Yesterday I gave a peek into some changes we have made to our living room… changes that we’ve been planning on for over a year! But this past month we finally got ‘er done with first it was our planked wall behind the TV and then the bookcases! Today I’m sharing with you a closer look at how we converted our bookcases into a built-ins.
To learn how to make a 2’ tall CABINET BASE go here.
It really completes this wall. I added the storage bench last week between them because we needed a way to hide speakers and other items that were previously in the dresser that used to sit below the TV. But we loved it without the bench too… and this is a great weekend project to really amp up the look for your space! Bookcase built-ins are so custom-looking and can be super spendy if you hire a carpenter to do it. Which makes it a perfect DIY project!
To give you a refresher, last year at this time, the bookcases were just 6 foot tall pre-fabricated bookcases. Then in January, we added cabinet bases that were the simplest build, and my first real build actually!
Leave it to good ol’ eHow to give me a deadline and budget to complete these finally! 🙂 The way I figured it out, you DON’T have to remove all the crown moulding on your ceilings, nor the baseboards.
Wanna learn how? I did a tutorial which is live on eHow HERE:
Pin this for later with this image:
i love these! i want to create built ins in my living room- we did some with industrial pipe on either side of the fireplace but i want something substantial behind our sofa! how about you come visit and do them?
This is absolutely stunning! I’m in love and totally want to copy you! Beautiful job!!!!
This is beautiful I love it. I did something similar about 3 years ago but just the built in bookcases and in the middle we have a door so we have been trying to decide whether to close it up. Maybe if I show my wife what it could be like I’ll get the go ahead to make a sitting area with the hope it comes out as nice as yours. Yours came out amazing.
Ok
Do you have a close up of the storage bench? Going to try and get my hubby on board for this project.
Any tips on where to find bookcases that will
Work for this project? The better homes and garden ones are sold out. Thanks!
Look at IKEA. They have a large selection.
Looking for a coffee table like yours. I’ve seen them advertised as opium tables. Would love to know the manufacture.
Where did you get your bookcases?? I can’t find any like this anywhere.
IKEA has lots of different designs.
Where are the book shelves from?
Hey can you share any tips on your pallet wall? Also where did you find your rug? Thank you!
I did a tutorial on the pallet wall here: https://www.shadesofblueinteriors.com/how-to-build-a-pallet-accent-wall/ and the rug is The Tuscan Terali Trellis Rug from RugsUSA 🙂
Do you have a supply list for the crown moldings needed to finish these built ins? I didn’t see it on the ehow article? Thank you! 🙂
It’s at the top of the article under “Things you will need”.
Did you build the storage bench also? I’m having trouble finding a tutorial. Also do those panels in the bench allow for a remote to work?
I did built the bench but I didn’t do a tutorial… it is just a long rectangle box– two long pieces of 1/2″ plywood (the length between the two bookshelves), then 4 smaller pieces of 1/2″ plywood (the depth of the bench) attached on either end (same height as the long front and back pieces) and evenly spaced in the middle as dividers. The two dividers in the middle are a little shorter, so that when I did another long piece of 1/2″ plywood as the lid, it would sit flush. Nothing fancy for that lid– I just have it sitting on top with some cut-outs on the edges for my hand to fit when I want to open it. It would be nicer if I put in some hinges but I’ve been lazy. 😉 The two dividers inside create 3 compartments and each compartment has a rectangle cut out on the face to fit the metal grate– that is where I put our speaker and subwoofer (and other home decor stuff I store)– however the speaker and subwoofer are connected behind the pallet wall to the TV so the remote control is pointed at the TV when we want to control the speaker. Also.. the metal grate is made for media centers so it technically would have no problem if the receiver was down in there as long is was right against the grate. I trimmed out those cut-outs that have the metal grate, to make it look nice and then painted the whole thing white.
My husband and I are finally buying our first house and I came across this pin and the whole look for my living room changed, oh and my husband says thank you, I just fell in love with this wall unit and because I have a great room floor plan I’m going to follow your design on through my dining room with a bench under the window and another book case so once I get it done I will post pics. But I truly wanted to say thank you for your creativity and for posting the finished product
Hi it looks great , just out if interest how wide is your room and how wide are the shelving units? Thankd
Got inspired and we created our own! It came out beautiful! We used Ikea bookshelves. So inexpensive! Thank you!
This looks awesome! Do you have a cable box hiding somewhere? I want to something similar in our living room, but i’m not sure where to hide all the electronics!
Hi!!! An old post, but I LOVE this. I’m also wondering where you hid all your electronics. 😊
Where did you find the base cabinets? Ikea?
What is the paint that you used on your walls? Looks grey in one place and beige in another.
Yes, depending on the light they looked different. Paint colors can be found here: https://www.shadesofblueinteriors.com/faq/