Meet Bessie

Given our penchant for both DIY and hanging on to old IKEA pieces until they are yellowed and falling apart, we’d like you to present Bessie.  She is a nearly 8-foot-tall, by 10+-ft-wide “super-bookcase.”

We started out with three regular IKEA Billie bookcases and two “skinny” IKEA Billie bookcases. Because we wanted the bottom of the bookcase to match our craftsman style baseboards, we actually cut the baseboard out behind the entire unit. We then built a base for the bookcases to rest on and covered that with matching baseboard. This thing really is built in!

After securing all the cases to each other and the wall, we added plywood to the outside of each end. This set us up for being able to use the same trim all over the unit, both horizontally and vertically. Crown molding followed. Can you say “miter”? Getting the crown miter just right was far more difficult than we had imagined.

The so-called easy part came after the unit was built and in place. Easy? Ha! We didn’t want any seams or adjustable shelf holes to show. That meant caulking every. single. seam. and spackling every. single. hole. Sometimes, twice! Aaaaargh!

Finally, it was time to paint. Uh…no! Willie, ever the construction perfectionist, insisted on primer. So we did a coat of primer. And then another. And then another.  And then, at long last, we were able to put a coat of paint on our masterpiece, and-you guessed it-then another final coat.

We love Bessie. She is a custom piece specifically designed around a few sentimental items that we like to keep close at hand, where we can see and enjoy them. And not one person has guessed that she is made from old, decrepit IKEA bookshelves. (We wouldn’t care if they did!)