Billy-to-Built-ins Ikea Hack

I’ve owned my house for 4 years now and since day one I have been trying to figure out what to do with this weird area on the far side of my living room. The main room is to the right of the stairs but to the left there is this 11 foot wide, 7 foot deep space that is just awkward and unused.

Last year I got my first look at the Billy-to-built-in Ikea hack on Centsational Girl. As soon as I saw it I knew it was the answer I had been looking for. I did a lot of research on the best way to do it. There are so many great Ikea hack ideas out there. Once I had a plan made I recruited my dad to help me. It pays to have a handy dad! 🙂

First we had to remove the baseboards along the back and side walls. The base of the bookshelves is not flush with the frame so we added 1”x 2” boards to the base of each self so I would have an easier time attaching the baseboards at the end of the project. I’m a terrible shot with a nail gun so I need a big target!

We used shims to align and level the shelves just like you would do with kitchen cabinets. When we had each bookshelf level we screwed it to the bookshelf next to it and moved on to the next shelf. We used a countersink drill bit to recess the screw to help hide it. Once all of the bookshelves were together and everything was firmly attached to the walls it was time to add the trim.

This is the part that really makes everything look like a built-in bookcase. From the top of the bottom shelf to the floor was higher than my baseboards so we used a 4” wide piece of MDF as a toe kick. I used my nail gun to attach it across the entire length of the bookshelves, wall-to-wall. Next, I added my baseboard, attaching it to the MDF. The baseboards on the side walls also had to be trimmed to fit the new length and re installed.

We nailed a 2”x 4” board to the top of the bookshelves, wall-to-wall, to create a place to attach the crown moulding. Then we installed the crown moulding across the top. Just like the bottom of the Billy bookshelves the top is not flush with the frame so, to hide the gap I used a strip of 1” lattice trim across the front of the shelving. To cover the seam between bookshelves we used 1 1/2” lattice trim.

The most difficult part was covering the gaps at the end of bookcase. Since nothing in my house is square we ended up with a 2 ½” gap at one end and a 3” gap at the other. We found a 4’x 8’ sheet of thin wood (maybe 1/8” thick?) at Home Depot. We had them cut a 2 ½” strip and a 3”inch strip for use. It worked perfectly!

All of that took us 2 long Saturdays, probably about 15 hours total, 3 of those hours were supply runs to Home Depot, but we were so happy with the results!

Monday night after work I caulked all of the seams and used wood filler to fill the nail holes. A quick sanding and it was time to paint. I had read somewhere that Valspar’s Chef White was a good match for Billy bookshelves and that just so happens to be what all of the trim in my house is painted so I decided to give it a shot. Since I already had semi-gloss that is what I used. It worked great and after two coats I was done. I swear I spent an hour just looking at it!

I’m so happy I decided to do this project. The results are amazing and that side of my living room finally feels complete. Plus I have more storage now. I’ve started filling the shelves already but it is still a work in progress. Maybe some baskets for the bottom shelves? I see many more cute knick knacks in my future!!