Looks good now, but your shelf sag will worsen in a year or two with hardcovers, with an Ikea Billy. I have owned 10+ of these in various iterations, and the shelves always sag if you actually have books. I look at em as cheap apartment bookcases that are disposable every few years. Maybe try this trick with higher quality Ikea Hemnes, or a Sauder bookcase.
Hi Eric, thank you for being here and for your comment. I completely agree with you in the fact that Billy bookcase shelves sag over time, especially when they have books weighing them down. Like you, I am now an owner of 10 IKEA Billy bookcases. What you may not know is that 4 of the bookcases in my video are over 8 years old. They’ve been moved around over the years and they seem to fulfill their purpose - to hold my books and knick-knacks. I own Hemnes furniture too. It is nice and the furniture is built with some solid wood whereas Billy bookcases are made of particle board and MDF. Just like people, they’ll get old, things will start to age, sag and look tired. At the end of the day, a well-stocked bookcase is more meaningful even if it’s a little saggy and dilapidated. We’re not perfect as people, and neither are bookcases. I love them all the more for it.
I was just staring at my Billy deciding to do this and found your video. I have that woodfiller lying around somewhere and plenty of white paint. If you want to use the holes again later btw, it’s easy to just drill it out again I guess. Thanks for the tips!
You are most welcome for the tips. ☺️ Thank you so much for watching! I’m glad my video offered some inspiration and help. Take care and good luck with your Billy project!
Just found your video. Great job on the production quality. For the larger screw caps underneath, I used a vinyl decal from Amazon, Fastcap Adhesive Cover Caps PVC, White But i still needed to fill other smaller holes. I like your credit card method of leveling the filler. Seems to work well. I like getting it flat in more coats, as i don't want to disturb the finish around the hole. I'm trying my best not to have to repaint everything, so your method to conceal is perfect. Cheers!
what a great hack. So glad to know your trick. I recently saw shelves in a magazine that looked just like yours and I could not see any holes or hardware and I wondered how it was possible to hold the shelves, Now I know!!! I love this uniform display. Thanks for sharing
I like your video I build built-in bookshelves from plywood And hardwoods in my carpentry business! As far as filling in those holes with wood filler or white putty I would fill it completely in in one go and actually leave it proud or leave the wood filler above the line of the hole so that there's a little bit of a bump instead of a divot! Let that dry for a few hours and then come back and sand it flush and flat with a very light grit sandpaper like 400 or maybe 2:20 depending on what kind of shelving surface you have! 👍🙂 It'll go a lot quicker and it'll be a lot less work having to come back and keep filling it in if you do it that way! If you are not comfortable than the way she's doing in the video works to we just are trying to get it completed before we leave the job site and it works for us just fine the way we do it! Ps.... Lol ... I've never ever had that pink dry to White spackle compound ever stay pink on me and many years of using it! Lol You must have got a bad batch or maybe it wasn't dry yet because those deep holes will take a long time to dry in the center and that could keep the moisture wicking out to the surface which will cause it to stay pink for a long time! If you would have put a blow dryer or air nozzle on it and tested it it would probably drive out to White or if you just left it all day long but you don't want to wait that long so I would probably just use the white stuff like she said here! 👍✌️✌️✌️ GREAT VIDEO YOU'RE DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB WITH YOUR HUSBAND ON MAKING SHELVES LOOK BUILT-IN AND MODIFYING IT TO YOUR LIKING VERY NICE!!! WAY TO GO GUYS! PEACE ✌️
Love your library wall! ♥️ However, these days even expensive, custom, solid wood bookcases have holes to allow you to adjust configurations as needed. Filling them seems very limiting. Adding molding would have done more to make look custom than reducing the adjustability/ functionality by filling holes.
Hi, Thank you! That is fair - that most bookcases allow you to adjust the shelves by having holes and filling the holes would limit adjustability and customization. However, I prefer my bookcase shelves to all be equal in spacing. I’ve had them like this for 8 or so years and never needed to adjust anything. I’m not able to add molding as I’m in a rental and doing so would be a very permanent installation. I have seen it done and it looks gorgeous, for sure. Take care! ☺️
The moulding goes on the face of the shelving unit, and covers the joint where two shelving units meet. It offers the finished look, and gives the eye something to look at on the front so you won't notice the adjustable holes as much. I'm doing it to a different set of IKEA units now. 1" on the sides of the end units, 2" in between units. Up top, I'm adding a header board, with museum lights facing down. Non permanent installation for everything!
Hi! I find it helps me to weigh down my bookshelves with items and then try to push them together. The space between two bookshelves can happen when the floor is uneven as well.
I would not fill in the holes which allow for adjusting the shelf height. At most, I would cover them with cut to size thin panels in matching white or some attractive color, perhaps a peel & stick, sheeted laminate, or even just a roll of white tape. I group my books by genre which means a group is rarely all the same height. My shelves will likely need adjustment as I add books to my collection. You are not "hiding" the holes so much as defeating their utility.
Looks good now, but your shelf sag will worsen in a year or two with hardcovers, with an Ikea Billy. I have owned 10+ of these in various iterations, and the shelves always sag if you actually have books. I look at em as cheap apartment bookcases that are disposable every few years. Maybe try this trick with higher quality Ikea Hemnes, or a Sauder bookcase.
Hi Eric, thank you for being here and for your comment. I completely agree with you in the fact that Billy bookcase shelves sag over time, especially when they have books weighing them down. Like you, I am now an owner of 10 IKEA Billy bookcases. What you may not know is that 4 of the bookcases in my video are over 8 years old. They’ve been moved around over the years and they seem to fulfill their purpose - to hold my books and knick-knacks. I own Hemnes furniture too. It is nice and the furniture is built with some solid wood whereas Billy bookcases are made of particle board and MDF.
Just like people, they’ll get old, things will start to age, sag and look tired. At the end of the day, a well-stocked bookcase is more meaningful even if it’s a little saggy and dilapidated. We’re not perfect as people, and neither are bookcases. I love them all the more for it.
Namaste
I was just staring at my Billy deciding to do this and found your video. I have that woodfiller lying around somewhere and plenty of white paint. If you want to use the holes again later btw, it’s easy to just drill it out again I guess. Thanks for the tips!
You are most welcome for the tips. ☺️ Thank you so much for watching! I’m glad my video offered some inspiration and help. Take care and good luck with your Billy project!
Just found your video. Great job on the production quality.
For the larger screw caps underneath, I used a vinyl decal from Amazon, Fastcap Adhesive Cover Caps PVC, White
But i still needed to fill other smaller holes. I like your credit card method of leveling the filler. Seems to work well. I like getting it flat in more coats, as i don't want to disturb the finish around the hole. I'm trying my best not to have to repaint everything, so your method to conceal is perfect.
Cheers!
Thank you so much for the kind comments! I’m happy I could pass along some ideas/tips and thank you for sharing yours.☺️ Take care!
what a great hack. So glad to know your trick. I recently saw shelves in a magazine that looked just like yours and I could not see any holes or hardware and I wondered how it was possible to hold the shelves, Now I know!!! I love this uniform display. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for your kind words and for the support! I’m so glad I was able to share the trick. Take care! 💓
I like your video I build built-in bookshelves from plywood And hardwoods in my carpentry business!
As far as filling in those holes with wood filler or white putty I would fill it completely in in one go and actually leave it proud or leave the wood filler above the line of the hole so that there's a little bit of a bump instead of a divot!
Let that dry for a few hours and then come back and sand it flush and flat with a very light grit sandpaper like 400 or maybe 2:20 depending on what kind of shelving surface you have! 👍🙂
It'll go a lot quicker and it'll be a lot less work having to come back and keep filling it in if you do it that way!
If you are not comfortable than the way she's doing in the video works to we just are trying to get it completed before we leave the job site and it works for us just fine the way we do it!
Ps.... Lol ... I've never ever had that pink dry to White spackle compound ever stay pink on me and many years of using it! Lol
You must have got a bad batch or maybe it wasn't dry yet because those deep holes will take a long time to dry in the center and that could keep the moisture wicking out to the surface which will cause it to stay pink for a long time! If you would have put a blow dryer or air nozzle on it and tested it it would probably drive out to White or if you just left it all day long but you don't want to wait that long so I would probably just use the white stuff like she said here! 👍✌️✌️✌️
GREAT VIDEO YOU'RE DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB WITH YOUR HUSBAND ON MAKING SHELVES LOOK BUILT-IN AND MODIFYING IT TO YOUR LIKING VERY NICE!!! WAY TO GO GUYS!
PEACE ✌️
Thank you so much for your kind words, for being here and for your great tips and recommendations!
Thanks for the explainer and also you have a beautiful, sweet dog!
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for being here and for your kind words! 💓
Thank you for these ideas! I look forward to building a Billy wall like yours!
Thank you for the kind words! I’m happy to help. Good luck with your future IKEA Billy wall. 💞
Extremely beautiful! How tall is your bookcase? Thank you
Thank you! The bookcases are approximately 237cm (93 1/4”) tall.
Been searching for a video like this for a while now. Thanks ❤
I am happy to know it helped!
You did a great job with this project. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! That’s really kind of you. Take care!
Thank you for sharing! Looking forward to your next video on “How to keep your dog fluffy” 😁
Thank you! ☺️
Love your library wall! ♥️ However, these days even expensive, custom, solid wood bookcases have holes to allow you to adjust configurations as needed. Filling them seems very limiting. Adding molding would have done more to make look custom than reducing the adjustability/ functionality by filling holes.
Hi,
Thank you! That is fair - that most bookcases allow you to adjust the shelves by having holes and filling the holes would limit adjustability and customization. However, I prefer my bookcase shelves to all be equal in spacing. I’ve had them like this for 8 or so years and never needed to adjust anything.
I’m not able to add molding as I’m in a rental and doing so would be a very permanent installation. I have seen it done and it looks gorgeous, for sure. Take care! ☺️
The moulding goes on the face of the shelving unit, and covers the joint where two shelving units meet. It offers the finished look, and gives the eye something to look at on the front so you won't notice the adjustable holes as much.
I'm doing it to a different set of IKEA units now. 1" on the sides of the end units, 2" in between units. Up top, I'm adding a header board, with museum lights facing down. Non permanent installation for everything!
@realmayo9984 That sounds wonderful. I’m sure it’s going to look beautiful once it’s all finished.
Hello. How do you make sure there is no space between your shelves?
Hi! I find it helps me to weigh down my bookshelves with items and then try to push them together. The space between two bookshelves can happen when the floor is uneven as well.
I would not fill in the holes which allow for adjusting the shelf height. At most, I would cover them with cut to size thin panels in matching white or some attractive color, perhaps a peel & stick, sheeted laminate, or even just a roll of white tape. I group my books by genre which means a group is rarely all the same height. My shelves will likely need adjustment as I add books to my collection. You are not "hiding" the holes so much as defeating their utility.
All that load on the floor?