{Turning IKEA into Custom Built-Ins!} PART I

We’ve hacked IKEA, and we are loving the results…so far.  This is part 1 of how we did it!

For this project, we used the Hemnes furniture line from IKEA, again.  This time we used two Hemnes glass door cabinets with four drawers.  Simple and plain…just my style.

We love working with this line of furniture because it is solid wood.  It’s not particle board foiled over with plastic and paints beautifully!  (We don’t prime this stuff, just usually give it one coat of our trim paint; Sherwin Williams Extra White in satin).

First things first.  In order for this to be a “built-in” we needed to remove some wall baseboards. 

We used a Dremel multi-max to cut the baseboard straight down.  Then we just pried it off in one section.  Cutting with a blade usually makes this a lot easier.

We replaced the backing (cheap fiber board) with painted bead board.  We had the hardware store cut the bead board to the size we needed and then we painted it Ancient Marble by Sherwin Williams.  It’s a very soft gray green.

Then we placed the two cabinets side by side on the wall where we wanted it.  Justin used carriage bolts to bolt and attach the two cabinets together.

Once they were attached, it was time to make them beautiful!

We added crown moulding to the top.  Lowes has an awesome produce called Flip Face Crown Moulding…you make your compound miter cut and just flip the boards to have perfect corners.  It was perfect for this application and take a look at those corners…perfection!

Then we picked out our bottom trip.  We chose a window moulding from Lowes that came pre-primed.  It wasn’t wide enough to cover up the entire bottom of the cabinet, but we had a solution for that (read on).

First, we coped the trim.  We traced our wall baseboard’s design onto the cabinet molding.  Then just used his Dremel and cut the shape out.  It was like making a puzzle piece.

In the next picture you can see how nicely the coped edge fits against the wall base, but that the cabinet moulding isn’t tall enough to cover the open bottom.  We have a solution for that!

To cover the gap between the wall in the cabinet and the gap above the cabinet trim, we simply added lattice.

Miter your cuts and you will have a great looking base for your cabinet.

This is where we are at this point with our built in!  We have some painting to do, some finishing touches with hardware, and a few drawer upgrades!  So stay tuned, and I will keep you updated!  I’m off to have a great weekend!

Before I go, I have one question…is it “molding” or “moulding”? 

Be Well,