Hi friends! Today, I am sharing how we repurposed two old, wooden bookcases and turned them into built-ins for our hearth and mantel.
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The day we closed on our home, the brick hearth and mantel were a deep, dark red, and the previous owner had left behind 2 wooden bookcases on the hearth that she used as shelving.
I knew I wanted a fireplace of sorts and shelving on either side. However, I was unsure what type of fireplace we wanted (open, wood burning, gas, etc) as well as whether I wanted to repurpose the bookcases or install floating shelves.
The original fireplace to the home was completely open, but the previous owners bricked it up in order to put in a wood burning stove. We considered putting in a wood burning stove since the piping was already complete. However, we were going to have to pay someone to come and assess the pipe and chimney to ensure it was safe to use.
We ended up settling on gas logs when I stumbled across this heater on facebook marketplace. It fit perfectly on the hearth, and from there, we began with painting. We painted the brick hearth and both of the bookcases.
Then, we gave the heater a fresh coat of paint, the same white we used on the brick. We also painted the gold trim on the fireplace a matte black, using this fire resistant spray paint.
After painting, we placed them all on the hearth……and I wasn’t in love with it. While it looked better than before, I felt like the pieces didn’t flow together the way I envisioned. It seemed very obvious that there were 3 large separate pieces of furniture trying to fill the space on the brick wall.
DIY BUILT-INS FROM OLD BOOKCASES
My mom brought up the idea of changing out the moulding on the bookcases to match the fireplace….which eventually led to us turning the entire bookcases into built-ins.
We started by taking a few pictures of the fireplace moulding and searching at Lowes to see if we could find a match.
a little note– I do not have any measurements to share because this was built custom to my home. However, I do share all the tools and materials we use, and how we did it!
DIY BUILT-INS FROM OLD BOOKCASES: PART 1
taking the bookcases apart and reassembling
My dad and husband started by removing the existing moulding from the top of the bookcases. Then, they removed the arched piece from the front. This left us with a standard, boxed bookcase.
From there, they measured from the top of the bookcase to the ceiling. Then, they cut and nailed wood to either side. My dad attached the wood to the bookcase by using a nailer board on the inside (see in part 2). This keeps it from shifting or moving if the bookcase is bumped into. Then, they added the front curved piece back.
I didn’t have them add a piece of wood to the back side of the shelf because I liked the look of the brick peaking through.
part 2: adding the moulding
From there, they measured for the new moulding. Using a miter saw or a miter box, they cut the moulding to create an outside corner.
There was no way for the new moulding to sit flush against the wall due to the crown moulding/ceiling trim. So, there were 2 options to choose from.
Option 1: cut a piece out of the crown/ceiling trim. Then, slide the new moulding flush against the wall.
Option 2: trace an outline of the ceiling/crown trim, and cut the end of the new moulding to make sit flush against the ceiling trim AND the wall.
We went with option 2, and my dad traced an outline of the ceiling trim on the new moulding.
Using a jigsaw, he cut the end of the moulding to match the outline of the trim.
This kept us from having to cut a chunk out of the ceiling trim in order for it to be flush with the wall. Now, if I ever want to take the built-ins down, we won’t have to replace the ceiling trim.
part 3: finishing the details
They attached the moulding using finishing screws.
To create a seamless, finished look, we purchased some small trim to cover the seam between the added wood and the original bookcase. We caulked all the holes or seams after the trim was up. This gave us a perfect smooth finish for painting.
Here is the final outcome! DIY built-ins from old wooden bookcases. Eventually I may figure out a way to hide the nailers, but for now, I am very happy with the results.
All in all this project cost us around $40. We already had extra wood laying around the house from previous projects as well as paint, caulk, nails, and screws. We only had to buy the moulding and trim. The moulding ended up costing us about $15 per piece (it took 2 pieces) and about $5-$6 per piece of small trim.
What do you think about this DIY? Leave a comment down below 🙂