Nothing says homely like bespoke built-in shelving throughout the wall of your front room, and there is no higher merchandise of furnishings for the job than IKEA’s BILLY bookcase. The easy design of this flat-pack important makes it the right basis for any upcycling venture; in spite of everything, there is a purpose why it is the Swedish model’s hottest piece of furnishings thus far. And this art-deco impressed DIY bookcase proves why that is the case.
With the assistance of some MDF, just a few items of strip wooden, and a lick of sage inexperienced paint, this IKEA hack brings curved strains to this front room whereas additionally maximizing each inch of house with the fashionable storage answer. It is all right down to the work of house renovator Melanie Boyden who shares her ongoing house enhancements over on Instagram. Right here, she shares how she remodeled her BILLY bookcases into this characterful built-in shelving in only a few easy steps.
Lilith is an knowledgeable at following information and developments the world over of inside design. A private fan of the Scandi-inspired inside, her job entails maintaining with every little thing there’s to know concerning the Swedish powerhouse IKEA. Paired together with her perception into the most recent house renovation tasks, she often shares IKEA hacks with readers to encourage their very own DIY tasks in house design.
When Melanie Boyden (opens in new tab) (@melaniejadedesign (opens in new tab)) and her companion first purchased their house in Brighton, UK, they went by means of a big renovation that fully reconfigured the floorplan of the home. Initially, the lounge was an L-shaped open plan dwelling/eating room, however they added a stud wall to create the distinct house the place she’s constructed her shelving.
This did not come with out its points, nonetheless. ‘The fireside in the lounge was central to the unique structure, so it must be moved because it was not central,’ Mel explains. ‘We had quotes to maneuver the hearth however they had been extortionate and with our extension quotes growing as properly, we knew we needed to provide you with a less expensive various.’
(Picture credit score: Melanie Boyden (@melaniejadedesign))
After seeing some examples of biofuel burners on Instagram, Mel knew this was the reply to her issues because it meant she may have a central hearth that did not want a flue or chimney.
‘With that concept in place, we obtained some builders in to cite us how a lot it might value to get cupboards constructed across the hearth to provide us extra storage,’ she says. ‘Once more, the quotes that had been coming again had been eye-watering, so I made a decision to take the issues into my very own fingers.’ And so, the imaginative and prescient for Mel’s IKEA BILLY bookcase hack was born.
‘I would carried out just a few IKEA hacks prior to now and had seen many individuals flip BILLY bookcases into bespoke cupboards,’ she notes. She began by shopping for six 15 3/4 inch vast BILLY models (opens in new tab), in addition to OXBERG doorways (opens in new tab) to go on the underside to offer cupboard house, an MDF sheet to chop the arch shapes, trim to go across the edges of the bookcases in order that they regarded built-in, and strip wooden to provide the doorways their ribbed impact. ‘I additionally used an outdated worktop from our kitchen as a fireplace and a big shelf to behave as a mantelpiece,’ Mel provides.
(Picture credit score: Melanie Boyden (@melaniejadedesign))
As soon as she’d constructed the BILLY models and fixed them collectively and safely connected them to the partitions, she then started measuring the MDF sheet for the round arches. Utilizing a jig noticed, she minimize the sheet to suit the entrance of the bookcases proper as much as her ceiling for the built-in impact.
The subsequent a part of her front room DIY venture concerned measuring the recessed panel on the OXBERG doorways and utilizing a miter noticed to chop all of the strip wooden for the ribbed impact. She then took measurements for the perimeter of the doorways for the trim. As soon as glued, she used caulk to fill in all of the gaps after which fastened skirting boards to the very backside of the cupboards to cover the underside of the bookcases.
(Picture credit score: Melanie Boyden (@melaniejadedesign))
‘As soon as constructed, I used Zinsser shellac (opens in new tab) to prime the bookcases and painted all of the bookcases, trim and doorways in Valspar Thames Fog (opens in new tab),’ Mel explains. ‘I would by no means carried out something this large earlier than, so it was fairly daunting. The principle challenges had been instructing slicing the trim across the coving within the ceiling and creating the arches within the MDF – I used a pizza tray to attract a curve and minimize it with a jigsaw!’
In whole, it took Mel round 4 weeks to finish all the shelving, partly as a result of the bookcases wanted round three coats of shade on high of the primer, a lot of that point was spent ready for her paint to remedy.
(Picture credit score: Melanie Boyden (@melaniejadedesign))
Whereas this venture actually examined Mel’s endurance and put her DIY expertise to the check, the completed outcome seems proper at house in her brilliant and ethereal front room. She later added brick slips across the hearth to provide a extra genuine and rounded look.
‘I really like the way it makes the room appear to be a hearth has at all times been in that place and the options make it look bespoke {and professional},’ Mel says. ‘It’s the shade that actually finishes it off. I really like inexperienced and get so many questions and compliments about it.’
In whole, the venture saved Mel within the area of £11,000 by not utilizing professionals, an actual testomony to her DIY capabilities. ‘I am extraordinarily pleased with my efforts and I am rather more assured in relation to DIY now,’ Mel explains. ‘Though I’ll tackle smaller tasks any further…!’
3 key supplies
‘Thames Fog’ paint, Valspar
This smoky sage inexperienced is a delicate option to brighten any house, be it your bookshelves or partitions. The gray undertones make it adequately subtle for a extra impartial whereas nonetheless providing a pop of shade, or pair it with fairly pastel hues for a extra joyous really feel, as Mel has carried out.
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Zinsser Shellac Primer, Residence Depot
There is a purpose Zinsser’s B-I-N shellac-base primer is an trade favourite. Use their white primer earlier than portray to assist make your shade pop and extend its life. One of the best half? It sticks to any floor with out sanding making it excellent for IKEA hacks and furnishings portray.
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Brick tile veneers, Amazon
These brick veneers from Amazon are created from mineral powder and poly-acrylic binder, giving them a matte texture end for a really genuine look that is excellent to your hearth encompass, bathe partitions or flooring. Merely use a trowel to unfold the premixed tile adhesive to your floor and press the brick sheets into place.
