My essential objective in life has at all times been to have a customized built-in bookcase in my lounge. You realize those – they’re throughout Pinterest and Instagram. They immediately make an area look tremendous elevated and comfortable. Bookcases and built-ins are among the many most high-impact design components, and so they can take a boring clean white field and immediately rework it into a comfy dwelling. My dream, nevertheless, felt so far-off as a result of my god, they’re EXPENSIVE, time-consuming, and invasive. It’s why so many individuals do IKEA bookcase hacks to attempt to obtain that luxe built-in look (which these hacks, FYI, additionally sometimes price $3k or extra relying on the dimensions). The opposite subject, past the price, is the truth that I reside in a rental – so I can acknowledge that it might be unwise of me to rent a contractor and set up an entire shelving/storage system that I can’t take with me to my subsequent place. However as soon as I get an concept in my head, I make it occur a method or one other, so I began performing some analysis on how I might get the same search for a lot, a lot much less. However first, let me present you the place I needed to place stated bookcase:

That is what my lounge regarded like after I moved in a yr in the past. My boyfriend, Austin, and I gave your complete house a contemporary coat of white paint for the reason that partitions had been initially a bizarre mild brown shade (and we did all of it on a weekend the place it was like 90 levels and I didn’t notice the AC unit in right here was damaged – so bless this man). Additionally, shoutout to Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams – it’s such white paint shade. The house I moved into is a month-to-month, rent-controlled place in my excellent location in Los Feliz, and it’s been in my buddy group for some time, so I do know offers on residences like these don’t at all times come straightforward. Whereas the place was such discover and checked so many packing containers, the situation of my new house definitely wasn’t what my final new-build, studio house was, and it desperately wanted a clear, clean slate. Right here’s what it regarded like a yr in the past after we painted it:

That smaller, skinnier room within the picture on the correct is the eating space – I needed to provide you a way of your complete house so you may perceive that my valuable dream bookcase had restricted wall choices during which to reside. The wall that wanted essentially the most love and will finest deal with the assertion of the bookcase was clearly this house between the 2 doorways (the door on the left is the entrance entrance to the house, and the door on the correct is now my closet speakeasy – which we simply took skilled pictures of and have a full weblog publish reveal coming quickly!!) This wall can be positively the correct spot for the TV in the lounge, so I wanted to discover a bookcase that had room within the center for stated TV. There are A TON of ready-made media unit/television console bookcase choices on-line, so I felt prefer it needs to be a reasonably straightforward factor to seek out till I noticed…they’re additionally SUPER costly! I wasn’t shocked by the price of the Crate and Barrel, West Elm, or Article – the standard from these manufacturers is nice, and it’s a giant house to fill, so I get it! It is sensible that these items vary between $3k and $7k. I’ll present you – listed here are a number of the items I discovered (and actually love and truly thought of buying) that will be nice options if you wish to spend money on high quality however don’t need to pay for a full built-in bookcase/you may’t do a built-in bookcase since you reside in a rental…

Left: Crate and Barrel Rattan Media Unit | Proper: Article Torme Media Heart

See? They’re so fairly and are actually not unhealthy choices when you think about the standard and the way high-impact they’re. BUT my essential subject (once more) was that I gained’t be on this house ceaselessly, so I didn’t need to make investments that a lot on this bookcase – particularly since I wasn’t optimistic that I might take these items with me to my subsequent place. The opposite small subject that bothered me with these readymade choices was that they often weren’t enclosed on the highest. It’s a refined factor, however I actually needed this to look extra like a built-in, and the openness above the TV space simply feels a bit unfinished to me. So I went again to the drafting board and began in search of choices at extra inexpensive furnishings manufacturers. And also you guys…it’s loopy on the market. I realized that even the IKEA media items are about $1,500 or extra – WILD!!! I REALLY didn’t need to spend over $1,000 for this (and even that felt like an excessive amount of). I needed to spend extra like $500 or $600 max as a result of once more, I knew this bookcase was more than likely not coming with me to my subsequent place, and I’d most likely simply depart it at my house for whoever is coming in subsequent. So I wanted to discover a stability of A.) not establishing a bookcase that’s precise rubbish, B.) ensuring it regarded cute and classy as a result of I do design content material creation for a residing in spite of everything, and C.) not spending a loopy quantity.

However after A TON of looking out, I ended up discovering THE PERFECT bookcase on clearance for $360, which was insane (it’s out of inventory as a result of it was on clearance). Don’t fear, I’m sharing tremendous comparable choices on the backside of the publish, must you need to try one thing like this! It checked nearly each field – enclosed storage on the underside, and all the backside cupboards had been uniform (which I feel appears most like an actual built-in bookcase). The scale was excellent in order that I might match my 65-inch body TV within the center, and the bookcase itself would take up a lot of the wall house between these doorways. The issues? For $360, you finest consider there have been a number of. It was gray, first off, and it had glass doorways so I couldn’t disguise the messy TV field and such inside the cupboard, and it was nonetheless open on the highest. For $360 bucks although (nonetheless a loopy deal to me), there was nothing I couldn’t repair – so I added to cart SO FAST and began my DIY journey to make it look customized.

As soon as the bookcase arrived, it was truly fairly straightforward to arrange – my TaskRabbit/boyfriend helped, and he’s nice at constructing furnishings, so it solely took about 3 hours from begin to end, which was shocking to me. For $360, I used to be impressed with the standard – however that stated, it’s nonetheless largely MDF, and something you purchase for this type of worth just isn’t going to be the identical stage of high quality because the items I linked above. I’m prioritizing finances, model, ease, and the influence this piece could have within the room. However despite the fact that that is the place I made a decision to “save” as a substitute of “splurge” on this lounge, it actually did make the largest influence within the house. The second it was up (even with the gray wooden and openness above the TV), it already felt a lot cozier. See for your self:

As soon as I put the doorways on, I began mocking up how I might enclose the highest – after which I acquired formidable and thought…wait, might we construct cabinets on prime of this and take all of it the way in which to the ceiling?! I extremely thought of it, however then determined possibly it’s not sensible to have that a lot weight on a budget-friendly bookcase after I reside in an earthquake-prone state… So I considered how I might reinforce it a bit as a substitute. I had some trim left over from one other mission and thought, “omg that’s precisely what it wants!!” So we screwed in an 11 in broad x 8ft lengthy piece of primed wooden on prime of the bookcase (which conveniently was the precise width of the highest and we didn’t want to chop it down in any respect). It regarded like this:

As you may see, earlier than I put in the trim, I began portray the bookcase the identical white as my partitions to provide it extra of that “built-in” impact. I’d extremely suggest sanding after which utilizing a shellac primer. I ended up simply sanding after which portray as a result of I watched this video, which confirmed scratch assessments, and it appeared like simply sanding was one of the best path to go, BUT after ending this mission, I want I had sanded AND used the primer as a result of I feel it might have been much more sturdy. After my paint dried, I’d say it’s onerous to scratch the paint off, however in the event you REALLY attempt to scratch the paint, it can come off. All this to say – in the event you’re trying this – study from me and simply sand and prime to be secure. Since I didn’t get the primer, I ended up getting a “extra sturdy” paint particularly for trim – however in the event you sanded and primed correctly, you may doubtless simply get a standard paint in a semigloss end and it needs to be positive!

Then that is the place issues get loopy. I enlisted my dad and mom to carry their round noticed as much as assist me miter the trim items (no, I’ve by no means performed that earlier than, however how onerous might it’s? Boys do it…) We adopted this YouTube video and couldn’t cease quoting the half the place they are saying, “Now that’s a good match, Tommy,” your complete day. And this was just about a full-day expertise – lining up the moulding was a lot more durable than we anticipated. In case you are trying this mission, I’d truthfully give the froth/light-weight mouldings a strive (is likely to be simpler?). This was positively essentially the most tough half, however severely, as soon as I get an concept in my head, it’s occurring it doesn’t matter what. We additionally screwed in a number of smaller items of wooden to the bigger, primed wooden piece we screwed in on prime (which you’ll see made the burden of the wooden droop down within the center a bit for a second, however as soon as we completed placing on the smaller wooden items and the moulding, every part straightened out, so it doesn’t droop anymore. So – I’d additionally simply ensure that the highest wooden piece is basically strong in the event you try this – positively don’t get one thing too flimsy. The picture may scare you for a second, however I promise it’s completely straight and appears nice on the finish (this was a complete trust-the-process second).

I additionally would extremely advise utilizing a nail gun to nail the trim in in the event you’re utilizing wooden crown moulding like this – my dad introduced one which was 15 years previous (bless his coronary heart) and it died on us mid mission so we completed hanging the moulding with a number of smaller wooden screws and nails (which I’d not recommendation for a seamless look however it labored once we had been in our time of want – and ravenous and really a lot over it). I caulked and painted over the nails/nail holes so you may truthfully barely see them, however once more – DEFINITELY use a nail gun in the event you’re going to try this with wooden trim! If you happen to don’t need to use a nail gun, the froth/light-weight moulding and a few heavy-duty adhesive are going to be your finest associates!

As soon as the trim was up (which was a miracle since my mother, dad, and I are NOT woodworkers per se) – that is what it regarded like!! I’ll be trustworthy we struggled to get the “tight match tommy” aka the items to completely line up over on the left aspect as you may see (however by some means we did the nook cuts completely and in order that was good) however as soon as I sanded it down and caulked it – the becoming a member of items weren’t tremendous noticeable (once more, would most likely have been simpler with lighter trim). I used to be happy with my dad and mom and I, so we celebrated our accomplishment with some margaritas, and general it turned out SO nice!! Such an improve from the way it began. Now it was time to complete caulking the gaps, plus portray the trim and the underside of the bookcase. Oh, and did you see these glass cupboard doorways that disguise nothing?? Yeah, don’t fear – I mounted these!! Test it out:

I discovered these perforated brass steel sheets for $20 every on Amazon, and so they had been the right measurement, so I ordered them and secured them to the again of the door behind the glass. I truly actually favored the {hardware} that the bookcase got here with, however bear in mind, you may at all times swap that out in the event you discovered a bookcase with {hardware} you didn’t love as a lot! However anyway – able to see the earlier than/after?! Right here you go!!

So right here’s the total price breakdown:

Bookcase: $360 ($400 after tax)
Paint: $70 (I purchased the flamboyant, costly trim-specific paint since I didn’t prime, however this might’ve been extra like $45)
Steel Sheets: $20 every (I acquired 8)
Trim: $42 every (We used 3 of them! I already had these)
Shellac Primer: $30 for 1 qt (May want extra relying on how huge your bookcase is – once more, I didn’t do the primer, however want I did along with sanding!)
Orbital Sander: $30+ (I already had this one!)
Nail Gun: $40+ (May lease or borrow! Or use till it dies after which surrender and use some wooden screws lol)

Whole I spent: $630 (I already had the trim, however it might be extra like $755 in the event you included that price)

MAN, I’m so pleased I used to be in a position to obtain my bookcase goals for that worth! I assumed it wouldn’t be attainable, however you are able to do something in the event you simply consider. It turned out so cozy and customized – you’ll by no means know this bookcase began as a $360 ready-to-assemble piece. However curious to know your ideas – do you suppose it was price it?! Would you try one thing like this? Let’s chat within the feedback.

Additionally sharing some ready-made bookcase choices if you wish to DIY and customise them by yourself. Be aware, a few of them may not must be painted/they don’t have the glass doorways (these steel sheets added up!), so additionally issue the weather you might or might not want into the price of DIYing these! Most of those run round $400-$500. You can additionally take the doorways off if you would like open shelving on prime, and don’t neglect you may at all times swap out or add {hardware}. Simply thought I’d share some concepts, however get artistic and have enjoyable with it! xx

Left: White Oak Coloured Bookcase | Proper: White Bookcase With Glass Doorways

Left: Industrial Black Bookcase | Proper: White Bookcase With Enclosed Doorways

And lastly, right here’s a sneak peek of the beautiful pictures EHD alum and wonderful LA-based photographer, Sara Ligorria-Tramp, took of my full lounge makeover with AllModern – which I’m going to be sharing with you subsequent week! Keep tuned, associates!