Okey Dokey! These bad boys are finished. Check. it. off. the. list. Have you ever tried to decorate 96 square feet of space? Yeah, me neither, so it was definitely a task. Here it is. Ta Da!
In case you can’t remember where we started, this is the blank slate that was staring at me. To be honest, I’m being overly dramatic. The placement of things was pretty simple for me. Finding enough things to fill it, however, got to be a work of art.
I only purchased four items for this whole thing, and the print below was the first piece I bought. It was a no-brainer. When three separate women comment on it in the checkout line, you know you’ve got a keeper. 
The rest of the items I already had. I know, right? Someone collects too many accessories. Of course, they didn’t all start out looking like this. Fabric and spray paint were my best friends this week. I’ll show you later how it all came together.
My requisites included two things—it had to have storage (#1 of course), and it couldn’t look too busy. “Too busy” of anything starts to make me break out in hives. A wall of bookcases could have been just the ticket to busy-ville, so I had to be careful.
I’m having fun filling all the empty containers now. Of course, telling my husband something is “in the white box on the shelves” has proven a little more ambiguous than I anticipated. He’ll figure it out. Someday.
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It looks beautiful! I love the print too : o )
Thanks so much, Tricia! I really appreciate it.
Love the bookcases, and coincidentally just bought the dress form artwork the other day. I bought ‘her sister’ too.
Hello Chris,
Awesome job! Your bookcase decor looks amazing. I love the contrast of the white and teal.
Smiles, Paula
Thank you, Paula! I’m so glad they’re done! 🙂
You did an exceptional job. I love it…every bit of it.
Thank you, Judy!!
Holy smackers!!! This is absolutely gorgeous!! So elegant and chic. LOVE IT.
Awesome comment, Erin! Thank you!
Looks fantabulous and to think, it all started w/the Billy!! We have two Billies here, but I don’t think they’ll ever be transformed to that awesomeness. My husband and I don’t have those skills:). Thanks for the inspiration. I need to finish a playroom makeover and I was starting to lose steam. Always helps to see someone elses’ end result to light the fire back up! Have a great week!!
Believe me, Kim. There was a time that I thought my husband and I didn’t have those skills either! Don’t sell yourself short! 🙂 Thank you!
Looks fab. I really like the contrasting paint color on the backs too. Nice job.
Thank you, Pine Tree Home!
LOVE. I’m dying to do a wall of Billys myself, and yours turned out beautifully.
Thank you, Paige! Looks like you need a trip to Ikea, eh? 🙂
This looks fantastic! Elegantly styled and so beautiful – I love it. Job well done!
Awesome! Thank you, Jenny! By the way–I’ve been replying to your comments for months, and I just realized that I’ve had it turned off. Dar! Just thought you’d like to know that I don’t ignore your sweet comments!
This is perfection! I love every little detail, you did a wonderful job!
Thank you so much, Alicia!
I love the color you painted inside! The whole project came out wonderful. 🙂
Thank you, Jessica! It’s appreciated!
This is gorgeous!
I like it, but I think it needs some books! That’s what I loved about your inspiration pic – bookcases with a mix of books and other accessories, it made it look more purposeful and substantial!
The only problem with that, Jenna is that I didn’t need the shelves for books. I needed them for craft storage. They’re only successful if they work for what I need, ya know? How purposeful it is really depends on the person using it I think. 🙂
You did an absolutely fantastic job! I love the turquoise background and you have done a fabulous, perfect job of accessorizing!
Thank you so much, Nicole! That was really nice!
Please do tell….where did you get the lovely talked about print from?
TJMaxx, Vickyl! $16.99. 🙂
They’re beautiful, but what a tragedy to have a wall full of bookshelves with almost no books on them!!! I would love to see these filled with a book collection.
Gosh, a tragedy? If it were used for a bookcase, I could understand, but these are meant to be storage shelves for my craft room. Not every person will use them for the same thing, ya know? Thank you for saying they’re beautiful, though. 🙂
It look sreally good. I love all the different elements you used in there, very creative. And the colors are perfect too. Great job!
Thank you, Jessica! It’s a nice feeling to have it done. 🙂
Such a good job. I’m sure it took lots of patience. Sometimes I get impatient and begin to take short cuts….so lazy…but this looks AMAAAzing. Love the accessories.
Wow, it turned out beautiful. I love it, especially all the white against the painted backing of the shelves. Gorgeous!
Thank you, Heather! I really appreciate it! P.S. I’ll bet there’s a good story behind “Heather Eats Almond Butter” 🙂
Oh my gosh… gorgeous! The only tragedy I see in all this is that they aren’t lining one of my walls. 😀
Beautifully executed, Chris! (plus all applicable helpers)
Donna
Ha! I will pass that onto my applicable helpers, Donna. Well said. 🙂 Thank you!!
I absolutely LOVE them and see nothing but gorgeousness one each shelf! Nothing tragic anywhere ;). Fantastic job!!
I love you. Amen.
holy moly!
these are fab! seriously. girl, you got it goin’ on!
beautiful styling too!
kellie
Beautiful job! I love how the white pieces pop against that gorgeous blue. What color is that? It’s perfect!
Thank you, Gina! I really appreciate you stopping by! It’s Boca Raton by Ben Moore.
It’s so beautiful and inspiring! You have such a touch for decorating, thanks for sharing it with us!
Thank you, Janet! The decorating was definitely my favorite part. 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous! I am in the process of building my own, and it will be used for books, but also hoping for a few oter things on the shelves too. The bird and cage are definites!!
Chris-girl!! These are gorgeous, I just might have to steal this Billie idea when I get in a house. Love, love this, great job on the accessorizing. This is perfect for a craft room office space. Hey, did you get my email about the guest post? I need to get on it, going to the beach this next weekend!
Thank you, friend! What’s so awesome about that is that you CAN do this ’cause you’re gettin’ a new house! Woo Hoo! 🙂 I hope you do it! I love to see everyone’s different versions of them.
La-la-LOOOOVE how this all came together! 🙂
I have SUCH a hard time filling empty spaces, because I want them to look clean and simple, but not naked… ya know? You did FABULOUSLY! I love all the clean white dishes and such. So pretty! And the color behind the bookcases is perfect!
Nice work, like always, friend!
🙂
Gosh I’m glad we’re friends! It sure does wonders for my self-confidence. 🙂 Love you, sweet girl! Thank you!
Chris, your shelves are absolute perfection! I’m in love with all the white storage….simply gorgeous against the teal background. I need some storage like that!! (And the first thing that caught my eye was that adorable print..good snag on that one!)
xoxo
Wendy
Thanks so much, Wendy! I appreciate you stopping in!
LOVES! I would have broken out in hives decorating them! You did amazing. I am sstill learning that whole visual triangle thing. You nailed it Chris.
You’re so sweet, friend! Thank you, Beckie!!
Beautiful! I love how you kept to a color scheme of whites and golds, with just a few darker pieces thrown in for contrast.
Well thank you, Lori! I appreciate that you noticed it. 🙂 It’s something my husband doesn’t notice even if I point it out. 🙂
Love it, you are the second built in billy’s that I’ve read about and I must say I do love it.
Thank you, Toya! I’m so glad you like them!
Do you mind telling what colour you painted the back of the Billys? of course I just put a bunch together a few months ago. 🙁
http://justagirlblog.com/billy-bookcases-diy/
Here’s the link answering some questions, Sia. It’s Benjamin Moore’s Boca Raton!
I’m freaking out with this post! I’ve shoved my laptop in front of my husband….LOOK WHAT CHRIS DID!!! Yes, he knows you by first name even. It looks phenomenal! Love EVERYTHING about it! Pinning, SU, Tweeting, & FB-ing this one! 🙂
If I could tell you I love you in ten different languages, I would! 🙂 Thank you, sweet girl! What a great thing to say!
Amazing! I would never in a million years guess that this wall was created with Billy bookcases. Love the blue backs, love the accessories, love the styling… LOVE it all! Awesome job!
What a great compliment, Kelly. Thank you! I’m glad they “fool the eye” into thinking they’re built in. 😉
Amazing work and so well-styled! I love the blue on the bookcase backs – it really makes the entire wall and accessories pop. -Jenna
Thank you so much, Jenna! While it was a big task, it sure was fun playing around with the decorations. 🙂 Thanks again.
love the colors! looks professional!
LOVE the turquoise/teal/blue against the white – my kind of colors! Just re-did an extra bedroom in the house with white beadboard and looking for a contrast color, this might fill the bill – thanks for the inspiration!
People do NOT realize how hard that is! And you did a freakin’ fabulous job. I’ve got one bookcase that I am still tweaking and tweaking and tweaking. It’s a puzzle and every time I move something I end up shifting several other things. I love the balance of yours. Not too much but enough! 🙂
It looks really great! I would love to do “built ins” in my living room. I too don’t really need book storage so I can appreciate your styling!
Wow! They look incredible.Like something you’d see in a decor magazine or Crate and Barrel.Spray is my new best friend. It’s amazing how paint can transform odd pieces into a coordinated collection. If I were on that line when you were buying that print, I would have been praying that you’d cahnge your mind and put it down! Great job!
It looks so good! I love the teal color!
Thank you, Amy! I appreciate the comment!
This looks amazing. I’ve actually been looking to do a project like this for a budget homeowners display home and this is fantastic inspiration. Did you cover the joins between the bookshelves with moulding? Have I missed the tutorial? Perfect colour choice for the background by the way 🙂
I sure did, Anna. The tutorial can be found a couple of posts before this one! Thanks!
Love the color! That was certainly a huge task. I can’t handle decorating a two foot long shelf. I am definitely going to pin this for inspiration. I love everything about it. Megan
It’s PERFECT! All it needs now is a kleenex box. 🙂 Love the color and well, pretty much everything about this project!
Wow! This looks amazing!!!! I would never have thought to customize the billy bookcases to this extent! I’m going to bookmark this for a later date! Thank you for the inspiration! Found you through pinterest. 🙂
Wow! I’ve been talking about hiring someone to make built ins to display my milk glass collection. This would be so much easier and less expensive. Thanks for the wonderful idea. I hope it turns out half as beautiful as yours!
I absolutely adore how you decorated your bookshelf. It turned out perfect. I honestly can’t wait to come up there to see it in person. I would never have thought of the blue background. What a nice combination of colors. Love it Love it Love it……….Love you! Mom
Looks Great! Love the white. The blue is awesome. We were going for this look in our play room but opted out on built-ins since we are renting. But, just thought you’d like to know only the bottom shelves actually have books on them! 🙂 Heading over to see how you made the shelves.
Thank you for stopping by, Wendy J! It’s a favorite project of mine, and I love the storage it’s given me for my craft room. Thanks again!
There is not one single book on those book cases. Call me nerdy, but I would love to see shelves like that full of books, not vases and flowers…
The only problem with that, Rachel is that I didn’t need it for books. I have storage for those already. The whole point was to have extra storage for my craft supplies. Mission accomplished in my opinion!
I was sondering what to do with a small small room that will be used as a workspace/office… you made my day :o)
I just stumbled across your blog and had to stop and tell you how stunning these are! I love every single thing about them. I’m moving into a new house in a couple weeks and have a lovely big wall to fill in my family room…this is now my inspiration (even my 70-year-old dad is excited about them.) Thank you! 🙂
Thank you thank you thank you!!! This saves me about 2500 dollars. You’re the best. It looks fabulous.
WOW!! These are absolutely STUNNING and you decorated them beautifully. What style! I love the blue background. You did an amazing job on these. I just got back from Ikea tonight. We’re getting the Billy Bookcases too, but in the black brown cuz of my house colors. I wish I could have mine have the built in look too, but it won’t work for me … I just wanted to take a moment though and tell you this is fabulous!!! I’ve Pinned your post so I can check it out later when I DO have a place where I can do this!! Thanks for the inspiration!
This is amazing. Its a great result after so much hard work! Ikea 2013 has finally arrived in Australia so thanks to this, I’m all inspired to do a Ikea Hack of my own.
I love it. You did an amazing job and it would have probably cost you about $1,500 to have someone install one for you. I would like to have shelves that could hold more weight and I don’t think the Billy Bookcases can. Thanks,
Oh, I absolutely adore this! It made me daydream a bit about owning a house at some point. If only!
I shivered a little though at the thought of dusting everything on these shelves! Ha!
I have billy cases and wanted to paint the backs. How did you prep the backs? I’m fearful the paint won’t adhere b/c they are not wood.
Love, love, LOVE this! I’ve been trying to figure out how to decorate our home office for months and am so happy to have found your blog for inspiration! I just bought some Billy bookcases and Benjamin Moore Boca Raton paint today! What is the color of the other walls in the room? The whole look is just stunning. Thanks for sharing!