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May 21, 2018 By Molly

Adding Fireplace Built Ins to our Living Room

We are officially on the finale of our fireplace built ins project: adding the actual fireplace built ins! Hooray!

Building built ins on the sides of the fireplace was always the end goal of our living room project because we needed storage!! Functional storage! Our vision had always been built in cabinets on the bottom (to hide toys) and built in shelving above the cabinets.

But before digging into the whole DIY built in process, let’s recap. We had a big storage dilemma in our main family room slash living room. This room is our main gathering area in our home, but it lacked functional storage for our kiddos stuff (you can read about that and the inspiration for our fireplace here). Here’s a look at the fireplace before we added built ins:

Psst! No time to read the full post? No problem. Pin this to your DIY board and come back later. 

fireplace and mantle before adding built ins

Fireplace Built Ins Design Concept

Storage was our main priority with the fireplace built ins, but were also craving more space to display our seasonal items. After about two years of considering our options (hiring vs DIY), we went ahead with adding built ins around our fireplace on our own. We wanted a design with clean lines and light colors, as well as simple design and tons and tons of function.

This project was a HUGE labor of love, but so SO satisfying. The end results are everything we had hoped for. It’s pretty rewarding to be able to sit down every day and admire our own hard work.

Let’s get into the details of the project. First, we demoed our existing fireplace. Next, we installed shiplap, new tile, and a floating mantle where our previous fireplace was (read more about that here). Last but not least, we added built ins around the fireplace. Here’s an after shot for comparison (with a pic of the full built ins at the end of the post). Don’t you just love the clean lines?

fireplace with built ins and floating mantle

Blue Dot Art Print | Leaf Art Print | Basket  (similar) | Cream Throw Pillows (similar) | Terrariums

The whole project took around 70 hours and cost $1,500 for the whole caboodle: built ins, tile, shiplap and mantle. We figure we saved at least $5,000 by doing it ourselves so the blood, sweat and tears were definitely worth it. We love everything about the finished look!

Fireplace Built in Supplies

Materials:

  • Spackling
  • 2×4 wood
  • MDF board (for shelving)
  • Base stock cabinets
  • Construction adhesive
  • Shelf supports (type dependent on the weight your shelves will hold).
  • Screws
  • Sandpaper (medium grit)
  • Tak cloth
  • Painters tape
  • Paint (we used semi gloss)
  • Caulk
  • Trim
  • Knobs

Tools:

  • Putty Knife
  • Measuring tape (or laser distance measure)
  • Ryobi drill
  • Stud finder
  • Cirrcular saw
  • Power caulk and adhesive gun (optional)
  • Kreg pocket hole jig system
  • Finishing nail gun

Psst: Find all our favorite tools at our DIY toolkit resource page.

Fireplace Built In Cabinets and Shelving: How to Build Them

Step 1: Demo and then repair walls, if needed. You can read more about our fireplace demo process here. After demoing the fireplace, we also patched the holes  on the walls from our old photos using spackling and a putty knife.

Step 2: Use a stud finder to mark wall studs. Also mark the stud and ceiling joists for later.

Step 3: Using 2×4’s, build a base for the cabinets. Make sure to measure the base so the edges will line up flush with the bottoms of the cabinets (when you add the cabinets later). Here’s a peek at our base with one of the cabinets getting installed (more on that below). Pro tip: use a laser distance measure to make measuring a breeze.

Step 4: Screw the cabinet base to the studs in the wall. Do not screw the base into your floor unless you are ok with ruining your floor. In our case, we did not screw into the floor since our base sits on our beautiful wood floors.

Step 5: Attach the cabinets to your base using construction adhesive. Pro tip: use a power adhesive and caulk gun to save some time and effort.

Step 6: Cut the countertop board for your cabinets. Depending on your cabinet top design, you may need to cut spacers so the countertop plus trim aligns as desired. Use construction adhesive to attach. Here’s our countertop going in:

adding built ins countertop to cabinet

Step 7: Measure and cut the sides of your bookshelves. These go from countertop to ceiling, so measure accordingly.

Step 8: Use a kreg pocket hole jig to make holes in the bottom of the vertical bookshelf boards. These will eventually screw into the cabinet countertop. Read about how to use pocket holes from Family Handyman here.

Step 9: Attach the outside bookshelf boards to the walls, screwing them into the studs where possible. At this point, also screw into your counter top through the pocket holes you drilled in the previous step.

Step 10: Measure and cut 2×4’s that will attach to the ceiling. You will need two boards per bookshelf – one for the front of the bookshelf, and one for the back.The 2×4’s will serve as a point for the vertical pieces of the bookshelves to attach to the ceiling. Cut the 2×4’s the same width as the horizontal shelves for your built in bookshelves. Cut pocket holes with the kreg pocket hole jig on both ends of the boards.

Step 11: Attach 2×4’s to the ceiling with screws. Screw the 2x4s to the sides of the vertical boards you installed in Step 9. Repeat until all 2x4s are screwed to the ceiling and the vertical bookshelf boards. At this point, you can also attach the center vertical board to the ceiling brace.

Step 12: Measure and cut your desired number of horizontal shelves for your built in bookcases. Cut extra pieces to attach at the ceiling. The extra pieces will cover the 2×4’s you attached in Step 11.

Step 13: Install the bookshelves. An easy way to do this is by drilling holes at your desired height, and using shelf supports. You can also use pocket holes and screw shelves directly into the sides of your bookshelves. For the horizontal board we installed above our TV, we used pocket holes to ensure the shelf was stable and secure to the wall.

screwing in built in shelving

Pro tip: use painters tape to visualize where your bookshelves will go before you screw them in! We played around with our shelf spacing a bit, but ultimately decided to match the top to rows of shelves across the whole unit. This gave the whole built in unit balance.

use painters tape to visualize where to put bookcase shelving

For the right side of our built ins, we measured a box big enough to fit our current TV. We left a bit of room for a future size upgrade (because, you know, you can never have too big of a TV when it comes to football). On the side without the TV, we installed the lowest shelf tall enough to fit one of our heirloom crystal vases that we use as seasonal decor.

Fireplace Built Ins: How to Finish Them

With your base cabinets and built in bookcases installed, give yourself a HUGE pat on the back! The difficult part of the project is done. Now, i’s time to finish the built ins with paint and trim.

To make the painting process easier, paint as much as the shelving as possible before installation. This helps minimize pooling and dripping. After installation, do a final coat of paint and touch ups.

MDF is already sanded to a medium smoothness, but even if you decide NOT to sand your MDF any further than the pre finish, be sure to wipe down all surfaces with tak cloth before painting. Read more about how to paint MDF here (thank you Bob Vila).

Last but not least, measure, cut and install the trim. Along the ceiling, we installed a slightly thicker pine trim to match the pine trim we used on the bookshelf facing. At some point, we plan to put crown molding up in this room, but we like the simple look of the pine trim for now. For our base trim, we matched to the existing trim. Pro tip: we used our finishing nailer to speed through trim installation.

After the paint completely dries, add knobs to the cabinets. Then, start decorating your new built ins!

after photo of build ins and fireplace

Blue Dot Art Print | Leaf Art Print | Basket  (similar) | Cream Throw Pillows (similar) | Wooden House Set | Terraniums | Rug (similar or similar)

I love how much lighter the room is after adding built ins around our fireplace. I also love how much storage and display space we gained! Now, the toys are tucked nicely away in the cabinets. We also have room to store seasonal decor items on the right side.

I’m still tinkering with the bookshelf styling and our mantle. I love the two prints we chose from Target (read more of my favorite Target decor finds here). BUT we may add a third item to the mantle at some point. Sometimes, it takes a bit of time living with decor until I decide to change it up. You can read more  bookshelf styling tips on our styling post here.

What about you? Are you a decor tinkerer like me? Or are you decisive about your home decor? I’d love to hear, so share below in the comments! AND if you loved this project, use the button below to pin this to your DIY board:

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Styling Bookshelves Around Our Fireplace

Comments

  1. Sonia says

    May 23, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    Love the finished product. Question though, the ceiling 2×4. Are they nailed flat and is their a shelf plank that is nailed to them as well? I couldn’t tell if a shelf was on the ceiling or if it was opened from the 2×4 to the ceiling. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Molly says

      May 23, 2018 at 3:05 pm

      Thanks for the question Sonia! We screwed 2x4s directly to the ceiling studs (joists), and then added a finishing piece of shelving over the 2x4s to hide them. Does that make sense?

      Also – the vertical shelf walls go from the countertop all the way up to the ceiling, so the 2x4s can screw into them.

      Reply
  2. Christa Bottomley says

    December 28, 2018 at 2:37 am

    Where did you buy your stock cabinets from? And why did you choose them in particular?

    Reply
    • Molly says

      December 28, 2018 at 3:16 am

      My husband found them at Home Depot! They were pre-finished white and we liked the style. The unfinished ones were cheaper, but had a different style (they didn’t have the “shaker” style we liked unfinished). We also have kids that tend to draw on walls and cabinets from time to time… we thought the pre-finished would be easier to keep clean.

      Reply
      • Sheila says

        January 28, 2019 at 6:55 pm

        Hi Molly, Beautiful job!! I have a question about your stock cabinets. Are the base cabinets or wall cabinets? I so need the storage also.

        Reply
        • Molly says

          January 28, 2019 at 8:13 pm

          Thanks Shelia! We used wall cabinets and I believe the brand is Hampton Bay from Home Depot (30x27x12). Including the base we installed the cabinets on & countertop, the height from floor to countertop of the cabinets is about 35 1/2 inches

          Reply
  3. Gayle Eatchel says

    January 21, 2019 at 10:24 pm

    I think the redo is amazing, I love it and plan on changing my ugly fireplace. I am going to attempt to make mine look a lot like yours, great job.

    Reply
    • Molly says

      January 22, 2019 at 12:08 am

      Thanks Gayle! Good luck with your remodel, I’m sure it will turn out lovely!

      Reply
  4. Melissa says

    January 26, 2019 at 7:56 pm

    This is amazing! I love how you used stock cabinets and DIY’ed to save so much money – I’m sure it was so much work, but definitely worth it!

    Reply
    • Molly says

      January 27, 2019 at 1:46 am

      Thanks Melissa! It’s my favorite view in the house now 😉

      Reply
  5. Ken says

    February 21, 2019 at 5:10 am

    You really did a wonderful job, I’m using your design as inspiration for doing my own, using the prefab cabinets is ingenious. My only question is how did you fill the gap between the end cabinets and the wall? You did it after you had installed the cabinets but don’t describe how you were able to manage that.

    Reply
    • Molly says

      May 21, 2019 at 12:51 am

      Thanks Ken! We filled the gap with a piece of wood cut to size then nailed into place. Putty over the nails and paint and it blends in wonderfully with the prefab cabinets.

      Reply

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Hello There

Hi! I'm Molly and I'm so glad you are here! I have a passion for all things home, garden, crafts and my biggest DIY journey to date: motherhood! Read More…

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