How To Make a Constructed-In Bookcase with IKEA Cupboards

This textual content initially appeared inside the Jan/Feb 2019 downside of This Outdated House journal. We printed an updated and edited on-line mannequin of the piece on August 2, 2024.

Making a {{custom}} built-in bookcase is every e-book lover’s dream. With some help from IKEA’s Billy bookcases, you probably can get hold of a high-end look with out breaking the monetary establishment. Whether or not or not you’re looking for to maximise storage, showcase your e-book assortment, or add architectural curiosity to a room, this DIY mission is a helpful decision for house owners on a funds.

Planning Your Constructed-In Bookcase Enterprise

Guarantee you’ve gotten a powerful plan sooner than you start in your built-in bookcase mission. This consists of cautious measurements, selecting the best number of fashions, and gathering all wanted devices and provides.

Measure Your Space

Start by measuring the width, peak, and depth of the realm the place you propose to place in your built-in bookcase. Take note of any obstacles, equal to electrical retailers, vents, or dwelling home windows which can affect your design. Moreover look at for any unevenness inside the floor or partitions that may impression the arrange.

Select the Correct Number of Gadgets

Based in your measurements, resolve what variety of Billy bookcases you’ll should create your built-in. Ponder leaving small gaps between fashions for {{custom}} trim, which is ready to give the appears of a single, cohesive unit. Inside the image above, Mysha Bolen, DIY fanatic and author of the weblog Remington Avenue, exhibits how she used three Billy bookcases spaced about six inches apart to create a further substantial piece.

“My lounge has a vaulted ceiling and no architectural curiosity or component,” Bolen says. “We had no place to position our books and we’d have favored a solution for our kids’ toys, too. I’d heard about people hacking IKEA’s Billy bookcases to make them look further {{custom}}. If we’d employed a finish carpenter to try this, it might need worth a whole lot!”

Acquire Devices and Provides

Assemble a list of devices and provides you’ll need for the mission. This typically consists of the following:

• IKEA’s Billy bookcases in chosen dimension
• Picket for {{custom}} trim and ledges (1-by-2-inch plywood)
• Baseboards and crown molding
• Picket filler
• Paint or stain
• Picket glue
• Nail gun and nails
• Screws and wall anchors
• Oscillating instrument
• Measuring tape
• Diploma
• Observed (spherical or miter)
• Paintbrushes or rollers

Preparing the Space for a Constructed-In Bookcase

Sooner than assembling your bookcases, you’ll should get the arrange area ready. This entails eradicating current baseboards if desired and making a stage flooring to your built-in unit.

Take away Current Baseboards

Using an oscillating instrument, rigorously scale back out the a part of baseboard the place your built-in bookcase will sit. This step permits you to push the bookcases flush in direction of the wall, making a seamless look. Save the eradicated baseboard gadgets, as you would possibly be capable of reuse them later inside the mission.

Create a Diploma Ground

Use a stage to look at the bottom the place you’ll arrange the bookcases. If there are any very important dips or uneven areas, chances are high you will wish to make use of shims to make sure your built-in unit sits flat. This step is important for the overall stability and look of your accomplished bookcase.

Modifying IKEA Billy Bookcases

Subsequent, assemble and modify the Billy bookcases to fit your design.

Major Assembly Instructions

Adjust to IKEA’s instructions to assemble each Billy bookcase. Pay shut consideration so that all gadgets are appropriately aligned and securely mounted. Do you have to plan to paint the fashions, it may be less complicated to take motion sooner than assembly, significantly for the within surfaces.

Spacing and Connecting Numerous Gadgets

Place your assembled bookcases inside the designated space, leaving gaps between them as deliberate. These gaps will get coated later with trim gadgets to create a built-in look. Use a stage to make sure each unit is totally upright and alter as wanted.

Together with Custom-made Components for a Constructed-In Look

To transform your IKEA cupboards into an actual built-in bookcase, add some {{custom}} parts. These additions will give your mission a cultured, expert look.

Create a Prime Ledge

A excessive ledge helps unify the separate bookcases and attracts the eye upward, boosting the built-in impression. As Mysha did in her mission, arrange a physique of 1-by-2-inch strips alongside the best, entrance, and sides of the bookcase assembly. Then, join a one-quarter-inch piece of plywood to this physique, making a simple, regular flooring all through the best of the unit.

Bridge Gaps Between Gadgets

To create a seamless look between the bookcases, scale back gadgets of plywood to go well with the areas between fashions. Nail these things to the doorway of the bookcases, bridging the gaps and creating the appears of a single, custom-built unit.

Arrange Custom-made Baseboard Trim

Wrap the underside of your built-in bookcase with baseboard trim that matches the current baseboards in your room. This helps combine the bookcase with the rest of the world and provides a accomplished take a look at floor stage.

Upgrading the Mannequin of Your Constructed-In Bookcase

With the elemental development of your built-in bookcase full, ponder ending touches that will elevate its look. Listed under are some ideas:

• Add crown molding: Arrange crown molding alongside the best of your bookcase to create a transition between the unit and the ceiling. It’s going to make the built-ins appear to be part of the wall.
• Use decorative trim: Use skinny gadgets of trim to cowl any seen seams the place plywood or extension gadgets had been added to help conceal the modular nature of the Billy bookcases and reinforce the impression of a custom-built unit.
• Paint or stain for a cohesive look: As quickly as all trim gadgets are in place, fill any nail holes with picket filler and sand simple. Then, paint or stain the entire built-in bookcase to comprehend a uniform, cohesive look and stage out the surfaces. Choose a coloration that enhances your room’s decor.

Securing the Constructed-In Bookcase

Take care to securely join your built-in bookcase for stability and safety.

Anchor It to the Wall

Use furnishings anchors to lock your built-in bookcase to the wall. This prevents tipping, significantly in case you’ve gotten kids inside the residence or reside in an area prone to earthquakes.

Reinforce Cupboards for Heavy Devices

Do you have to plan to retailer heavy devices in your cupboards, ponder reinforcing them with further assist. You can add brackets beneath or use thicker shelving supplies for carefully loaded areas.

Troubleshooting Frequent Constructed-In Bookcase Factors

You would possibly encounter challenges all through your mission. In case your partitions often aren’t utterly straight, chances are high you will uncover gaps between the bookcase and the wall. Use caulk to fill small gaps, or ponder together with a vertical trim piece to cowl greater discrepancies.

In case your ceiling simply is not stage, chances are high you will should scribe the crown molding to go well with appropriately. This entails rigorously marking and slicing the molding to adjust to the contours of your ceiling for a really perfect match.

Our Conclusion

Making a built-in bookcase using IKEA’s Billy cupboards is an effective DIY methodology in order so as to add {{custom}} storage and magnificence to your personal dwelling with out the extreme worth of standard {{custom}} cabinetry. This mission requires some elementary instrument experience and persistence, nevertheless the result is a professional-looking built-in that will shortly improve the efficiency and look of your dwelling space.