Home-Making, DIY, Furniture

[Anita Bensoussane]

Moved from another thread.


When I moved three years ago, I bought BILLY bookcases from IKEA as they hold a lot of books (I'd had BILLY bookcases at my old place too, but in a different colour). Other than that, I got all my furniture from charity shops. Have fun hunting for the things you need, Courtenay!

[Boatbuilder]

Is the nearest IKEA to you still near the M6/M62 intersection at Warrington, Courtenay? That was the closest one when I lived up the road from where you are and it was quite a large store. It was their first store in the UK which opend in 1987. Then again, it was 32 years ago when I lived there - in fact it's 32 years ago tomorrow (30th) that I moved from there to where I am now.

[Boodi 2]

I used the IKEA "Billy" shelving for my books for years, but got a bit bored with it and found it difficult to keep the books dust-free! Hence late last year I bought two actual bookcases with glass doors from IKEA in what I think is a very attractive green colour (my son's girlfriend described it as blue!) and am really delighted with them. I think they also belong to the "Billy" range, but can check if you wish. We actually had difficulty getting them in the green (or blue!) colour as they were constantly sold out in the IKEA stores in our area so we had to order them on-line, after which they were delivered, which was a bonus as they probably would not have fitted into our car. They also come in a range of more "conservative" colours such as white, pine and a dark wood finish and although more expensive than the standard Billy shelving units (which are now gracing our garden shed!) I can totally recommend them.

[Chrissie777]

Way back in Germany I had lots of Billy 90 IKEA bookcases.
How I wish I had bookcases with glass doors!
Since 2007 we bought several Mainstays bookcases from Wal*Mart which are wider than Billy 90 bookcases by IKEA. My husband built many bookcases himself (his master piece is my Enid Blyton bookcase).
We have 24 bookcases spread all over the house, my favorite room is our dining room-library with 7 bookcases.
But in the living room we have 6 large bookcases filled with DVD's, same in the bedroom, all TV series and TV movies on DVD's in 3 bookcases.

[Anita Bensoussane]

It's interesting to hear about people's bookcases. My BILLY bookcases are white and they look something like this (see link), with doors that are half white and half glass. However, the arrangement shown in the picture is only three-quarters the width of mine (I have five lots of my chosen arrangement, though they're not all in the same room). The top layer is a height extension unit, also with glass doors. I think the doors are OXBERG but they're designed to fit BILLY:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/produ ... 5.jpg?f=xl


Chrissie, twenty-four bookcases sounds fabulous!

Yours sound like a lovely colour, Boodi.

[Chrissie777]

Chrissie, twenty-four bookcases sounds fabulous!

Anita, I always wanted to have a house filled with many books (and not just a few hundred).
There is a German saying that books are the most beautiful wallpaper.
Some friends asked me what will you do with so many books when you'll be old?
Well, I think positive and tell them that my mother is 93 years old and she still reads faster and even more books than me.
So hopefully I can enjoy my books for another 26,5 years.

[Jack400]

My Billy bookcases (only two- I know I'm an amateur) has glass doors to keep the dust out the frame is white, sometimes I wish I had more aesthetic vision, though, probably better to have a decent declutter...

[Boodi 2]

Thanks Anita! My Billy bookcases are similar to your ones, except for the colour and the fact that the whole front consists of glass doors, about which I am very pleased.

[Anita Bensoussane]

There is a German saying that books are the most beautiful wallpaper.

They certainly are!

[Courtenay]

Sorry I haven't been around much for a couple of weeks, everyone! It's just been a very busy time for me, especially settling into the new flat, and yes, getting into some DIY with the IKEA furniture!

I have so far successfully made a pair of Eket cabinets for my living room and a Gersby bookcase for the hall (shallower than a Billy), and tomorrow I'm having a few more flat packs delivered — a standard Billy bookcase for my bedroom, a Billy / Oxberg 3-door glass-fronted bookcase for the living room, and a Hauga chest of drawers. So all that should keep me busy for a fair while longer!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Hope all goes well with putting them together!

[Katharine]

I feel I've missed out on one of life's important experiences, as I've never set foot in an IKEA store, let alone purchased anything from one.

As my nearest store is almost an hour and a half drive away, I don't think I'm likely to visit one either - although it would be interesting to look round a store.

Occasionally an item of furniture might catch my eye in a charity shop/antique shop, but I think I'm at the stage in my life now where I'm unlikely to ever need to buy any more furniture, so don't tend to look at things very often. Before I owned my own home I used to love wandering around furniture shops looking at items I thought I might like to furnish a home with.

The reality of actually buying my first home meant that we couldn't really afford anything new and the whole house was pretty much furnished throughout with second hand items, which we either brought with us or friends and family gave us. It was quite amazing really how many people had surplus furniture in garages/spare bedrooms etc which they were only too keen to either give us, or let us have at a very reasonable price.

Gradually over the years we have replaced most of it, the main exception being my dining room table and chairs. The table could do with being professionally re-polished, and the chairs need to be re-upholstered, but I don't think I'll ever part with it.

[Fiona1986]

I love Ikea! Our nearest is an hour ten, but it's an order and collect store which means most stuff isn't available to take away on the day and you'd have to pay delivery (which is fairly extortionate!). The other options are Edinburgh (1 hour 25) and the bigger Glasgow store (1 hour 45), and that's it for Scotland.

My parents took me to the Glasgow store when Ewan and I bought our flat as I wanted a folding dining table and chairs, and I got a lot of other smaller things, too. In the rest of the flat we make do with Ikea-copies from Argos and B&Q. My bookcases are sagging, though, and I wonder if the Billy ones would have lasted longer.

[Moonraker]

I did buy some china in a IKEA once. Poor quality and chipped easily.

[Chrissie777]

I love Ikea! Our nearest is an hour ten, but it's an order and collect store which means most stuff isn't available to take away on the day and you'd have to pay delivery (which is fairly extortionate!).

I remember 1979 and my first Billy 90 bookcases which we bought at IKEA in Hannover, Germany.
Even though we were both young and strong, these bookcases were extremely heavy and I sure wished they would have been delivered to save us carrying them 3 flights upstairs to our rental apartment.