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Where can I get good book shelves?


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Our Billy bookcases from Ikea are fine. We can buy extra shelves for them, too. Each shelf holds about 60 lbs. So far, none have warped even though they are crammed full.

 

I did anchor our Billies to the wall -- Ikea provides the supplies for this.

 

I did this because a little girl in Boston was paralyzed when a bookcase fell on her. None of us are little, but I didn't want to take any chances of that happening here.

 

The Billies do have to be assembled. The first one is the hardest -- after that, it's a quick and easy job with regular tools.

 

Lumber is expensive and special tools are needed that I don't have, plus I've never built furniture before, so I opted for the Billies.

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We are very frustrated. I have been to several furniture stores in our area looking for bookshelves... NOTHING. Just nick nack cabinets and beds/dining/sofa stuff. Lots of clutter furniture like little tables, stools, and stands.

 

I think it says something about our culture... when we can't find good bookshelves easily.

 

I am sick of sauderboard shelving. We may resort to making our own. I have considered having a friend cut the wood on his table saw and then I can put it together here, etc. So frustrating.

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Do you have a "Bare Furniture" kind of store around? We have had good luck there in a pinch when we were not in a position to make our own.

 

Making our own has always been our first choice, but we're into wood already and have the tools and skills, so it's actually cheaper for us. My husband also runs metal pilasters vertically to make adjustable shelves, and it's awesome.

 

Would your friend consider making a bookshelf for you if you buy the materials? We'd even be willing to email how ours work if he/you want. But you really need shop equipment to make them properly, like long bar clamps and other stuff, so it might be better to hire/beg off your friend.

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and the glass cabinet covers for about 1/2 of them. 9 of them, I think? We anchored them as the early poster mentioned and filled them with all the books we've had in the garage and then all my new homeschooling/Tapestry of Grace books. I have loved them ONLY because I didn't have anything workable BEFORE. They were a present from my husband and they made me SO HAPPY!! I couldn't find any bookcases that I could afford to buy more than one or two of. I needed a small library, not a computer bookcase to store my appliance manuals and random newletters. Very frustrating. My Billies have finally started to sway just a little bit in places - but they are packed full. Not a long term solution - but it'll work for us now. I also have one Ikea Hemnes (sp?) bookcase in my sewing room that is much better quality. It is tall and has some crown modeling at the top and a little bit of fluting on the edge of the shelves. Streamlined, but with some style. Unlike the Billy bookcases which are simple to a fault. If we had more money, I would have purchased 8 of those bookcases!

If you have the skill to build your own out of wood, I think that would be a great idea too.

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We build ours, but I am anti-particleboard lol. If you go to a lumber yard you can get wood fairly cheap. I don't know if it is cheaper, but we can make them just they way we want them. If you don't want to make your own, but you don't mind finishing them try an unfinished furniture place.

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I have 3 of these bookcases from Target. I have been well pleased with them. I have 2 of the large and one 3 shelf. For the price they were best quality we've found. They look great up and weren't horrible to put together. I've assembled a lot of furniture and only recommend you don't start these when tired.

 

I looked at several options before deciding on these. They go on sale every so often too. Here's some pictures of them from my blog.

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I've always been opposed to particle board furniture, but we have these. They are a fraction of the cost of Pottery Barn. We were impressed with the quality, the looks, the weight, and the price. Sauder's customer service is excellent, in our experience. But if this is what you mean by sauderboard, sorry.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another good place (if you have such a place) is a local university; sometimes they sell off their old stuff.

 

I have a couple of those small BILLY bookcases from IKEA. I like that they are not very wide. Works better for dividing up children's books, and having them not fall over, as far as I am concerned. And very tall!

 

I got some 2 shelf ones recently at a large grocery/department store on clearance for $12; that made me happy.

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Sam's club has very nice book cases.

 

Ditto this. We have seven sets of double wide, solid wood bokkshelves that we got at Sam's for a very reasonable price. This seems to be a regular item there and I saw it in stock the last time I was there. IMO it would be worth the price of a membership just to get these shelves.

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