GILTY as charged.

IKEA HACK: DIY VITTSJÖ BOOKSHELF.

EW, sorry for the wait, but this just in…DIY-ing is no freaking joke. Blood, sweat and tears went into this piece. So did a lot of “whatevers” and one solo trip to Arby’s. I’m not proud of that last bit. All that being said, I am SO happy with the final product, I have been dying to share it with you guys! Let’s start with my old bookcase. Nothing was really wrong with it, but I bought it when I had a brown leather couch (no mo!), it was $26 at Target and it felt SO very college. I have been out of college for far too long to own such a piece. Ahem. #lemmeupgradeya
UPDATED p.s. Somehow this post lost MANY of it’s photos when I moved my blog over to WordPress. Working on getting them back for you! SO annoying.
STEP TWO was purchasing the VITTSJO shelf from IKEA, seen below. It comes in two sizes and I chose the larger of the two ($79), because I had more space to spare than my original shelf actually took up. My friend Brandi and I tackled this project together, and she got the smaller version ($49) for a narrow wall in her new house.
After a lot of debate about how to handle the solid brown bottom shelf, I found this “marble” contact paper on Amazon and snapped it up to give it even more of an upscale feel. This was actually a lot easier to apply than we thought it would be. Sighhh. I just love when a vision really comes to life.
STEP THREE is what I lovingly call the “hell phase.” Building anything from IKEA is cruel and unusual punishment. This actually wasn’t so bad, and having the real drill helped a ton. I highly recommend doing this with a friend and not a family member to avoid excessive obsenities & possible murder.
Priming and painting took the longest. I think overall, I used two cans of primer and three cans of gold spray paint to cover mine completely. I still may buy a 4th can for touch-ups later.
 After a LOT of cans of primer & gold spray paint (buy extra and thank me later), I give you NEW NEW in all of her glory!
Close up of the “marbled” bottom shelf. Ahh! I love it so much!
I am still playing with the decor on each shelf, but that is the beauty of shelving like this. You can change it all up as many times as you want!
Baby Coco Chanel approved. Looking pretty proud of her mom’s handywork. Either that or she is thinking about what a total freakshow her mother is. Both extremely likely.
The two baskets on the bottom shelf were another IKEA find. I love the way they look against the metal frame.
Those sad little paintings were done by yours truly, ha I apologize, but the great metal ‘H’ is one of my favorite pieces. I love that it adds height without being too bulky.
Little shell my Grandpa Poppa gave me on top of my most intellectual stack of books. Paris Hilton, anyone?
Love this picture of my Aunt Rhett and my Dad at my graduation from CofC. I lost my Dad in 2011 to lung cancer, and like to keep as many reminders of him around the apartment as I can.
Annnd a double-cameo by my most favorite five…well, four, excluding myself.
Coco is pretty happy that it is warm outside again. She got very adventurous yesterday and even made it cautiously out onto the patio! She is an indoor girl, through and through.
Look at that little woman taking it all in! I love her horribly. I really need to clean my patio off…sick pollen.
IKEA VITTSJÖ SHELF / GIANT METAL ‘H’ (℅ Shop Alix)
OVERALLS: Express (no longer available) similar here + here / CONVERSE

So there you have it. I lost brain cells due to paint fumes, but in the end, I think it was all worth it as I now have a much better view from my couch for wine-sipping. DI-WHY.

p.s. Somehow this post lost MANY of it’s photos when I moved my blog over to WordPress. Working on getting them back for you! SO annoying.

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  1. Love the shelf… But can't tell you how much more I loved the pic of you and Paul. I hadn't seen you post anything lately!!!!

  6. Beautiful, you have just inspired me to do a hack like this. When i am done i will show it to you, tell me how i did.I am a novice at hacking

  7. Hello! I am thinking of doing the same to my bookshelf and I was wondering what spray paint brand and color you used specifically! Thanks in advance :). Awesome job btw!

    • Do it! You will not be disappointed. 🙂 I used a Krylon brand gold paint that I found at Michael’s. When I was googling, I found Krylon was most highly recommended! Good luck and thanks for reading! XO

    • I did! I assembled the metal pieces first, then painted it outside, and then put in all of the glass and wooden shelves in once I moved it inside my apartment. XO

      • Ah fabulous, I’m planning to spray paint mine and I was worried about getting paint on the glass hahah >.<