Billy Bookcase Hack: Arched Bookshelves

This project was inspired by Jenny Komenda. I saw her project for her arched bookshelves and loved them! I thought it would be a great focal point for my living room.

Here is what her's looks like:

I really wanted to do an entire wall of these because I think they look so great! however, because of the design challenges in my room I couldn't make it happen :-( So I decided to try two in a row.

Next I assembled the bookcases and height extenders except for the back panel so I could paint it easier. This was surprisigly easy for ikea furniture. 

Next, instead of painting the slick side of the backing that would normally be why faces outward on yhe shelf, i painted tw back instead. I first primed it with kiltz roll on primer and then I rolled on my dark grey color.

Jenny Komenda used pieces of 1/4 in thick MDF, however, they didn't have it at my lowes....bummer....so after explaining what I was trying to do via charades and diagrams to the men assisting me, they suggested 1/4in thick plywood. So I had 4 pieces of 14" x 32" rectangles made. 

(Only needed 2 ---1 for each bookcase, but I tend to need a mess up stock because I HATE going back to the store!)

On the same trip I also got two 1" pieces of 1/4" thick flat trim moulding. And one 2" piece of 1/4" thick flat trim moulding.

Think of this project as placing a picture frame on a bookcase.

Next came the hard part....drawing the arch to cut for the arch. Jenny komenda did it free handed. I am not as talented nor do I have a steady hand or patience!

I tried it freehand but it was horrible, so my best advice is to find a large round object in your house that you can trace ;)  

You want your arch to be about two inches from the top of the rectangle. Also, each edge needs to be 1" wide. I Can't stress how important the measuring part is....you will soon see my mistake....what's that saying? Measure twice cut once?....

To make the cuts I invested in a jig saw...I thought I was so cool buying my own saw! This is the model I got: 

It was surprisingly easy to use. You just have to go slow so that you don't get off track.

Ok see that orange thing in the corner of the picture? Those are my gloves. I forgot my safety gear!! Oops! And my dad was real upset when he saw my hair was down ....so if you try this wear your safety gear and put your hair up!

After I cut the arches. My friend Haylie and I sanded them so that their edges were smooth

Now it's time to put the arches and trim on the bookcases 

I attached them with small nails Long the edges. Make sure you hammer the nail heads in well so you can fill them with caulk for a more seamless look.

The same goes for each of the trim pieces. 

Then here is where my headche/problem came up: 

Ugh my measurements/cutting was a wee bit off...sh&*!!!!

To fix the issue with my measurement mistake I used calk to shape the arch and fill in the nail holes and seams 

Cheesin.....

Then I hand sanded the caulking seams and then painted the arches and trim white to match the bookshelf

And lastly was the styling!! Many of the books I got at thrift/antique stores. The styling is compliments of my good friend Haylie!

There she is! 

JN

Painting Ikea Furniture

I've heard painting laminate furniture can be AWFUL. I did my research and read about which primer to buy etc. It was awful--- I have to agree with what I have read. However, I finally finished it!

There she is!

Below is a before and after picture 

I read online to start with kilz spray primer.

I used two cans for the priming.

Next I bought this rustoleum spray paint from Home Depot:

I must have used between 4-6 cans of this stuff and I was so frustrated because it was looking really streaky 

      ^ see all the streaks?! Looked awful!!!

I tried applying more coats but it wasn't working. So I went back to homedepot and decided to buy roll on paint. I did my best to match the color from memory. 

I had much better luck with the roll on paint. If you are going to paint laminent furniture I would recommend roll on paint with a sponge roller.

Now for the doors....I wish I had taken a picture of the steps but if you remember from the before picture they were plain frosted glass doors 

Well I didn't really like the look of them and I wanted to dress the piece up a bit so I decided to cut trim with a hand saw and mider box for the 45 degree angles and place it on them like a square. I just used liquid nails adhesive to glue the trim to the door.

This is the same concept from Our Old Abode blog http://ouroldabode.blogspot.com/2012/03/hollow-core-door-makeover.html?m=1

So after all the parts were painted with the roll on paint it looked much better....now time to dress it up with hardware! 

I really like how the brass hardware looked with the green so I decided to use these brass corners on the sides for a "trunk" look:

I think they were around $3 for a pack of 4 corners

My roommate and I put them on the TV stand:

I thought it still looked like it was missing something so back to Home Depot I went.....again.....

Found these brass handles that were also really reasonably priced: 

I think they were less than $5 for a pack of 2. We put it on the center of each side. I think it really added to the "trunk" look!

And lastly, I found a brass clasp to replace the previous handles:

And here she is: