In all my days of DIY, this has been my biggest project to date. And you know what? I’m super dang proud of how it turned out! It took me about 2 weeks, but if I were to add it all up it was only 3 or 4 days worth of actual work because you know, stay at home mom. I love how custom built-ins can just make a space. My niece asked me if I would build her some in their house they just bought, and I jumped on the chance because I’d always wanted to build some. I’m just counting down the days until my husband and I can buy a house of our own so I can give it a good DIY treatment MY way.

Getting Started
I was a little intimidated at first with this project, but decided to jump in head-first and get it done. I started by taking the measurements of the wall and getting a feel for the kind of built-ins my niece wanted. Then I took what I had in my head and sketched it out on some graph paper so I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like, what dimensions it needed to be, what materials I needed to buy, and every cut I needed to make. This is where things start to get REAL technical. It’s important when you do this step to think of EVERYTHING. There were a couple of minor blunders I made during this step that set me back just a little bit, but it all turned out okay in the end, and I didn’t end up too far off the estimated budget. The entire build cost a little over $430, not including paint.



Materials
*Amount of materials are based off of my wall dimensions, which were 11 feet long by 9 feet tall. Yours may differ.
6 sheets MDF **Note: After more experience working with MDF, I only recommend it in certain circumstances. Paintable plywood would be a better option here for durability purposes.**
5 2x4x8 boards
160” crown molding
3 2x12x8’s OR 1 2x12x8 and 2 2x8x8’s for counter top
Paintable Caulk
Wood glue
1 1/2” screws
1 1/2” Brad nails
Paint
1 sheet 1/4” plywood or more if you want to add backing to your shelves before installation
160” Decorative trim for header
Tools
Table Saw or Circular Saw
Miter Saw
Saw guide (if using circular saw)
Brad Nailer
Pocket Hole Jig
Hand Drill
Level
Speed Square
Drywall Square
Pencil
Begin the Build



After I removed the baseboard from the wall, I built some simple boxes with 2×4’s to act as the base for the lower cabinets, making sure to add 4 inches to the middle section for a little deeper shelving. I attached these to the wall studs with 2 1/2″ screws.



Next, I built the basic bookshelf structure for the lower portion out of 3/4 inch MDF. Hint: If your bookshelves are going to be longer than 32 inches in width, MDF will eventually start to bow if not properly reinforced. My shelves here are 36 inches, so I factored into the build some extra material that I will show you later on.






I measured and attached the shelves with a combination of brad nails and screws, but you’re going to want to be careful about where you place your screws on the middle section, because if they’re found in the first 4 inches of the middle shelf, they will be seen! Learned that one the hard way.
Next, I attached my shelving units to the wall using screws where they wouldn’t be seen in upper corners and brad nails everywhere else there was a stud in the wall.



Now looky here! Things are starting to get exciting! Also, don’t forget to attach the shelving units to EACH OTHER as well.



From here, I decided to finish the lower portion all the way with the trim before I built the upper bookshelves. I ripped 3 inch strips of MDF, cut them to size, and brad-nailed and glued them to frame out the sides of the bookshelves. I only cut out 2 inch strips for the trim that divided the shelves, and 4 inch strips to cover up the base of the shelving where the baseboard would be reattached. It added such a nice finished look, don’t you think?! I also built the counter top with another layer of MDF and trimmed it out.
Note: MDF is NOT the best material to use for a counter top. If it gets wet (i.e. someone sets a cold glass of water on it) the MDF will swell up and it will only go away with heavy sanding and re-painting. I ended up using several heavy layers of this clear coat to water-proof this counter top. If possible, the top should be made of solid wood or another sturdy material which you can do quite cheaply with 2 x 12’s attached together. The reason we did not do this because at the time the 2 x 12 selection was poor and we could not find any straight pieces. I also do not own the tools to mill my own. Another option would be to use MDF that has been laminated.
Edit: I would also NOT recommend building the face frame with MDF. This should be done with solid wood (which can be done inexpensively by using pine or whitewood). The MDF just isn’t solid enough to hold the hinges in place for very long with the doors constantly swinging open and closed. Wood is much better suited for this and will last longer.



Upper Shelving
Next, repeat the same steps for your upper bookcases. To attach each bookshelf to the frame, I used screws on the sides that were going to be up against the wall. On the sides that were going to be visible, I glued and attached them with A BUNCH of long brad nails. You’ll want to make sure you use a level and a square when attaching the shelves to make sure they don’t tilt one way or the other. I also made sure to leave plenty of room at the top of my bookcase for the headers.



I attached these to the studs in the wall as well, this time only using long brad nails.






At this point I was ready to brace up my shelving. I used long square wooden dowels, lined them up underneath each shelf with the front of each shelf, and used brad nails to secure them. I also did this with the shelves in the lower portion that I had already covered with the frame. I didn’t grab a picture of it, but I also used strips of quarter round to brace up the back of the shelves as well. I chose quarter round because it would be seen, and it makes for a nice-looking trim.






I then cut and nailed on my header boards. I wasn’t too concerned with getting them all the way to the ceiling because I knew I’d be covering up the gaps with crown molding.



Up until this point, my niece was undecided if she wanted the header to extend across the whole length of the wall. I thought it would add a nice touch, so I talked her into it. Had I known we were going to do it, I probably would have gone about things a little differently and extended it across the top the bookshelves on either side so it had something to rest on. Instead, I ran some cleats along the wall and the sides of the bookshelves that I screwed into the studs in the walls, and framed it in from those.






I didn’t show it in the pictures, but I also ended up adding cleats underneath the middle header after I nailed it up, just for added support. MDF is quite heavy and I didn’t want anything coming down over time.



The next step was to add the crown molding, a trim piece to cover up the seams (I also used putty to fill in the vertical seams and sanded it down so it wouldn’t show underneath the paint) and then put the baseboard back on.



The length of the entire wall was longer than 8 feet, and I could only find trim in 8 foot sections (not the crown molding, that came in 12 foot sections). To join them together without butting them up to each other, I just cut them at opposite angles which hid the seam much better. Once I caulked and painted, you wouldn’t know where one started and the other began!



My least favorite part of the whole building process is caulking, but it must be done, and I will say that it makes the whole project look like a million bucks when it’s finished. Before I painted, I caulked, and caulked, and caulked! I think all the caulking took me a full day of work. I made sure to get every seam I could find that would show.
Now on to the good stuff! It was time to paint! I used my HomeRight Finish Max paint sprayer I got for $60 off of Amazon. It’s a killer deal, and I love how simple and easy it is to use and clean! The air compressor is built in, so there’s nothing heavy to lug around. All you need is an extension cord and you’re in business.



Ahhhh. It’s so satisfying to see days of hard work finally pay off! I removed the TV and started to paint behind the wall behind the shelves. The color is called Fly-by-night Blue by Valspar paint. It was perfect! I wanted a beautiful dark Navy color without being too blue. I also painted several coats of water based Polycrylic on the counter top portion after it was painted to water-proof it.



The last step of the building process was to build the doors, which I totally spaced getting pictures of. But, since this post is long enough already I’ll just write a separate post about how I did that later. I hung the doors, added the hardware, and decorated!
Isn’t it beautiful???









If you’ve been following me on instagram, you might remember me doing a story on these little pottery-lookin’ guys right here. Those are another DIY that I’m really pleased with. I’ll have an official blog post about that later as well!









While my shelf decorating skills have improved quite a bit, the basic principles remain the same as they always have. If you want to learn how to style your own book shelves like a pro, check out an old post I wrote on how to do it!



Thanks for following along with me on this project. It was so much fun to do! I would love to see any projects you do that were inspired by this one! Be sure to tag me on instagram so I can see, or just leave me a comment below!
XOXO,



Wouldn’t you ideally wat to cut the carpet that would underneath the shelving bc the carpet will need to be replaced eventually?
You could do that, or you could just cut the carpet when you go to replace it. Either way it’s quite sturdy even sitting on carpet because it’s attached to the wall!
Hello! love this post. Do you happen to have another post where you explain how you did the doors?
Hello! I don’t yet, I’m working on it! I’ve tried a few different methods but one that looks promising can be found on this YouTube video! https://youtu.be/7-dT8RgYSRE
what color paint did you use on your wall unit?
IT was called Fly By Night Blue by Valspar!
Hi. How thick is the countertop that you used? Thanks
The MDF I used was only 3/4″, but then I put a face plate on front of it that made it look thicker.
Hi Crystal,
Thank you for this great DIY! I am wondering how much you ended up spending on the total project, not including the paint, of course.
It was about $430!
Hi Crystel! I absolutely love these builtins! Would you happen to have a supplies list for how much mdf etc was needed for yours in particular?
I do! I probably should have added that! Here ya go:
6 sheets MDF
5 2x4x8’s
160” crown molding
3 2x12x8’s OR 1 2x12x8 and 2 2x8x8’s
Paintable Caulk
Wood glue
1 1/2” screws
1 1/2” Brad nails
Paint
1 sheet 1/4” plywood or more if you want to add backing to your shelves before installation
160” Decorative trim for header
This was a while ago when I built this so I don’t remember if there were materials I already had that I did not include but I think this is most of it!
Thank you so much! We are definitely doing this in our house 😀
Hey!! What is the navy on the walls behind the bookcases? Is that paint? Wallpaper? Looks textured!
It’s just good ol’ paint!
I might not be understanding but how do you secure the shelf unit into the wall? Do you have to angle the nails/screws, use anchors, etc? That’s the only part I’m stuck at. I’ve seen some people use a guide and drill that makes angled holes if that makes sense. I was hoping there’s something easier.
Great question! It really depends on your wall. You will want to locate where the studs are in your wall and for sure you will have two that meet up in the corner that you can screw into. In that case you will just need to screw into the wood a tiny bit, then angle the screw whichever direction you need to, then continue screwing it all the way in. That is called toe-nailing and you can look up “how to toe-nail a screw” on YouTube and that should give you some good tutorials. Your wall will also have a floorboard that runs all the way across that your studs sit on top of that you can screw into at any point, but whether or not you can access it will depend on how thick your flooring, carpet or subfloor is. Otherwise if there are no more studs within reach of the front of your built-ins you can absolutely pre-drill a hole in your wood and sheetrock, then place a wall anchor.
Im so glad I came across this! we have a built in already except for the middle part under the tv, currently we have a big fireplace you buy at the store under it to serve as a mantle..I really wanna ditch that and build just the middle part, so I’m trying to skim through your post to just do that part haha.
Also, my middle built in is apt further apart, so where you did 36in mine is actually 83! What did you use for the extra support so the MDF didn’t bow?
When you painted the back board of the shelving blue, did you use painters tape to go around the shelves so as to not paint the shelves blue? Sorry didn’t see this in your post.
Ummm this is absolutely stunning and exactly what I want in my basement!! Can you come build it for me? ???? I’ve never built anything but want to attempt to build these myself to save money. I just hope they look half decent. Thanks for your post!
Just wanted to say that I used your design to make my built-ins! Still working it, and ended up having to use a mix of plywood and MDF (also bought pre-built cabinets w/ doors from Lowes). I am at the step of wood-filling and caulking to make sure everything is perfect before painting. Hats off to you for guiding a Marylander through this! Thanks! -Z
Hi there!! I plan to re-create this look this weekend however, I did not see the blog about how you created the cabinet doors. Did I miss it by chance? Thank you in advance. I love all of your content!
Awesome project and thanks for sharing. You make it look easy which has given me the courage to embark on a similar task that I’ve been holding back on, due to the intimidating nature of what I thought it would be. One question that I didn’t see covered in your post, how did you go about making the doors as well as processed used to mounting them? Thank you!
What type of paint did you use in the sprayer? Did you use a specific MDF primer first? My Hubby has been working hard to finish this and we are just about ready to start painting! SO EXCITED!!
I did not use a primer for this but I should have! Any primer will do. I typically use the Kilz brand all-purpose primer. And I just used regular latex paint to paint it that I thinned out with water!
Question about the sprayer…how did you paint this inside without the overspray? So you painted both the navy walls and the built-ins with this sprayer? If so, I would be interested to purchase one for painting my kitchen cabinets.
Gorgeous unit – so impressed!!!
I actually sprayed the entire thing white, and then painted the back by hand once all the white was dry.
Great job! Your bookshelf looks great but did you consider using a bigger TV for final picture you showed of your bookshelf? . The TV you’re showing seems small for your bookshelf and I would have liked to have seen the bookshelf with a larger TV..
Thank you! This was not my home nor my TV, so I didn’t consider any of that.
This looks so great Crystal! Loke the navy blue backing. I think I’m definitely going to have to try MDF on our next built-in. The plywood got expensive real fast.
Thank you! The only thing I would change is to do the face frame and top in solid wood. The MDF for the face frame just doesn’t hold up well, especially with the doors being screwed into it.
Crystel, we used your step-by-step process here to guide us in making our own built-ins, with a few tweaks of our own, and it worked beautifully. This was extremely helpful. Thank you for posting this and helping blaze the trail for other DIY-ers!
Hi Crystel ,
Looks superb just one question on the shelves and how they were fixed? I have a few books that I would be putting on them would they be robust or would they start to bow?
The width of the shelves will depend on their sturdiness. I wouldn’t do them longer than 32″, but also if you want to add sturdiness to double make sure they don’t bow you can add cleats right underneath them to support the weight!