DIY // IKEA HEMNES SHELVING HACK

Give your shelves more depth with a lick of paint!

I did this project about so long ago now but as is sometimes the case, I’ve only recently photographed the end result and got the chance to blog about it. When we moved into our current place, we quickly worked out where we wanted the focus of our living room to be and bought an extra shelving unit from Ikea to match one we already had. I’ve always loved the aesthetic of a fireplace with shelving in alcoves either side but we don’t have a fireplace and don’t want to reduce the floor space, so we instead opted to use our shelves to give us something of a similar concept. I wanted to try and make the shelving units feel further back and more integrated with the wall, and so after painting the wall, I used the tester pots to paint the back of the units in the same colour. I’m so glad I did it and love how they look. What do you think?

Hemnes Shelving Unit

Primer

Paint Tester Pot

1. If your shelving unit is already together, remove all of the shelves and the fixtures so that you can easily get to the back of the unit. If you haven’t yet built your unit, I’d suggest first doing the following on the front facing part of the back piece before assembling.

2. Give the front facing part of the back piece a light sand all over to give it some texture.

3. Remove any dust and dirt from the back piece and unit with a damp cloth and dry thoroughly.

4. Paint the front facing part of the back piece with a good primer. I used Dulux Difficult Surfaces Primer which I found worked really well when I repainted my Ikea Isala Desk a few months ago.

5. When the primer is dry, paint all over with the same colour paint as the wall behind the unit. Apply a couple of coats and once dry, assemble your unit or fix the shelves back in.

…AND THAT’S IT!