Easy way to liven up a bookcase

Ikea furniture is like blank canvas. Add colours and ka-pow! it ain't cookie cutter furniture from that yellow and blue big box no more. Jan does her Kilby a favour, turning the drab grey back to a mix of bright bold colours.

Jan says, "Cheapy-cheap Ikea Kilby bookcases fit the bill for my office but come with a back that is the dreariest color imaginable: putty gray. That said, when I got a second one, before nailing the back onto it, I marked it where the shelves would hit. I then painted each section a different color. It made a world of difference, changing the bookcase from merely functional to feature-able. It makes a nice showcase now and livens up a lot of previously dead, gray space. (Luckily, my original drab Kilby stays completely hidden behind my office door.)"

The boring Kilby

The snazzy one