Dining Room Built Ins [Ikea Bergsbo Doors Hack]

I've been working HARD on the dining room built ins.  I have finally mostly finished!  Here are photos and a brief outline of how I did it all.  (Well, Todd helped on 4 occasions so he gets a little credit. ;)  I did most of this during Lydia's naps and after the girls were in bed.  Or, Todd would take them somewhere so I could have uninterrupted time to work.  It is literally impossible to work on anything and have 2 bodies on top of you needing you at the same time. lol

I love the final result!!

 I basically copied this from Fixer Upper.  I love that show.

There is SO MUCH storage in those cabinets.  I don't even know what to put in there!

 The whole long front room.  The Christmas lights on the ceiling were temporary decor for a wedding shower I hosted.

Here is the living room before.

Another "before" view.

And the abbreviated version of how I did it: 

Step 1: Rip out all molding.

Step 2: build cabinet boxes out of plywood.  I built them standing up since they were so tall-- I literally could not lay them down because they were butted up against my ceiling.

This wonderful tool is worth it's weight in gold and made step 2 SO MUCH EASIER!  It's the kreg jig clamp thingy.

Here are the boxes.  I added a permanent shelf 2/3 of the way up for extra support.  Oh, and the brown buffet is from World Market (but I got it off ksl.com for $100!)

Step 3: Glue and nail 1/4 inch plywood to backs.  Step 4. build face frame with select pine and attach using pre-drilled holes and kreg jig clamp thingy.

Step 5: paint white.  I bought the doors but didn't hang them yet. I couldn't use the hinges that came from Ikea because they were the wrong kind.  Step 6: build shelves between cabinets.

Step 7: stain shelves bown, let them dry, polyurethane shelves.

Step 8: Glue and nail 1/8 inch plywood to the wall between the brown shelves (I painted them before hand with black chalkboard paint.)  Step 9: install World Market metal orb chandelier

Step 10: hang doors (I had to buy special 1/4 inch overhang hinges online that literally ripped out chunks of the cabinet doors but I was too exhausted to care!)    Step 11: Decorate!

Again, above is a before shot:

And an after shot.

This was a "one step forward, 4 steps backward" kind of project.  I'll give one example, though there are SO MANY THINGS that happened this way...  I had the cabinet's inner shelves cut to size at Home Depot.  When I got home I realized the shelves were just a bit too long.  So I went to cut them down to size with my chop saw... but it only cuts 6 inches deep and the shelves are 14 inches deep.  So I cut anyway, flipped the board, and cut again- which left a 2 inch uncut section in the middle.  I grabbed my jig saw, and while cutting, broke the jig saw blade.  I ran to Home Depot to buy a new blade, but there are 2 shapes of blade and I didn't know which one I needed!  So I bought both, ran home, installed the correct blade, and finally finished cutting the darn shelf.  Then I ran back to Home Depot to return the unused blade.

All for one cut!  Argh, there were so many times while doing this that I questioned my desire to take on projects at all.  Oh well, I really love the final result.  Shout out a thanks to Fixer Upper, www.fourgenerationsoneroof.com, and megandmartinmen.blogspot.com for the inspiration and tips.

TOTAL COST OF THE BUILT-INS WALL: $1086
All lumber, new tools, the buffet, hanging shelves, cabinet lighting (to be installed soon) doors, hinges, paint and trim cost  $1086.
Most everything else I bought highly discounted or second hand.  The rug, accent chairs, dining chairs, dining table, curtains, chandelier, and all decor cost an additional $860.  So the entire living room/ dining room makeover was under 2 grand.