Laura's Living Room: Ikea Billy Bookshelves Hack

In case you missed the reveal, you can see that here.

Laura's home already had wonderful, historic bones, but the living space could use a bit more character. Laura wanted bookshelves, and while we had talked about something clean and modern, I really encouraged her to stick with the period of the house and create something that looked original. Custom built-ins aren't cheap, and we knew this would need to be on a budget. Hacking the Ikea Billy has been done before (my friend, Kristin, did a beautiful version) but with this being an older home, we had several obstacles to overcome.

One, we didn't want to have to rip out any of the existing woodwork. Usually you cut away the base trim when you want something flush against a wall, but Laura wanted to keep the over-100-year-old trim in tact, in case the built-in was ever removed. And two, nothing is level. A lot of settling has certainly happened over the decades, and while it's not really noticeable to the average looker, it's a problem when you're trying to get things level. To get a truly built-in look, this was going to take someone who knew what they were doing.

Laura and Craig brought in a good friend to make our ideas reality. Axel is a carpenter, and while he specializes in more rustic, modern decor (his arrows have been a huge hit at West Elm) he has all of the knowledge to tackle something like this. I figured instead of me telling you about the process, I would let him. Take it away Axel.

We began by assembling the three Ikea bookshelves (2 of these and 1 of these). To make them taller than standard we added the extension cabinets (here and here).


We positioned them in the spot where they would go to determine the final placement. We wanted to maximize and "beef up" the over-all size of the bookcase so the cabinets were actually spaced with about a 5.25” gap in between. After they were secured to the wall, 5.25" wide trim pieces were added to bridge the gaps and also added a decorative element.

To mount the bookcases to the wall I located the wall studs and secured four 2x4s to the wall horizontally. Because we were working with a wall (and floors... and ceiling) that are over 100 years old- it was necessary to use shims to bring the 2x4’s to level on the wall. Once level, the bookcases were secured to the 2x4s using small L brackets. Since the bookcases would have a space in between each, and both ends would end up covered, I was able to place them on the sides of each bookcase directly.

Laura wanted the bookcase to look like it had always been there and have that “built-in” appearance so we had the challenge of matching the existing base board and crown molding. The crown molding wasn’t too hard to find a replica. As for the baseboard, in order to replicate it we ended up layering a few different types of trim. Once painted, it flowed seamlessly around the wall.
As a side note: none of the original molding or trim was removed from the walls. The new trim was cut to fit around the existing trim so that if the homeowner wanted to remove the bookcase it could be converted back to its original condition.

I used a single 1”x12”x12’ floor to ceiling to box-in the left exposed side while the right side was hidden in the corner behind trim.

Knowing we would be mounting a 10’ sliding library ladder to the top of the bookcase, I reinforced the top structure by making a rectangular box “crown” that was fastened to all available wall studs in order to give the ladder a solid foundation. This was later covered by a 1”x10” cabinet header and then trimmed out. I marked the placement of the ladder rail during this stage so I could make sure and mount the rail cleats into the hidden infrastructure later on.

After all the cabinetry was securely in place I added the trim, attaching it with an 18 gage brad nailer. Using painters calk I filled all cracks, holes and gaps. All that was left to do was paint and hang the ladder!

To continue that custom look Laura filled in all of the unused shelf holes (Kristin goes into detail on that) and took a shelf to get color-matched at the paint store, ensuring the best match. The beautiful library ladder has a twin and I can't wait to do a similar version of these built-ins in our house for her to glide on someday.

You can follow Axel Co. on their Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to check out their shop. From decor to custom work, Axel does an incredible job!
In case you missed the tour and floor plan you can find those here and here.