Posh gloss

Materials: Lack shelves, Besta Burs CD storage, Besta Burs door, hammer, saw, drill, carpenter’s square, metal squares, screws, wood, fine sanding paper

Description: This is a very discreet hack! I wanted to create a smart, built-in-look bookcase with storage underneath. I didn’t want it to look like an Ikea shelving ‘system’.

I went for the full length Lack shelves (190cm wide) and underneath, two rows of Besta Burs CD-storage units (180cm wide). I mounted the besta Burs on a plinth the same height as the skirting board in the room. Once everything was mounted, I had a 10cm gap on one side of the Besta Burs. I hacked an extra Besta Burs door (which you can buy individually) to fit the small space.

I sawed two pieces of the door to fit the space and mounted them together from the inside with wood and metal squares. I then mounted a piece of wood on the outside of the Besta Burs storage rack and placed the two pieces on top and screwed it fixed from the inside of the the storage rack, through to the wooden support of the two pieces.

Three tips: 1) leave the protective blue plastic layer on the pieces you cut – you don’t want the high gloss to be all scratched. You can even sand the corners with the plastic on; 2) saw the door in such a way that you end up with the outsides (ie the nicely rounded gloss-sprayed corners – against each other in the corner – it will make it look very professional…; 3) Make sure that the angle at which you put the two pieces together is a bit less than 90 degrees – that way you can squeeze them in a neat corner once you mount them on to the storage rack.

And hey presto – posh gloss!

~ Rutger Hopster, London