Budget interiors: the Ikea Billy Bookcase hack
I’ve always loved tinkering in my home. There’s always been a joke within my friendship group that I leave a rental better than I found it. I’ve been lucky to have landlords that have let me experiment. But I’m currently in a house owned by my friend and she gave me free reign which has been joyous.
So when I put something out on my Instagram stories asking if some budget rental interior posts would be of use a load of you came back to me immediately with a resounding YES. Luckily I documented the entire renovation from ripping up the carpets to sanding the floorboards, to all the fixings, painting and sourcing furniture.
With interiors I take a similar approach to my clothing - I tend to try and go second hand where I can and then support Indies - I’ll always scour some local brands before going high street but I’m not at all attesting to being perfect here as budget sometimes means shopping at H&M Home.
So, an admission of sorts out the way let’s get this first interiors post on the road!
What you’ll need
(I bought all from B&Q bar the handles)
handles (optional)
Why the Billy?
Those who follow me on Instagram know that my trip to Dartmoor last year was largely because my house was being damp-proofed. When I got home I learned that I had lost a lot of storage as the bespoke shelves in the alcove had to come down and fixing them back up would void the guarantee as drilling holes could pierce the damp membrane. See below for how the corner looked before - it was fine but it didn't provide much storage without it looking super cluttered.
After a lengthy internet search by me and my landlady, it turned out the IKEA Billy Bookcase was going to fit the space perfectly. So of course, I hit Pinterest to see if there were ways I could tart it up a bit. My landlady found one for sale on Ebay for £20 locally (also check Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree - when I write this post there were loads in my local area) and I was over the moon it was the one with the glass doors as this is what I was hoping for for this makeover.
It was delivered by two thoroughly helpful chaps who had a huge amount of fun get. ting the complete unit down my very tight stairwell (my living room is in the basement)
Prepping
I wanted my Billy to really blend into the room and to do this I wanted to match the emulsion on the wall which is Valspar Cadet Song. I LOVE this colour, I also used it in the van I love it so much, it’s the perfect grade of dark and blue and looks really smart against white.
Usually I wood be using wood paint on this kind of project but because I wanted it to match the wall there was no lazy prep here - it had to be done properly.
I prepared the unit first of all by washing it down, letting it dry and then loosely sanding with a medium grit sandpaper. After wiping away all the dust I then taped round the edges of both sides of the glass with masking tape and removed the handles. I then primed it with two coats of Valspar primer applied by a medium brush in the corners and then a mini roller on the flat surfaces.
Applying the emulsion
Letting this dry overnight I then got bedded in with a couple of podcasts and got cracking with the emulsion. I used the same brush and rolled (washed out) from the primer and also a small round paint brush for swiping paint along near the glass and around hinges etc. I really love that round brush, it was brilliant for doing the work in the van too - definitely an investment to the kit! I’ve learned over the years that it doesn’t serve to just get comfy with masking tape around edges and whacking a lot of paint over it because remove the tape too soon and paint will go everywhere and leave the paint to dry and the paint will crack as you remove the tape and you end up with ragged edges. So precision around edges is worth it.
I left the first coat to dry for 5 hours making sure the doors were open and then came back to do the second coat. Valspar paint is great, it is so worth going for the v700 rather than the v500 as it makes a difference on how many coats you need and how smoothly the paint goes on. After my second coat I went back the next day when it was light again to check for any fill ins and patches and then I removed the masking tape.
Finishing touches
These cute little handles from Zara were just what I was after to finish the unit up. The first one disintegrated in my hand when I tried to tighten up the bolt but Zara replaced for me and I was a bit more light handed with the fitting of the second set!
When I edged the unit in (the fit was literally to the mm!) I found the unit was falling forwards towards me and not being able to attach any fittings to the wall I had to get creative. In the end I used some doorstop shaped bits of wood to wedge the unit into place fro the top. They’re out of sight and just keep the unit secure. Now books are in the unit is double secure.
I had a couple of little IKEA clip LED lights (no longer on sale but similar are these) hanging around so I screwed them onto the top of the unit, ran the wires down the side and plugged into a switched extension lead as it would be a pain to have to get a step ladder to get up and reach the inline switches every time!
I love how the bottom half is blocked out so you can’t see all my crap stored in there. And then the top half is where the nice looking books and bits live.
Final cost
Billy bookcase: £20
Brushes and tools: £16 (approx)
Valspar primer: £15
Valspar paint: £15
Handles: £7.99
Total: £73.99
I’m super happy with my bookcase and looking to do something on the other side now but that side is my only spot for the record player so still chewing over a matching solution in my head and keeping an eye out for smaller Billy units on Marketplace.
Do tag me in if you go for this renovation, I love to see your projects!
