the metal suspension rail to the wall and hung the cabinets from the suspension rail.
Leveling the rail took the most time because we wanted to make sure it was perfect. But once it was up the process of hanging the bases went pretty quickly.
As we went along Max used some clamps and drilled the bases to one another with wood screws.
During the whole electrical moving process we decided to keep one of the outlets at the bottom of the wall so that Max would be able to charge things inside one of the cabinets if he wanted. So for this we had to cut a hole in the back of the cabinet and then we installed this nifty recessed wall outlet that makes everything look pretty seamless inside.
The countertop
Once the cabinets were hung we could install our massive butcher block countertop. Since we were dealing with about 14 1/2 feet of wall space we needed a ridiculously long countertop. IKEA doesn’t make anything nearly this long and I didn’t want to have to join two butcher block countertops together because there would be a very visible seam.
So I found a company online that was able to cut a maple butcher block countertop to the exact depth we needed (16 inches) and shipped it out from California for us on a huge truck. We just had to cut some of the length off and finish the wood. I used Waterlox to seal the wood. But it worked pretty well. I love the look of the butcher block.
Hanging doors on the cabinets
IKEA cabinets use UTRUSTA hinges that are really quite awesome. There are no screws that screw into the door itself. It holds on through some kind of pressure system. But there are screws when you hang the hinges on the actual cabinets.
After the hinges and doors are hung on the cabinets there’s adjustments you can make to the hinges so that the doors line up properly. You use a screw driver to turn screws inside the hinges to make minor adjustments up-down, side-to-side, etc. It took me a long time fiddle with this to get everything perfectly in-line.
Here’s IKEA’s handy reference diagram to show you just how crazy-making it can be to position the doors.
After all the adjustment were made I installed the door dampeners so that all the cabinet doors are soft close. These click on over the hinges. No more loud slamming of cabinet doors! It’s amazing.
Adding filler
Our total wall length was 174 inches and our five cabinets ended up being about 168 inches (3×36” cabinets in the middle and 2×30” cabinets on the ends). So we had to fill in about 3 inches on each side of the cabinets with filler.
We got the filler panels from Semihandmade when we ordered the doors and we painted them the same color as the doors. And then Max had to expertly trim the filler to fit in the hole between the cabinet and the wall. And then we nailed the filler in from the side of the cabinet and added some caulk on the wall side to make sure everything was snug and secure.
The upper shelving
After the countertop was installed Max custom built the whole upper portion of bookshelves. It took a little trial and error because we were still learning how to do all these things.
But basically Max framed in the header portion where the electrical for the sconces would go. And then he decided to use a router to make grooves in each of the vertical boards so that shelves could slide right in. Routing the boards took a long time and was tricky to get perfect but Max did a great job. During this part of the building process we decided to change plans and opted for two shelves instead of the three that we had planned in the initial sketches.
Unfortunately the header took up more space than we had originally estimated. And we knew we wanted 18 inches of space on the bottom shelf because we were planning on having a record player and wanted to make sure we could fully open the lid. And I guess the remaining space we had just wasn’t enough for two more shelves. So one more it was!
And then Max enclosed the header with the dead electrical wires inside.
And everything got filled in and trimmed out and a fresh coat of paint. And we also drilled holes and installed the hardware on the cabinet doors.
Then we called the electrician back and he drilled holes into the header, pulled the electrical cords through, and hung the electrical boxes and scones. Maybe we could have done some of this electrical work ourselves? But I don’t think electrical stuff is something rookies like us should mess with. So I was happy to pay someone professional to do this for us.
I will say, when I showed the electrician my initial sketches a few months prior I’m pretty sure he thought I was crazy. But he still happily went along with my plans even though I think he was definitely doubting me the whole time. But once the lights were hung he stepped back and was like “Hmm… that looks nice”. So that’s a win in my book!
Here’s a close up of the sconces.
Then we finally finished up the base trim and added the toe kick to the bottom of the base cabinets.
Some people think that organizing books by color is ridiculous. But please note that originally I tried to organize the books primarily by categories and then color. But it just wasn’t as cute, OK?!
And here we are now!
This project turned out so well! I’m so proud of it.
This was also a really good intro for us on how to use IKEA cabinets. We’re hoping to do another IKEA project soon in our kitchen/dining area. Not a full kitchen remodel but I would like to add some cabinets for more storage next to our pantry. So stay tuned for that in the following months to come.
And as promised here’s a breakdown of our timeline. From beginning to end it took about seven months. But about five of those months was actual construction.
Timeline:
January 2017 – Planning and sketching initial ideas
Early March 2017 – Base cabinets arrive from IKEA
Late March 2017 – Electrical moved, started hanging base cabinets
April 2017 – Painted and installed cabinet doors, started building upper shelving
Late May 2017 – Finished upper shelving
June 2017 – Closing in the header, hanging electrical boxes, installing sconces
July 2017 – Finishing touches, trim, toe kick
If you have any questions please let me know in the comments below!
And a little side by side before and after…
Shopping List
Please note that the shopping list below is what we used for our specific space. Your dimensions will likely differ and you will need to account for that when selecting the size of your cabinets to purchase.
Ikea Cabinets
- 3 SEKTION base cabinets, 36″ x 14 3/4″ x 30″
- 3 packages of UTRUSTA shelves (2 per package), 36″ x 14 3/4″
- 2 SEKTION base cabinets, 30″ x 14 3/4″ x 30″
- 2 packages of UTRUSTA shelves (2 per package), 30″ x 14 3/4″
- 3 FORBATTRA toe-kicks 84″ x 4 1/2″, matte white
- 2 SEKTION suspension rails
- 5 packages of SEKTION legs (4 per package)
- 10 packages of UTRUSTA hinges w/ built-in dampers (2 per package)
Cabinet Fronts and Countertop
- Zinsser Primer, white
- Sherwin Williams Pro Classic, Extra White, Satin
- 6 – 18″ x 30″ DIY Shaker Doors for SEKTION, Semihandmade
- 4 – 15″ x 30″ DIY Shaker Doors for SEKTION, Semihandmade
- 2 – 4″ x 30″ DIY filler trim panels for SEKTION, Semihandmade
- Maple butcher block 1 3/8″ x 16″ x 192″
- Waterlox sealer/finish
- 10 – cabinet knobs (similar)
- Cabinet hardware installation template
Wood for Shelving
- 2″ x 4″ framing lumber
- 1″ x 12″ poplar boards (for shelves)
- 1″ x 2″ (for front trim)
- 1″ x 3″ (for front trim)
Electrical Components
Handy Tools
- Paint Sprayer
- Drill and impact driver w/ drill bits
- Nail gun
- Air compressor
- Router
- Circular saw
- Miter saw
- Oscillating tool
- Clamps
- Laser level
- Folding saw horses
Miscellaneous Supplies
Installing a New Dining Room Light Fixuture
2016 Year in Review
Painting Dining Chairs with My Critter Spray Gun
Aya
I love these bookshelves and thank you for sharing! I was just curious, how did you paint the shelves? Did you spray or use a roller? It looks awesome!
Melissa Lynch
Thank you so much! We used a sprayer to paint the doors. But right now I can’t remember exactly how we painted the shelves. It was probably a combo of roller and brush. We tried to do some of the larger pieces before we installed.
Jeff Roberts
Could you please tell me what company you used for the custom butcher block? Thanks in advance.
Melissa Lynch
Hi Jeff! I can’t find my receipt for the butcher block but I think the company was called Perfect Plank. Hope that helps <3
Deanna
I’m just curious as to the type of wood you used for the top part where the lights are?
Melissa Lynch
We used MDF for that part <3
Laura
Hi, your bookshelves are so beautiful! Please can you tell me what size trim you used on the front face of your bookshelves (to tie them together and to the wall?) Thanks!
Melissa Lynch
Thank you! The vertical trim pieces are 3″x1″ and horizontal pieces are 2″x1″ <3
Ronda
What did you use to build the bookshelves part? Did you use wood boards or did you use the shelving wood with the holes on the sides so that you can move the shelves if you want?
Melissa Lynch
We used wood boards. No holes since we didn’t need them to be adjustable. <3
Brittney
This is INCREDIBLE. Well done! I was curious about how much this project cost you beyond the time. Could you provide an estimate of costs associated with the things you bought and the people you hired to help (i.e. electrician)?
Melissa Lynch
Hi Brittney. Thank you! We finished this project a few years ago and by now I’ve lost all my receipts. But last time I tried to do the math I believe the total project cost was around $3k.
Annie
Love this! I’m considering doing built-in bookshelves in my house and I love the combination of having cabinets & shelves (it helps hide any cords or anything you don’t want on display). My question is with putting the shelves on top of your laminate flooring, have you guys experienced any buckling with your flooring? I know a lot of flooring installers don’t run laminate under standard kitchen cabinets because cabinets are so heavy and stationary they might make the floor buckle and warp. But I do wonder if IKEA is better since the cabinets basically are “hanging” on the suspension rail and it alleviates that.
Melissa Lynch
Hi Annie,
We haven’t noticed any issues with our flooring. <3
Whitney Butts
Absolutely beautiful work! This was a perfect find as my wall length is just shy of yours at 171” so this is PERFECT.
Curious, when you ordered from semihandmade for the 36” and 30” sektion base cabinets, can you tell me the size doors you ordered? May sound like a silly question but I’m so nervous I’ll order wrong.
Melissa Lynch
Hi Whitney,
We are using 2 doors per cabinet. So for the 36″ cabinets we are using two 18″ doors. And for the 30″ cabinets we are using two 15″ doors. I believe we ordered almost 3 years ago from Semihandmade so I’m not sure if their process is the same or not. But I remember that you could show your plans to an “expert” and they would give you feedback and make sure you were getting everything you needed in your order. Good luck with your project! <3
Susan
May I ask which company you get the gorgeous maple countertop?
Thank you very much for sharing! The library is so beautiful!! Love it!
Melissa Lynch
Thank you so much! I ordered the butcher block from a company called “Perfect Plank”.
Olivia
Gorgeous!! Not a bookshelf question….more what is ON the shelves lol where did the photo albums on the top come from? Thank you!
Melissa Lynch
Thank you! The gray ones were from JoAnn’s and the black and navy ones came from Staples 🙂
Clare Merritt
Did you end up using the legs you bought for the sektion base cabinets? It appears they’re mostly suspended and I’m not able to see the legs. Curious as I’m doing something similar in our playroom but was not planning on the legs. Thanks! Awesome project!
Melissa Lynch
Yup! We used the black sektion legs. Might be hard to see in the photos because of shadows under the cabinets. But if I was doing this again I would probably buy one of the nicer legs that ikea offers. Right now we are using ikea baseboards on the bottom so we needed to use the legs. To install the ikea baseboards you attach clips on the back and they clip onto the legs. <3
Kimberly Bennett
LOVE! WE are not builders- I am 99% confident that we can build the lower half and get them installed. However- we have no idea how to do the upper part. Do you still have a supply list for it? Or any advice. Thanks so much!
Melissa Lynch
Hi Kimberly,
So sorry! It’s been a few years since we completed this project. I don’t have a supply list for the upper portion. I probably should have taken more photos and kept better records as we were going. My husband was the one that took charge on the upper portion and he learned by watching lots of carpentry YouTube videos. I would definitely start there!
Becca
Beautiful work. Thank you for documenting it. I wanted to ask how you attached the trim to the front of the bookshelves. Did you screw on the trim or use glue? Thanks!
Melissa Lynch
Thank you! We used glue first to attach the pieces and then a nail gun with finish nails to securely attach the trim pieces to the fronts. <3
Greg
So glad I found this. This is exactly what we are looking to do in our office. You just saved me a ton of time. When you used the Utrusta hinges with the SemiHandMade doors, was there a jig you used to drill the pockets that the hinges go into on the doors? It did not look the like SemiHandMade doors are pre drilled to accomodate the Utrusta hinges. Thank you!
Melissa Lynch
Hi Greg,
No drilling is necessary! Semihandmade doors come with the pockets drilled out and perfectly fit the IKEA hinges.
<3
Bryan
Hi. Currently trying to decide how much space to leave at the top of built ins. What is the height of the closed in top section? I’m trying to decide how much space I should leave..we have similar lights to yours. Thanks!
Melissa Lynch
Hi Bryan! The top portion of our bookshelves is about 9 inches in height. Hope that helps! <3
Anna
Hi, I absolutely love the bookshelf! Would you mind telling me the height you have on the first section of the bookshelf between the counter top and the first set of shelves? Thank you so much!
Anna
Melissa Lynch
Hi Anna – The first bookshelf section is 18 inches in height. We planned it that way to make sure we had enough clearance to open up the record player lid. <3
Anna
Thank you! And thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Paola O
Hi Melissa,
This looks amazing! You make it seem so easy 🙂 What was the cost for the whole project? Also, I want to only do the bottom half cabinets and not include the shelving on top – do you have the item list for just the bottom?
Thanks for sharing and for your help!
Paola
Melissa Lynch
Hi Paola,
Thank you! We finished this project a few years ago and by now I’ve lost all my receipts. But last time I tried to do the math I believe the total project cost was around $3k. This included hiring an electrician and adding/moving electrical.
I’ve added a shopping list at the bottom of the post of everything we purchased/used for this project. Obviously you’ll need to adjust based on your own specifications. But hopefully that helps! <3
Lauren
What kind and size of screws did you use to attach the cabinets to each other?
Melissa Lynch
We used wood screws that we already had on hand. I don’t remember what size though (probably 3/4-1″ ones).
Sonny
hi! i’m building my own built in right now and definitely using yours as inspiration! I was wondering, what type of wood is your countertop? Maple?
Thanks! Your shelves look GORGEOUS.
Melissa Lynch
Thank you so much! Yes, the countertop is maple butcher block. <3
Joy
Thank you for the excellent, detailed, explanation of your project! It’s absolutely stunning.
Melissa Lynch
That’s so nice! Thank you so much for your comment. 🙂
Ashley
Hi Melissa—
Thanks for sharing this gorgeous project and being so open to helping others! Question: is there anything securing the vertical components of the shelving to the butcher block or is it just good ‘ol gravity?
Thanks!
Melissa Lynch
Hi Ashley,
We didn’t drill the shelving to the butcher block countertop. But they are secured to one another, the side walls, and the header/ceiling.
Jessica
This is really beautiful! Thanks for so much detail! What did you use for the header?
Melissa Lynch
Thank you, Jessica! We used MDF for the header <3
Jessica Powell
Thanks for the reply Melissa! What is the width of the MDF board; 12 inches? 18 inches?
Melissa Lynch
It’s 9 inches.
Julie K Fredrick
Great job. Thank you for the detailed instructions and information. Beautiful work!
Amber
Hi! We are working on a similar project and using your work and post for inspiration! Could you tell me how deep your upper shelving is? I’m sorry if I accidentally missed it in your post. Thank you for sharing your beautiful work!
Melissa Lynch
The upper portion of shelving is approximately 12 inches deep. Hope that helps. Best of luck on your project 🙂
Kassie T.
Thank you for such detailed instructions (and measurements)!! Your cabinets are so beautiful and your instructions will undoubtedly help us with our project. Well done!
Melissa Lynch
Thank you, Kassie! So glad it was a helpful post 🙂
Denise Wunderlich
Hi Melissa. Thank you for creating this helpful and detailed post. Your ingenuity is impressive. Question: can Max be loaned out? He is so handy 😁 Second and serious question: what made the two of you decide not to use Ikea for the top shelves? I did not know Ikea could be dressed up like this. You project came out beautifully!
Melissa Lynch
Haha! Max is a busy guy these days. Wish he had more time to help with projects 🙂
I’m not sure there are any ikea products we could have used for the top. Maybe the billy bookcases? But we wanted to try something more custom anyway (adding lighting above, etc) so we decided to do that part from scratch instead.
Elise
Stunning. Did you put anything on the front of the shelves to make it all seamless? I can’t see the seams between the horizontal and vertical shelves?
Melissa Lynch
Hi Elise, we added trim pieces to the front on the shelves. And then we filled all the seams and nail holes before painting to make everything look seamless.
Sheila
These turned out amazing! I would love to do something similar in our home office, trying to decide. I appreciate all of the details & links you shared. Would you mind telling me how much you budgeted for this project & what it ended up costing for the materials? I realize your time cannot be accounted for. I just am considering whether or not I would need to hire someone. Thank you so much!
Melissa Lynch
Hi Sheila,
My apologies I missed this comment! It’s been a few years since we finished this project. I believe the total cost was around $3,000. That included the materials but also the electrical work that we had done. If we didn’t add lighting to the bookshelves it would have been much less. <3
Katie
Melissa,
I am so impressed with your project, but also with your thoughtfulness in sharing your plans and instructions with all of us. It is really a gift. Thank you! We are planning to do something similar in our dining room with your post as our template. I am hoping to install the IKEA Maximera drawers inside our cabinets, as I love having all deep drawers in my kitchen. So grateful for your thoughtfulness.
Katie
Melissa Lynch
Thank you so much for your comment! It means a lot 🙂 Good luck with your project and let me know how it turns out! I love the Maximera drawers as well. They are great for storage. We did a smaller project using the drawers but I haven’t had time to post about that yet.
DeeAighWhy
Great work! How did you paint the shelves and made sure that the countertop will not be painted?
Melissa Lynch
Thank you! 🙂 Many of the pieces for the upper portion we painted before installing them. For touch-ups we used drop cloths and tape so we wouldn’t get paint on the butcher block countertop.