How To Paint Ikea Billy Bookcase – Ever since I saw our current house, I knew I wanted to hack the Ikea Billi bookcase for our living room. We had two bookshelves in our hallway in Seavais that were full of books, so I knew they had to go in the living room here. We also had a few showcases in our seaside lounge, which I really liked, so when we said yes to this property, I came up with a plan.

The plan is to buy three new Ikea Billi bookcases to line one wall in the living room. I’ll have a place to put all my books, and if I have an extra bookshelf than before, I’ll have extra shelves to hold some home decor items.

How To Paint Ikea Billy Bookcase

You can see what the first 8 months of life looked like here, but a few weeks ago I decided to list all the changes I wanted to make in this room and do as many of them as possible before Christmas. You can visit my living room plans post to see all the changes I wanted to make and what we were able to do. This Ikea Billi bookcase hack was the change I wanted to make the most because I knew it would make a huge difference in the room.

Tricks To Painting Ikea Furniture (+ What Not To Do)

So job number one is emptying the shelves of all the books etc. and let me tell you, it’s no fun living with them piled up in the living room for a week! Then we took out the adjustable shelves and separated them and the book frame. After you do this, you don’t need my advice! I’ll explain why later, but I’ll say for sure that the best way to do this is to choose your shelves and alcove and paint the entire bookcase.

This is the primer we used from Wilco. It’s their own brand and I know it works well because I use it when we painted the melamine cabinet. My advice when painting furniture is to use a good primer and read the instructions. Waiting for drying and curing time can be frustrating and make the project more time-consuming, but it’s worth it to get the best result.

Once everything is set up correctly, it’s time to move on to painting. We went with plain grout because I wanted a specific color and it wouldn’t be high traffic areas. Once the items are in place, I rarely take them out or turn them off. Since this is a matte finish, I can only wipe with a dry cloth/duster in the future, so you should consider this before choosing a color. For example, if you want to paint a coffee table, you need to use a suitable furniture paint or if you are going to use an emulsion, you need to seal it. I occasionally paint my boards.

So we used Wilco’s Jaded Teal paint that I’ve used before (many times) for the shelves and sides. It took 4 coats to get a nice solid color, so it took time (and a lot of patience) to do it. Speaking of patience, I made you wait a long time to see them (until you scroll right to the pictures 😀 ) so here they are.

What To Know Before You Paint Ikea’s Billy And Sektion Systems

What do you think? I love them and see them every time. This color is very difficult to capture because it always takes on a very blue hue, but in reality it is a greenish green. This picture is the closest to the actual color, but it’s a little more green!

Those of you who frequent my blog may have noticed the apparent lack of progress as this project has put a lot of pressure on me and taken the last thoughts away from painting! I spent the whole process trying to finish it, but the finished project made up for any problems we encountered!

So, once all the shelves and legs were primed and painted, we covered the backs with gold Wilco wallpaper. I originally wanted to use the leftover wallpaper from Seavais Lounge, but it wasn’t good enough and I can’t find it in stock anywhere anymore. To be honest, I think it ended up working a lot better because it’s lighter and I love how the design catches the light.

To apply the wallpaper, we actually measure the ridges, cut the paper to size, and apply it using standard wallpaper paste.

Seriously Genius Ikea Billy Bookcase Hacks

The main problem we ran into doing this project was that after four coats of paint on each side and the shelf, when it came to putting the shelves back into the frame the fit was so tight, it scratched the bloody paint off! If you ever try this, I recommend you thoroughly prime and paint the entire bookcase and shelves. I can’t tell you how disappointing it was when this paint was so close to being finished that it needed to be touched up.

But we fixed it and I was so happy to finally cover that color 😀. Have you ever tried to hack Billy Bookshelf? They are great furniture at a good price and you can make it yourself. Kimberly of Swoon Worthy and Melanie of Melanie Lizak Interiors have also completed their Ikea Billi Bookcase hack, and there are several versions on pinterest.

Hi, my name is Liane. If you love interiors, DIY and good food, you’ve come to the right place. Here at Makes, Bakes and Decor we all live creative lives on a budget and I’m so glad you’re joining us on our journey! Paint is the most popular tool people use to hack their IKEA furniture, but that doesn’t mean painting it is easy. The process requires little more than a drop of fabric and a brush. To give the job a truly professional look, designer Rebecca Plumb used the famous Billy bookshelves and sectional cabinets painted in Oakmoss by Sherwin-Williams. “I wanted it to be this little jewel box,” says Plumb.

What makes painting IKEA items difficult is the furniture’s seemingly impenetrable laminate finish. The key, Plumb discovered, is repeated sanding, painting and drying (in her case, exactly four times). “Then it took another week to heal completely,” she explains. So plan your time accordingly and read her tips to get a flawless look.

Billy Bookcase Ikea Hack, Desk

For starters, avoid IKEA pieces that come in a high-gloss treatment, as this naturally makes it harder to blend with the paint. For the bottom of the bar library storage wall, the department chose shallow cabinets (the Wedding door style is easier to paint). On top are inverted Billy’s bookshelves.

Per his painter’s recommendation, Plumb first applied Sherwin-Williams Extreme Bond Primer to the door after it was lightly sanded and primed. “My biggest thing is giving myself time — basically 24 hours between everything,” Plumb said. To make the whole process easier for herself, she arranged all the faces in the garage on a large table and placed everything else.

After cleaning the doors again after the primer dried, Plumb proceeded to give them semi-gloss ohm color enamel – using an electric hand sprayer. Her purchase isn’t essential (under $200), but she estimates it saved her 10 hours of work. “It’s a lot cheaper than hiring someone, and it gives better results than a brush,” he says.

Ready to DIY? Fear not: Start your project with a directory of Paint Pros Home Advisors in your area.

Closet Makeover: Ikea Billy Bookcases

A room with a high temperature helps the paint dry quickly, so if you want to do part of the painting in a cool place (nothing dries quickly), leave it in a dry and warm place after the coat is finished. Plumb went so far as to install a heater in his garage to speed up the process. “I’m in California, where it’s very dry, but someone who lives in a humid climate takes longer,” he warns.

Smoothing between each coat of primer and paint helps create a finer grain on which to apply the next coat.

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