The IKEA BILLY Bookcase Hack You Need For Stunning Floor-To-Ceiling Shelves

Whether or not you're a voracious reader, investing in floor-to-ceiling bookshelves is a great idea, especially if you own a small home. Not only do they provide you with lots of storage, but they can also be aesthetically pleasing, depending on how you organize and style your bookshelves. Whether you're creating the home library of your dreams or trying to increase storage space in your small office, you could probably benefit from more shelves. Fortunately, there's an IKEA hack that turns BILLY bookcases into floor-to-ceiling, built-in shelves that look incredibly high-end. 

This DIY hack uses a total of four IKEA BILLY bookcases ($69 each), four IKEA BILLY height extension units ($30 each), and eight IKEA OXBERG doors ($25 each) to create custom shelving for books, storage, office supplies, or even to display family pictures. Depending on your budget and available wall space, you might only need two bookshelves and two extension units, which would cut cost of this hack in half. If you don't need hidden storage space, you also can forgo the OXBERG doors.

The first step for this bookshelf renovation is to create a short platform for the Billy bookcases to sit on. This, combined with the height extension units, makes the bookcases truly floor-to-ceiling, especially if you have extra-tall ceilings. You can choose to use just the platform, just the height extension units, or neither, depending on what fits in your space. You can also add trim and molding to the top, bottom, and in between the bookcases to complete the built-in look of the shelves. To save some money, carefully remove the baseboards behind the bookshelves to use along the front of the unit. When you are done, paint the unit the color of the surrounding walls, and if desired, swap out the OXBERG door knobs for something more custom. 

The nice thing about IKEA's BILLY bookcases is that they have adjustable shelves that you can arrange for different dimensions in the interior. While you can choose to fill in the extra holes along the sides for a cleaner look, it renders the shelves immovable and you won't be able to adjust them. If you don't fill in the holes you'll be able to keep the versatility of the shelving. This is also the case if you forgo the doors on the outside of the shelves, as it will provide you with more options for readjusting the size of each shelf.

As for how to decorate your new floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, the options are limitless...and don't just have to be books. While you can put a curation of books, pictures, and plants on the visible portions of the bookshelves, you can also store office supplies and board games in the bottom sections behind the doors. If you're using the room as a private office, you may want a neat, clean, and presentable look. The doors will help hide any items you don't want shown, while also leaving you with plenty of storage space in the house.

In the reviews of the BILLY bookcase, you'll find beautifully color-coded rows of glassware, art, decorative items, and even incense. Some customers use the shelves purely for closet or office storage. And others use the bookshelves as a home library for actual books. Since the interior of the bookshelves is so versatile, you can store anything from your to-be-read list to your most precious purses and shoes.