5 IKEA BILLYs will transform this “waste corner” of the bedroom

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ABOUT THIS BEFORE AND AFTER

HOUSE TYPE: House

PROJECT TYPE: Bedroom

STYLE: Colorful, Modern

SKILL LEVEL: DIY

RENTAL FRIENDLY: No

IKEA BILLY bookcases look great alone, but they also look great with a little trim and paint around them to look like custom built-ins. Christine Amorous Merrill@cestchristine) IKEA BILLY hack fully illustrates this point. “BILLY” looked good before, anyway, but after that it takes your breath away – especially for book lovers.

“I love to read and dreamed of having my own reading nook,” Merrill says. “We moved some bookcases and some plants, but it seemed like a waste of space.” That is, until they made the bookcases built-ins.

Paint and trim made the biggest difference.

“The biggest step was building the bookcases and making them ‘built-ins’ by adding wood paneling and painting them all to match the rest of our bedroom,” says Merrill, adding that one of the biggest hurdles was waiting for enough BILLIES. bookcases will be available.

“Once the shelves were installed, the space already felt fuller!” The project took five BILLYs, paint color Coastal twilight of Valspar.

“I continue to be impressed by how much a paint job can completely change a look,” Merrill says. “White bookcases next to painted walls in our bedroom didn’t have the same effect!”

Merrill recommends really taking the time to do a quality paint job. Painting a bookshelf is “an exercise in patience and precision,” she adds.

Furniture and accessories (and books, of course) completed the cozy corner.

“The last step was to find a nice, comfortable spot for afternoon reading,” Merrill says. “I know the style of the shelves will change and evolve over the coming years as I love displaying items we’ve picked up on our travels here, so it’s a fun ongoing project for me to rearrange things.”

Her main priority after reconstruction was to find comfortable chair it would fit her, two pugs and a toddler. Merrill also added pendant lampvintage globe, baskets, side tableand used carpet.

“What I’m most excited about is that it’s not just a place where I can enjoy reading on my own, but it’s also become a space filled with books that also encourage my daughter’s love of reading,” she says. “We filled lower baskets with books for her (mostly my children’s books that my mom saved) and she loves to come here and flip through the books on her own in the chair or ask us both to snuggle together so I can read to her.”

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