Ikea Upgrade
I’ve had these shelves sitting in my dining room for months now and finally we set aside some time to tackle the project. While the shelves worked to hold stuff, they sure weren’t pretty and didn’t feel finished. So we got to work trimming them out to look like built ins.
Required:
- 3 trips to the hardware store
- too many screws to count
- baseboard trim
- crown molding
- 2X4s
- side-molding
- joint compound
- miter saw
- handheld drill with drill bits
- finishing nails
- hammer
- handles
- tape measure
- stud finder
- countersink
- a buddy who can help hold wood when you drill/hammer/cut
The first thing I started working on was building a base so all of my shelving would be relatively the same height. I built it out of simple 2X4s
The next step was drilling all of the shelves together. Since my screws were a bit too long, I made it work for me and drilled into the shelves themselves.
I added pretty knobs to dress it up a bit
And then used a stud finder to attach the shelves to the wall securely.
I also filled all the holes of the adjustable shelves with joint compound to look more permanent. 
Next I added crown molding to the top. And then started adding baseboard molding to the bottom. Jason was an expert nailer and countersinker. He was so helpful!
Then we added trim to the sides and added the base board molding to the sides walls. 
And here’s a picture if it almost done. I still need to paint the bottom of the base of the middle shelf and touch up the baseboards and walls. I’m saving it for another day! Overall, I’m really happy how it turned out. The room feels lived in and purposeful now, and I can’t wait to sit down for a family dinner tonight.
