We recently used the IKEA BESTA system to create home office storage that is both functional and incredibly beautiful!
Hey there, friends! I’m excited to be back with another update on my home office today! Last week I shared my plan for the room and also talked about a stenciled wall treatment that I did on the back “feature wall.” The stenciled wall was looking beautiful but bare, so I knew I wanted to add some elements to liven it up a bit, starting with storage!
About a month ago we installed an IKEA PAX unit in the office corner, which gave me a ton of closed off storage space…
…so on the back wall I wanted something that was sort of bookshelf-esque– definitely practical and functional, but also more open and acting as a beautiful feature of the room as well.
I considered actual bookshelves for this spot, but as I looked at them, I realized that a standard bookshelf was a little more shallow than I was hoping for. At one point I also thought about using kitchen cabinets, but though they would give me the depth I was looking for, I really didn’t want more completely closed off storage.
It was actually Donnie who came up with the idea to do another storage unit using IKEA’s BESTA system. We used BESTA pieces to create our built-in entertainment unit in our living room shortly after we moved in, and we are still loving it…
…so we thought we’d do another BESTA configuration to get the open storage look I was going for in my office.
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.
We first hopped onto IKEA’s website and used their BESTA planner to try out different configurations for the unit. Here’s what we ended up with:
Our plan included:
- Two frames measuring 47″ wide, 25″ high, and 16″ deep
- Two frames measuring 47″ wide, 15″ high, and 16″ deep
- Four glass doors to cover the larger frames
- Four shelves
- Four sets of hinges
Our total for the IKEA pieces for this unit was about $380. We brought it home and assembled the BESTA frames according to the package instructions. Then, to give our storage unit a more custom look, we decided to add some simple trim pieces as well. This would also help the piece fit in better with the rest of the office by giving it a more traditional look rather than the modern vibe it had on its own.
First, we wanted to install some extra trim work on the base of the BESTA cabinets as well as raise the cabinets off the ground a bit so that the doors could open without rubbing the carpet. To do this, Donnie built a wood frame around the front and sides of the cabinets with some wood trim pieces and L brackets. This gave the cabinets a solid base to rest on and also gave us a surface to which we could attach the decorative trim.
Along with the bottom, front, and sides of the cabinet, Donnie used the same type of wood pieces to build a frame in the middle of the cabinet to provide extra support.
Once the bottom frame was complete, it was easy to attach the bottom decorative trim piece with a nail gun and wood glue. (We used this trim for both the bottom and top of our BESTA unit.)
(You can see where he cut a small hole out of the back of the unit so we could still have access to the outlets on that wall.)
Next it was time to trim out the top of our piece. Donnie had had one of the employees at the home improvement store cut down a piece of MDF to the size we needed to create a top for our BESTA unit. (For our unit, the piece of MDF was 8′ long by 16.5″ deep) He used some small trim screws to attach the MDF top to the BESTA cabinets, then attached the decorative molding underneath the MDF top with his nail gun.
He then painted all of the trim work white so it would match the rest of the unit. We used Behr Marquee Cameo White, which was not an exact match, but it was pretty close.
Once the paint was dry, Donnie was able to install the shelves, doors, and knobs.
Since we wanted the unit to sit directly against the wall, Donnie cut out the baseboard along that section of the wall using an oscillating multi-tool. He then added a small trim piece along the side of the BESTA unit where it met the wall to give it a more built-in look.
He caulked around the edges and painted the trim piece, and he was done!
Then it was my turn to get in there and do my favorite part: filling up the shelves and making them look pretty! What I love about this piece is that it can store many of the items I needed space for in my office and still look beautiful at the same time– yippee!
I don’t have a ton of books because I read almost everything digitally these days, but the books I did want to keep, I organized by color. If you look closely, you can see a very subtle rainbow going across the top of the unit!
Similar to the bookshelves in my last office, I used wicker baskets with adhesive bookplates to corral some of the items I needed to store, giving them a neat and clean look. I also had some clear lidded bins for storage, and I made labels for those using my Silhouette Cameo cutting machine + adhesive vinyl.
My binders found a little spot in this unit as well… can you tell I kind of have a thing for aqua?! 😉
Overall, I am so thrilled with how the BESTA unit came out! It ended up being the perfect mix of functional and beautiful, and it fits in perfectly with the rest of my office!
- A Cozy Office Nook
- Creating an Organized Office with the IKEA PAX System
- IKEA PAX Office Organization: A Tour
- Planning a Cozy and Organized Home Office
- How to Stencil a Wall
- 15 Beautiful and Affordable White Writing Desks
- A Beautiful and Organized Home Office Tour
[Psssttt… You can find ideas for organizing every single room of the house in this post!]
Have you ever done a project with IKEA’s BESTA system? I’d love to hear what you created with it in the comments below!
Have a wonderful day!
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.
