need help deciding on shelves/storage

[kesmom]

I am hoping to buy shelves for our school books/supplies (in dining side of kitchen) when I go to Ikea later this week. What I have wanted is something with child-proofable doors on the bottom half and open shelves on top. I have browsed craigslist for over a year but found nothing in my price range. We currently have an average size (5ft?) 5 shelf bookcase in this area, but because of toddlers the bottom 2 shelves don't have much on them. (and we hope to have more little ones in the future :) )

 

So my original thought was this Billy shelf with this extension - but I still think that price is kind of high for what you get. (the same bookcase without the lower doors is half the price)

 

Now a friend mentioned to me that I could mount a smaller Expedit on top of a bigger one - and that is initially cheaper than my first option. Though if I wanted to close off the lower shelves it would definitely add to the cost. Plus I don't know which choice would work the best (doors or drawers) or if I could add cabinet locks to them. On the plus side, I think the Expedits would be more versatile than the Billy if we chose to use something else in the future.

 

Any thoughts? Reviews on those Expedit doors/drawers? Or any other amazingly wonderful option I haven't thought of? I would like to keep it under $200, but the closed off bottom shelves are a must.

 

Thanks!

[Tap]

We went with Billys and the doors. We have typical height ceilings and the extention was too high for us to use.

 

I don't like Expedit as much as Billys because you are forced into the cube space with no variations. I can adjust the height of the Billy shelves and the shelves are longer than the Expedit cubes are wide.

 

Ds has one of the larger Expedit cases as a headboard in his room and he likes it, but it bugs me.

 

You can't put games on the Expedit shelves unless you have them on top or sticking out. You can't put something taller, like a Globe, in an Expedit square.

 

 

Billys are easy to put together, the larger Expedits are a PAIN in the tush!

 

 

One advantage of the Expedit, is that it makes a good room divider (allows light through) if you can anchor it to one wall. But we did the same with Billys, by putting two back to back, and attaching them together with a bracket.

[Heidi]

You could just get another 5-shelf bookcase like the one you have and use the bottom two shelves on both bookcases for the toddler's books and toys to play with while you do school.

 

Or get an armoire in your budget range and have your husband add shelves in the top part where the tv would go. That way you can keep all the mess out of sight when not in use.

Edited June 12, 2011 by hmsmith

[kesmom]

Thanks! I didn't think about the fact that the Billy shelves have more options.

 

I can't buy a second bookcase due to lack of room (the current one will have to move to a bedroom) and we will need the lower shelves for school storage. Toddler toys already have a home just a few feet away on built ins in the living room.

[Giraffe]

I don't know about expedit doors, but I love the shelves and will be purchasing more later this summer. The cubes are perfect for organizing and dividing our books, DD's art supplies, DD's books, other stuff. Two of the smaller expedits are destined for DD's room for toy and book storage. One is destined for our living room (already overflowing in bookscases) for toy storage.

 

I'm past childproofing, but I am going to look at several baskets to fit in cubes to hide some of the messier, less "displayable" stuff we need and use every day, and therefore need out and accessible.

 

I used to have Billys but find the Expedits much more useful for our family.

[LivingHope]

We have the narrow (about 16 inches wide) Billy Bookcases with glass doors and extensions. I prefer the narrow ones because my books don't fall over when the kids get into them. We have a total of 19.

 

Janell

[JennyD]

I also have some of the Billy bookcases with the doors below. It's very easy to add child locks to the cabinets. (Not so easy to prevent the toddlers from figuring out the locks, but that's another story.)

[kesmom]

Thanks!

[alpidarkomama]

A friend of mine got about 3 feet of plexiglass cut to fit her bookshelves. She had a lip on the edge of the bookshelf, so she could slide it in. You could also use some kind of clips on the outside to hold it in place. It was very easy to slide it up and get anything you needed from the bottom.

[Evergreen State Sue]

I love, love, love the Billy Bookcases I put in our school area. I have two corner units (6 total bookcases). They look nice, and hold a lot of weight. We originally were going to put doors on our bookcases. However, we found that some of the larger 3 ring binders and oversized books hang over the edge, so we couldn't use the doors. They still look great.