Custom Built-in IKEA Billy Bookcases

One of the more fun projects that I've tackled lately has been customizing some IKEA Billy bookcases for a client. I've got the skinny on how it came together, in case you'd like to try something similar. I don't have the glamour-shot "after" photos yet with the perfect styling and the new rug so I'll be sure to update this post when I do.

We started with four of IKEA's ubiquitous Billy bookcases in a space off of their kitchen that was newly designated as a library.

They had just purchased new comfy reading chairs and wanted to use their existing pedestal table. I created a moodboard, or collaged image, of what their space could look like with some changes. We knew we wanted a new rug and lighting above the bookcases, as well as some fun detailed woodwork.

We were on track for a cosy area to read and relax, except for one minor detail. Behind all of those bookcases was a length baseboard heating, causing the bookcases to sit out from the wall about 6" and not allowing us to anchoring the bookcases to the wall to prevent toppling. So I built a base or platform for the bookcases to sit on from 2 x 4s bolted securely into the framing of the house and the floor below. This ensured that there was no weight on the heater itself and that the bookcases would be supported and flush against the wall. I also ran electricity from the existing outlet to a new switch that would be hidden inside a shelf and a new outlet near the ceiling for the lights that would be installed above the bookshelves.

Here are all four bookcases securely fastened to both the newly-constructed base and the wall behind them. They are also screwed to each other in a number of places for stability and to keep all of the front edges even. I used metal L braces on both sides of the bottom of each bookcase to secure them to the 2 x 4s that they're sitting on. I like to build things rock solid with no possibility of failure, so I add fail-safes wherever I can think of them. It might be overkill, but I sleep better. 

You can see one light in place as a test, and the new outlet peeking out above the third bookcase. The homeowner had made a hole for a power strip in that same bookcase, but it didn't end up being in the right place for the new switch (which is camouflaged just to the right of it) so that got patched.

Once the bookcases were secured I created a soffit above with a frame of 1x2 pines and added  painted planks of wood in different colors, trimmed it out with moulding, and installed the four new lights. The switch inside the bookshelf behind a picture frame controls the lights. I loaded all of the books back on the shelves, staged the table with a vase and flowers, and stood back to admire the work so far.

So the top of the bookshelves looks great, the bookshelves themselves look fabulous, but the bottom is looking a bit unfinished. To remedy this, first I trimmed out the opening below each bookcase with pine and stained it to match the bookcases' finish. I also stained all of the visible parts of the 2 x 4s that make up the base (which hadn't happened yet in the photo below).

Because I wanted the heat from the baseboards to be able to reach the room (there is a wood burning stove just out of sight to the left, so it is really warm there, but still), I purchased metal grating to cover the openings below the bookcases without blocking the heat. I cut them to size and spray painted them oil-rubbed bronze. Those got nailed in place. Then I added trim around each of the grates, mitering the corners.

The fronts of the bookcases were also trimmed out in lathing strips over the areas where two bookcases meet vertically so that the units appeared more custom and built in. You could no longer see four individual bookcases, but rather one large unit. I added a 1 x 12" pine board to the left side of the last bookcase, notching around the baseboard, to complete the custom look (not pictured, but I'll take one from that angle the next time I'm there and post it). In retrospect, I should have painted the baseboard heaters (and maybe the floor inside the base) a dark brown color so they wouldn't be noticeable through the grating.

After using wood putty to fill of the nail holes, I stained everything with a Kona brown stain to match the existing finish on the Billy bookcases. It's hard to remember that the actual bottom of the bookcases is way up in the air, hidden under all of the trim work. Stay tuned for the stunning "after" photos!

One Room Challenge - Week Two, in which I build a headboard

It's week two of the One Room Challenge (you can read more about my first week and the beginning of my project here)

This week we painted the room. I chose a warm moody gray that reads blue-green depending on the light and the time of day. The color is an HGTV Home for Sherwin Williams color from Lowe's called Silvermist. It's the perfect background for all of the colors and textures that I'll be introducing to the room.

This week I also built a headboard to attach to the metal bed frame. I've added a tutorial below in case you'd like to build one too. I was lucky enough to be able to construct the entire thing of wood that we already had leftover from other projects (score!) but I'm including all of the wood on the materials list if you need to purchase yours. Not everyone has a huge pile of leftover wood just hanging around waiting to be used. Left outside, causing the neighbors and passersby to gossip. Count your blessings if you don't and bop over to the lumberyard to buy your wood! It should cost less than $75 total, which is a steal for a queen-sized headboard.

Materials:

• Four pieces of 1" x 4" x 6' pine boards
• Two pieces of 1/2" x 1.25" x 8' pine moulding strips
• One package of thin tongue and groove pine paneling (Lowe's sells a package of six 8' boards for about $17)
• Kreg jig (you could join the wood pieces other ways, but this is MUCH easier!)
• Kreg screws (I used 1.25" coarse thread screws)
• Walnut (medium brown) and Kona (almost black) stain
• Nails, a hammer, and a nail set, or a nail gun
• Sandpaper
• Wood glue
• Water-based polyurethane and a foam brush
• Bolts and nuts that will fit through the holes on your bed frame
• Drill and a drill bit the same size as the bolts
• Wrench

I determined that I wanted the headboard to be 48" tall and 60" wide to fit a queen size bed frame. I cut two of the 1" x 4" x 6' pine boards to 48" long for the sides of the headboard. I saved the ends (just shy of 24" each) for the inner braces. I cut the other two 1" x 4" x 6' pine boards to 54" long for the top and lower pieces of the headboard. I laid everything out on the floor of the garage to check the size and scale.

I used the Kreg jig to make the joining holes in each of the pieces of wood, and then attached the frame together with the Kreg screws. The advantages of the Kreg jig joints are speed, ease, and the tightness of the joints. I'm a fan!

Once the frame was assembled, I cut the tongue and groove paneling boards to 54" long each. Save the leftover ends to piece the length of the very bottom rows, which won't show because they'll be below the mattress edge and the pillows. Starting at the top and keeping all of the edges flush, begin nailing the paneling boards to the frame of the headboard. I used a nail gun but you could use fine nails, a hammer, and a nail set to recessed the nail heads for a cleaner finish. If you use the same paneling boards that I did, you'll notice that I used them upside down, that is, the back of the boards is what I used facing front. I loved the smaller grooves on this side of the wood (and this wood was leftover from another project so the fronts were already painted - see a peek of it below).

I carefully nailed into the grooves so the nail holes wouldn't be as noticeable.

Once the paneling was nailed on, I took the headboard outside for an all-over sanding to prepare it for staining.

The first coat of stain was much too light, so I ended up mixing two cans of stain together to get a darker, richer color.

Once the stain was dry, I measured and cut the 1/2" x 1.25" x 8' pine moulding strips to fit around the two sides and the top of the headboard, mitering the corners. Before I attached the strips to the headboard I stained them with a dark, almost black, Kona stain and let them dry.

Once the strips were dry, I added a bead of wood glue to the top of the headboard, positioned the top strip in place and nailed it. I repeated this with both the left and right sides. The back of each moulding strip was flush with the back of the headboard so the front edge protruded forward of the front of the headboard, forming a nice frame.

Once the headboard was completely assembled I coated it with three coats of water-based polyurethane, sanding between each coat.

I lined the headboard up against the metal bed frame and marked the holes on the wood.

I drilled holes where I made the marks large enough that the bolts would go through. I attached the headboard to the metal bed frame with three nuts and bolts on each leg and tightened them with a wrench. I threaded the bolts through the wood leg first so the head of the bolt was on the back of the leg and the nut was on the inside of the metal frame. This enables the headboard to sit flush against the wall without the bolt ends gouging the wall or getting in the way. It did make it a little trickier to tighten the nuts down, especially the ones below the box spring. Picture me on my stomach on the floor, with not enough light under the bed, tightening those nuts by feel. Copious cursing in several languages helped.

A shot of the back of the headboard - the paneling was leftover from a planked feature wall that I built in my clients' dining room! I used the planks on the headboard on the reverse side because I liked the grooved detail. It's fun having that surprise in the back of the headboard and it's even more fun that I used leftover wood to make it.

Here's the headboard attached to the bed frame, in place in the room. I love the colors and how clean and modern it looks!

And here's a sneak peek at the new headboard with the pillows - I couldn't resist seeing how it all looks together. I'll go into more depth about the room's textiles in another week.

I just heard that the rug arrived. I found an amazing deal on the CB2 website (6' x 9' rugs are harder to find than 5' x 8' so the hunt was extensive) but the rug was backordered, so it's a relief to know that it's arrived. Trying to pull this room together, between building things and waiting for things ordered to arrive, in six short weeks is nerve wracking!

Studio Tweak - Behind the Door

The space for my studio in our new house is much smaller than it was in our previous house and every square millimeter needs to pull its weight. I like to use visual systems to keep myself organized and I needed a way to keep all of the paperwork associated with teaching and vending gigs, and their attendant travel arrangements, organized and attractively at hand. I also needed an out-of-sight place to store some of my packing and shipping supplies, as well as some gift-wrapping accessories. I started by analyzing available areas and finally settled on this area behind the door that you use to enter the studio. This door is kept open nearly all of the time, so the unused space behind it would be ideal for my make-over.

This is the before:

This space is definitely not living up to its potential! There's 3 feet of wall space and the entire back of the door just crying out for purpose. The wall is looking a little beat up and the trim could use some touch-up paint, but those are easy fixes. Since the walls are painted with flat-finish paint, a Mr Clean Magic Eraser takes care of most of the scuff marks. Remove the gold hook, patch a few holes and add a bit of semi-gloss paint on the trim and door, and we're good to go. I had hung up the one rod soon after we moved in but I kept thinking that more rods would be more useful. A trip to Ikea took care of that and I picked up 2 more rods, a package of hooks, and a few baskets to hang off of them, all from the Bygel series.

Here's the smooth-functioning after:

I drew inspiration for the clipboards from a few sources, most notably my co-author Elin's similar clipboard system as featured in Quilting Arts Studios magazine a few years back, and for the hanging rods and bins on the back of the door from Adventures in Renovating a Brooklyn Limestone's make-over.

 

The clipboards as-is were a little too boring, so I jazzed them up with a bit of hand-printed paper from an art supply store. First, I made a template of the shape I'd need to cover the surface of the clipboard by using a piece of cardstock and measuring, drawing and cutting until it was a perfect fit.

Then I traced around the template on 2 different printed papers and cut 3 of each for a total of 6 pieces. I was thinking this would be fun with 6 different papers too, but didn't want to stop long enough to run to the art supply store again.

Next, I used gel medium (Claudine Hellmuth's Studio MultiMedium is one of my very favorites) to adhere the paper to the face of the clipboard. After applying a thin and even coat, I pressed the paper in place, flipped the clipboard over and weighted it down so the paper would dry flat, leaving the clip hanging over the edge of the work table.

I wanted to have a way to label each clipboard and hide the brand stamped into the metal at the same time.

First I tried printing out labels and affixing them to the clipboard with magnetic tape. That was okay, but didn't look finished enough and I think the labels could have been knocked off fairly easily.

Another trip to Staples office supply store (for another 2 clipboards - I only started with 4 for some reason), found me wandering the new Martha Stewart supply aisle. Yum. There I found adhesive metal bookplates, coincidentally sold in packs of 6. Obviously meant to be!

They fit perfectly over the logo and in the space on the front of the clip.

Here's a look at the oh-so-pretty after again:

There's something about Spring, finishing up some projects for deadlines, and having a few weeks at home between trips that brings out the organizing bug in me. What have you organized lately? How do you tame the "paper beast" in your studio?