Last night we painted the backs of our built-in bookcases—yes, that is legitimately our idea of a good time. For us it’s about as close to a “date night” as home improvement gets. We wanted to share what went into the pre-planning so we could post the finished photos as soon as the paint dries and we can reload the shelves.
Before painting, we laid out the objects that will live on the bookcases so we could determine shelf placement. Since the built-ins will be out of reach for little hands for a while, they’re one of the few places where we can safely display breakable items like my ceramic collection along with hardcover books. What we discovered right away was that many of our books were too deep for the shelves and stuck out over the edge like toes in ill-fitting sandals.
To solve the overhanging-book problem, I tucked several large volumes into the storage cabinets under the bookcases, along with items from our decor store. We’ll probably install kidproof locks on those cabinets so they won’t be raided once Clara starts getting into everything. With the oversized books out of the way, I began arranging some of our favorite decorative pieces, but the initial layout felt too cluttered.
John, who usually has the best visual instincts, walked up behind me and suggested removing one shelf in each vertical column to create a more open, airy look. The idea took him about half a second to come up with—and it worked. With fewer shelves and more breathing room between objects, the arrangement felt much more balanced and visually appealing.
Once we decided on the shelf spacing and had a clear idea of what would be displayed, we emptied the bookcases to paint the backs. We learned from earlier projects that moving the shelves around after painting can scratch the fresh paint, so we arranged everything first, took a few reference photos, and unloaded the shelves to avoid extra touch-ups later.
For the color, we chose a deep, inky blue called Dragonfly from Benjamin Moore’s Affinity line. We wanted a dramatic background that would make the ceramics and other objects pop and give the room a high-contrast, lively feel. It’s bolder than our usual palette, but that was the point—sometimes taking a design risk pays off. If we end up not loving it once everything’s back in place, it’s just paint and can be changed, but we’re optimistic.
The plan is to keep the built-in trim, faces, and cabinetry in the existing white to frame the blue backs, and paint the rest of the room and the adjoining office a soft silvery gray to complement the drama of the shelves. For now, we focused on taping and cutting in the color on the backs of the units. The process looked quite dark in the evening light, but we’re eager to see how it reads in daylight.
As usual, I did the cutting in along the edges while John handled the taping and rolling. There are a few unfinished spots in the photos because we were waiting on a stool John was using to reach the top sections. We paused to snap progress shots and to make sure we were both happy with the result before applying a second coat.
Painting built-ins has a lot of little decisions—shelf spacing, what to display, how bold to go with color—but taking the time to plan made the execution smoother and less likely to require rework. We’ll share final photos once the paint is fully dry and the shelves are restocked so you can see the completed transformation.
Update: See how our built-in transformation turned out right here.