This particular project features a built-in with bookshelves and cabinets. The nation-wide cost to have built-in with bookshelves or a built-in with similar features installed averages around $2,508 or between $1,252 and $3,918 for a carpenter to do the job. If you buy the materials yourself, you can usually get a handyman in to install them for $30 to $130 per hour. If you’re anything like us, you usually take a look at those prices and either think “maybe another time” or “not in our budget right now”. We took one look at those prices and then at each other and said “let’s DIY this and see what happens. Our total price of this project supplies was $291. Here are the supplies (not included are standard tools; drill, saws, etc..) you need for this:
SUPPLIES:
1-1/4 in 18-gauge brad nails – $5.38
LIQUID NAILS Heavy Duty Multi-Purpose Construction Adhesive –10-Fl Oz) – $2.58
Fas-n-Tite #8 x 3-in Yellow Zinc Flat Interior Wood Screws – $6.98 (We bought the 1lb – 77 pieces for future projects)
Wood for the shelving and supports – $94.96 (We used 4 – 2”x10”x12’ southern yellow pine for the middle and top support ($44.48) and 4 – 1”x10”x6’ whitewood board for the thinner shelves ($50.48), but you can use whatever suites your needs)
One – 1-in x 24-in x 6-ft Smooth Natural Spruce Wall Panel $37.48
2-1/4-in x 8-ft Interior Pine Wood Casing trim for the left and right side – $14.68
3-5/8-in x 12-ft MDF Crown Molding for the top – $22.14
Satin Bronze spray paint for the hardware – $6.98
1 quart of Sherwin Williams All Surface Enamel Acrylic Latex Interior Black Magic Satin – $19.87
We began this project by determining what part of our home would be best suited for this built-in. When you walk into our home you come into the entry way, take a left and there is a big open space with high vaulted ceilings. When we first moved into our home this area looked and felt like a living room. At the time we were homeschooling 3 children and instead of becoming a living room it became the “collect all” room. Books, laptop computer, stacks of book, home school supplies, and even more books. This was it, the perfect spot to transform our living “collect all” room into an office and sitting room.
Once the location was set, we began to take measurements and chicken scratch them on engineering paper. We knew it needed to fit in the space between the left and right wall to be a true built-in. We did not have a full-length wall on the right side so we decided that it would need to go a little bit higher than the bottom portion of the right wall. So, we made the decision to make it a little less than 9 foot so that it would fit right above the bottom portion of the right wall.
Once we decided on the measurements, we took a pause on starting the built-in and painted the surrounding walls “West Highland White” from Sherwin Williams. Next, we began the hunt for reasonably priced furniture that we could buy and transform into something better. We scoured the internet and came to Craigslist where we found this old entertainment/desk with cabinets. It was sort of a stackable entertainment center/desk and not pictured are 3 more cabinets identical to the bottom and 2 long boards that laid across the those each of those cabinets.
The picture above is the base which was $40 and the rest of the cabinets and boards were also $40. Three of the cabinets had slide out shelves, one had a shelf and the other 2 had drawers with organizers below them. It was the perfect combination all for a total price of $80. Once the chicken scratch was finalized, we began by cutting the base cabinet in half. This process was fairly straight forward since the cabinet was already symmetric. There was a small green marble portion that was glued on top and it had to be taken off with a little bit of grunting and a crowbar, but once that was accomplished, we utilized the circular saw and cut it in two. Then we fit the length we needed. Next, we utilized the brad nails, wood screws, and liquid nails to fasten together the desk portion and brought it outside ready to paint (first prime, then paint).
We decided early on that it would be easier to use a spray gun for the cabinets and desk portions and use a fine cabinet roller for the shelving portions. We already had both the spray gun and cabinet rollers from previous projects (one is our kitchen which will be featured on a future blog). If you don’t have a spray gun, then we recommend a fine cabinet roller and fine paint brush. If you want to make sure the inside of the cabinet remains unpainted, then be sure to tape it all off before spraying. One downside to using a spraying gun is the residual paint that tends to get everywhere if not properly taped off. The best way to spray the cabinet doors is to take them off and use screw-in hooks and hang them on hangers to paint and dry (wood hangers work best because you can spin them and paint, but plastics ones are cheaper so we utilized those). We
already had the hooks and hangers from previous projects but if you purchase these it’s less then 6 dollars at Walmart. The next step was to begin fastening all the shelves together with the cabinets. Each piece was painted separately and brought inside and we used the liquid nails and wood screws to fasten them together. We slowly pieced them together one by one following our chicken scratch drawing from the beginning. As an added feature onto our built-in we added light fixtures from Beautiful Halo. These aren’t included in the overall price because they are unique to our design, but if you want to see the lights we purchased, then follow this link. Once all the portions were in place, we screwed it into the wall for additional support. Our floor is already level so this was only to ensure that it would stay in place.
Once we routed the electrical and fastened the remaining pieces together, we hooked up the lights up in series and used wood putty to smooth out some edges and clean it up a little. We added one final touch to the desk area and made this exquisite DIY pin board using a curtain, foam insulation board and decorative upholstery nails. This is a must have for anyone looking to add a sleek and stylish functionality for pinning notes and information.
The final step was to decorate, organize and put away those stacks of books and home school supplies. We thoroughly enjoyed this project and definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a way to organize and store at an affordable price.
