DIY Built-in Bookcases

4 Materials

This is our biggest project to date. My husband bought all the tools we would need to build our built-in bookcases. He learned each tool as we needed to use them. You can read all about each tool at LindaHomeisWhereMyHeartis.com.

We bought kitchen cabinets from Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

Two coats of primer and trim paint.

Butcherblock countertop from IKEA. I stained it a dark walnut, Then three coats of polyurethane.

We built each bookcase section separately. We cut dado cuts for the shelves.

Three of the sections out of a total of six sections (three on each side of the desk in the center).

I painted all the bookcases.


I knew I wanted lights in the bookcases. We had someone run a wire through each box to the electrical box.

We added the fascia (top piece) to cover the exposed wire.

We added trim to give it a clean finished look.

We added the sconces. As I said, we had prewired before the bookcases were put up and attached to the wall.

The finished bookcase.

All dressed up

All Falled Up!

Before and After

Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Linda @ Home is Where My Heart is
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 10 questions
  • Candi Cornell May Candi Cornell May on Dec 01, 2019

    How did you join your butcher block? I have a very long kitchen counter and wanted to use IKEA's too, but didn't know how it would look butted up against each other.

  • Elizabeth Luise Raynard Elizabeth Luise Raynard on Jan 03, 2021

    How tall is the top of the desk/counter from the floor?

  • A A on Sep 12, 2023

    I wonder if you’ll regret not making room for one or more work areas in the future. Kids doing homework, a partner joining you?

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 42 comments
Next