I am so excited to share our IKEA BILLY bookcase hack. I fell in love with the bookcases The Makerista shared. They were gorgeous! I showed it to my husband and he agreed that they would look great in my soon to be office (although, I am pretty sure he wasn’t even aware at the time that I was transforming the formal living room into my office.) It still cracks me up that we even have a formal living room, we have three boys and a dog, there is nothing formal about this family! Anyway, back to the bookcases, my guy pretty much followed the directions The Makerista shared in her post, making a few minor adjustments to fit our space.
I absolutely LOVE these bookcases. I am still adjusting the styling on the shelves, adding and taking away things everyday which is fun for me. You will see I am back and forth with the mirror on the center shelf. I am already thinking about how I will style it during the Christmas Season. Yes, I am that girl!
Check out the rolling library ladder. I have always wanted one of these but didn’t realize how expensive they were. I found this one on ebay and we got a great deal. The stain on the ladder is perfect with our new flooring and like I said it was the best price I have seen on any rolling ladder. Gman is enjoying it too!
There is really not one thing I would change about this bookcase. Usually when we are done with a project, my husband will say, “I should have done this or I wish I would have done that” for me this is perfection. He did such a great job. He has really been a great sport about doing all these projects for me. As you know, it starts with one project that leads into the next and so on.
This is what we started with…I can’t believe it went from this…
to this…
To see our inspiration for this project, please check out The Makerista. She has some fabulous ideas.
Until next time,
We Party Here:
Looks beautiful! Great job, and glad we could inspire you. 🙂
Thank You, I so enjoy your blog!
This looks amazing, great job!
Thank You for your sweet comment!
Hello! I just wanted to finally write and tell you that I am obsessed with your bookcases! Ever since I was a teenager and first saw a rolling ladder in a furniture store with my Mom, I have always vowed to one day put one in my house! Well, I just scored a gorgeous one off of Craigslist and I am picking it up this weekend! Your post inspired me to re-visit that dream as I have limited wall space. Your bookcases are so perfectly perfect that I just wanted to let you know! Thank you for the post and for showing me that I can get this look in a limited space! Its not Henry Higgins library but it is going to be fabulous! Well done and thank you!
Thank you so much! I am so glad you liked our post and that we have inspired you.
p.s. I just showed my husband your message and you really made his day!!! I found a picture of the bookcase I wanted and he created it for me. I think the ladder is my favorite part, I have always wanted one too. Good luck with your bookcase. I can’t wait to see the finished result!
Hi! Gorgeous bookshelves! How did you adhere the trip in between the bookshelves?
Thank You! We added spacers between the bookcase then used a nail gun to attach the trim to the end of each bookcase.
I know you did this a while ago–but I’m curious to know–did you nail to the wood strips on the wall? Did you use that to account for the depth of the floor moulding without removing it? And did you plug up the space between the bookcases and the back wall? I love this…just thinking about if I’m ambitious enough.
Hi Carol. Sorry for taking a bit to get back to you. I am in the process of taking down all of my Christmas decorations. I will try to answer all of you questions to help clarify a few things. We did screw three boards to the wall, attaching them to the studs. We then used L Brackets to attach the book cases to the wood strips on the wall. We added spacers between the book cases (blocks of wood), then attached the decorative trim between the three book cases. We did leave the wall trim in place. The bottom of the book case is designed to fit around the trim. We added the same trim around the book case and tied it into the existing trim. On the sides of the book case we added a piece of MDF already painted the exact same color as the book case (we found it at Home Depot) It was the exact dimension, length and width, that we needed which made the book case flush to the wall. If you zoom in on the picture during the build process you can better see the L Brackets and the side wood trim we used. I hope this helps. If you do decide to do this send me a picture. I love our book case do I say go for it! Good Luck!!
I have two of these ladders I picked up 5 years ago for $30 on craigslist. Had great plans for them but our new home has low ceilings and can’t bring myself to cut them down. Apparently the original stamping from putnam makes them valuable. But as of now collecting dust. 🙁 love your bookshelves
Wow, what a great find for you! So sorry you cannot use them yet! I wouldn’t want to cut them down either. Maybe there is a home renovation in your future where ceilings are raised ? Good luck and thanks for stopping by
Hi, I know I am 3 years late to this post, but if your ladders are still collecting dust, I’d love to buy one depending on where you’re located in the US?
Can I ask where you got the ladder and hardware from? im having terrible trouble locating anything like this in australia
We found it on Ebay and the hardware was included. Good luck with your search!
I just saw your IKEA bookcase and it’s absolutely gorgeous! I am wanting to do the same thing and yours is the best! Love the clean lines and how beautiful the white contrasts so well with your gorgeous floor!
Joanne, thank you so much. It is still one of my favorite DIY’s today. We are still loving the floors and are happy we went with the darker stain. Thanks for stopping by to see us!