Monday, August 29, 2011

Bookshelf Upgrade.

A while back, after my dad and I installed the two Ikea bookshelves in my living room, I decided I wanted to add trim to them, after seeing this post from Little Green Notebook. I painted them a long time ago, but I still felt they needed a little upgrade, so last week, on a whim, I decided to add trim to the tops, bottoms, and sides.

I'd never added trim to anything before, so I used a online tutorial and my brain to figure it out. Admittedly, it's not the best sawing job, but a little bit of wood filler and paint helps to disguise that. All in all, I'm really happy with the way it turned out - my bookshelves look much more like real "built-ins", and less like cheap-o Ikea furniture.

I bought 3 types of trim at Lowe's - I had no idea what type to buy, but you can kind of figure out which is meant for the base, and the top, and the sides. I bought 2 pieces of trim for the top parts, one for the bottom (since my table skirt kind of covers up part of the bottoms), and two for the side trim that I did. I just used a little hand saw to saw the pieces.

here it is before:
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And, after I added trim, but before I painted it (I also put the top shelves back in):

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and, after:
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14 comments:

  1. Great job!! How long did it take you?

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  2. I actually like it with the white trim! Painted looks great too though!

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  3. Thanks, guys!

    Niki - it took me about 3 hours, maybe? for everything? Maybe a little less - I ended up having to go buy a different saw than I planned on using, so that factored into the time a little, too. If it wasn't my first time doing a project like this, it probably would've taken less time.

    Brittany - thanks! Yeah, I thought about painting the side trim a different color, but my sketchy sawing job made me want to blend it in a little :) however, I might paint it in the future! I was thinking something crazy, like pink :)

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  4. Kristen, you are so talented and a total inspiration! I just love reading your blog!!

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  5. i absolutely LOVE it!! I've been wanting to add trim to my office cabinets and you just reminded me why! gorgeous :) I wonder how it would look if you painted the inside of the trim another color? Something cool or possibly something bold and neon?

    p.s. having a giveaway on my blog, check it out!

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  6. Very nice! The crown moldings and trim make the book cases look so much more substatial! It looks great, Kristen!

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  7. It definitely add a more finished element! Love the color also.

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  8. Love the choice of paint color Kristen! What color did you use?

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  9. thank you guys! The paint color was just a hand-mixed color that i did, with a bunch of paint i had laying around :)

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  10. I LOVE your work! This post is extra wonderful cuz I, too, have boring Ikea shelves that need some help. I need a "built-in" look and I think you just solved my problem! Thanks!!

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  12. I also loved the trim white!

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