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[Oznell]

People are always fooling with, and altering the plain, utilitarian line of "Billy" bookcases from Ikea.

You might remember how Lone Fox transformed his?

I thought that one was fun.  People have a lot of creativity in customizing these economical items.

Someone turned theirs into under counter storage--

You can make it into a cabinet/bookshelf,  by adding doors to part of it, giving that highly valued "closed storage"  for stowing stuff that's not picturesque...

Here below, someone added molding to the edges, beefing them up so that the shelves look so much more substantial,  plus painted just the back of it for impact.  It now looks so much more custom and interesting.

This was really ambitious--  they painted the entire thing, and added full length doors and inset some reeded glass:

I like how English blogger Melanie Lissack made her "Billys" into a built-in look in her sitting room in Essex:

She wanted a "built-in" look bookcase on a budget,  especially to showcase her growing collection of white art pottery.  So, to some regular Billys positioned side by side, she added molding and even faux beadboard, then painted all, giving them a subtle upgrade--

[mildoo]

I am impressed by all of them.  Some people are so creative and talented.  I would have just purchased better bookcases and/or shelving.

[cheriere]

@Oznell 

Some people have such unique vision, they can create marvelous things from scratch.  All of these are beautiful!🌸

I purchased two very similar tall shelving units made of oak right after college.  For me, necessity has always been the mother of invention because I used those for so many different purposes at varying times all through my 20s and 30s.  

[wilma]

I think all the "upgrades" of the basic shelf look very nice. Other than just painting it, IMO it's a lot of work, expense, and energy to add doors and other details. I guess it might still be less expensive than just buying better shelving. 

[Oznell]

Bingo, @cheriere --  I think you have a lock on the whole "bookcase versatility" phenomenon.

I was also one of those young people who, had a simple, not-fancy oak bookcase early on.  If you loved books, and had a lot of them, you had to have something to put them in, and even back then, high end bookcases were expensive.

Now, they are *really* costly, and as for built-ins, don't ask--  whew!   So I can see people going with entry-level Billys from Ikea.  The Swedes seem to know how to come up with inexpensive choices that end up doing the job, humble as they are.

But people who bought what they could afford at the time, start craving specialized storage, and even custom looks.  So they do fun things with their low-cost bookcases, even if they can afford finer ones too.  It's a game to see how far you can push them!

I started going down the rabbit hole of transformed Ikea bookcases, and really liked what this woman did to them to give her office a really special look!   She started with four Billy bookcases that all together cost $196.... so she probably didn't mind spending a little more in supplies to give them this sleek, custom look:

[GinaV24]

@Oznell how very clever those changes are to the Billy bookshelf.  I especially like the under the counter version. I've been trying to find something that will work to let me store things I currently have on the counter - like the counter top oven, the crock pot, etc.  I may have to measure and see if I could make it work.

[GinaV24]

oh my @Oznell I really like that custom book shelf look.  The dark green is fabulous too.

[ECBG]

Very interesting.