Creating Space with a Bookcase
Whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, colouring or activity books, at least one person in your family is likely accumulating books at a faster rate than usual in 2020. When our book collecting outpaces our book editing or purging, it’s time to talk bookshelves. Okay, I know book ledges look pretty, and many of us are actively trying to avoid extra surfaces where clutter could build, but if you find yourself ready to write off bookshelves entirely, you may want to give them a second thought.
I was well acquainted with the standard BILLY bookcase, having owned a couple myself in the past. I’ve also seen them work well in many homes with avid readers and book collectors, where they put vertical space to excellent use library-style. What I’ve just had the fun of experimenting with, and what I think is less well-known or appreciated, is the versatility of the BILLY bookcase. This classic IKEA piece is full of potential and proved to be just what our family needed. As we continue to reinvent our space around our work-from-home lifestyle, here’s how we introduced more book storage and warmth to our space without the cluttered feel:
FIT: With varying height and width options, two narrow and one standard size shelf combined to fit side-by-side along an under-utilized wall, offering varied shelf areas for styling purposes.
DOORS: Doors on the bottom hide the shelves that efficiently fit rows of most of our books. These doors are part of the BILLY / OXBERG collection which also includes a glass or half glass door as a tempting option.
SHELF HEIGHT: Flexible shelf height was adjusted around decorative items to achieve a balanced look.
SHELF QUANTITY: Extra shelves from above, and two add-on shelves gave us customized game storage for smaller, favourite boxes concentrated on the bottom right.
STYLING: Open shelves were styled with the most personalized book collection (jackets removed), plants, pictures and bottles of Scotch (definitely John’s touch), all in a neutral colour palette with green and gold accents.
Of course, you can also do all of the above with built in bookcases. This is a more permanent and more expensive route to take which may not be for everyone. If price is the concern, many people are hacking built-ins by actually building around IKEA’s BILLY bookcase. I love finding inspiration in how people creatively hack IKEA products, but admittedly I tend to opt for the simplest and most fool-proof projects myself. In this case, IKEA’s line of BILLY bookcases offered all the pieces I needed. I simply added doors and the extra shelves to the basic shelving units. Adding customized hardware or injecting colour with paint or wallpaper are the other two other ways I’m most likely to customize my IKEA purchases.
When it comes to designing and styling the overall aesthetic of the BILLY bookcases, I referenced several other examples of BILLY / OXBERG Bookcase combinations. My favourite inspiration photos illustrate the value of styling open shelves with restraint. Here are a few more that may inspire you as well:
