Built-in Billy Bookshelf for under $250

What do you need?

• 3 billy bookshelves 
• Crown molding
• Lattice
• Quarter round
• Base molding
• Calk
• Paint
• Screw drivers
• Drill
• Finishing nails 
• Optionl: chalk pro reel set, shims

Step 1: Clear out the closet if needed and remove doors. We had to remove the poorly installed wood shelves. (It was fun to rip them down!)

Step 2: Put those Billy Bookshelves together. I put all 3 together by myself in under 90 minutes. You will need both a Phillips and flat head screwdriver for assembly. 

Step 3: Wedge the shelves in your closet space. A friend is helpful for this maneuver. We were incredibly lucky with measurements. We had about three inches to spare with the bookshelves in the closet. We also had to account for a dip in the floor. We used shims (scrap wood) to keep the shelves level.  

Step 4: We used a chalk line pro-reel to make sure each shelf was lined up on the floor, otherwise the molding would have been a pain! And we nailed the base of the shelves directly into the floor. They are not moving!  

Step 5: We used a chisel to make the bottom part of the two ends of the shelves even with the rest of the bottom of the shelf so the base molding could sit in there. 

Step 6: Install the lattice where the two book shelves meet to make it look like one piece. 

Step 7: Install crown molding above the book shelf. Nail to top of closet or molding around the closet. 

Step 8: We installed quarter round on each side to cover an unsightly blemish in the original wood work. 

Step 9: Fill in the nail holes with putty or calk and let dry. Then paint. 

Step 10: Decorate your new built-in! 

Home Depot Deal of the Day

After reading my post about assembling a wire shelving unit by myself I am sure you want to buy one of your own. Well you can: for $28!!

Check it out 

Assemble a Metal Shelving Unit Solo

Happy Birthday & 2 years of marriage to me! Today I turn 26 and celebrate two blissful years of marriage to my handsome James. It's a great day! 

James was out of the house by 5:45 AM so of course I jump out of bed and start a project! 

James' office/studio has been serving as a make-shift supply closet since last weekend. It had random flooring odds and ends, the new tiles for the bathroom, and some left over molding. I had no idea how heavy tiling was until this morning! Who thought that selling it by the box was a good idea?  I'm seriously already suffering from sore abs. 

Anyway, we have this awesome black metal shelving unit that we got at target for $99 five years ago. When we lived in Nashville it was the perfect garage shelf. In NYC it is perfect for organizing James' guitars and microphones.

One might think that assembling is bad boy is a two person gig. Not for this girl! Here is the step by step. 

You need all the pieces: five shelves, four poles, and then 36 sets of plastic rings to hold the shelves in place. 

All five shelves in a pile 

Step 1) Place all the shelves on top of each other lining them up perfectly. Make sure that the shelves have the correct side facing up. Sometimes it doesn't matter. Our shelves have a ledge and we wanted the ledge facing down, so we could slide things off the shelf easily. 

Step 2) Place the poles into the slots at each corner. If you have the shelves lined up perfectly the pole should hit the floor (loudly- sorry downstairs neighbor!) with no problem.  

Step 3) Attach the rings  (ours were two pieces that snap together)  loosely around each pole  where you want the shelf to be. You will be unsnapping them with one hand in the next step.

Step 4) Shimmy the first shelf up the poles and hold in place with one hand while you unsnap the ring and then re-snap the ring below the shelf with the other hand. You need to slide the shelf over the rings to get it to stay in place. 

Maybe you could skip this step and just have the rings out on a table- but then you wouldn't be able to hold the shelf in place and I would get frustrated and wait until James was home to help me. 

Step 5) Repeat with the other shelves. 

I put the entire shelf together in about 25 minutes. Would have been fewer if I wasn't also trying to snap a photo of me holding the shelf AND attaching the rings!