Stacey in MA Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Let me first say that we use our "dining room" as the school room as well. I have always hated how things are just "falling" off the shelves and onto us as we are trying to eat! And the shelves that I had before we all mish-mashed - different styles - poor quality - get us by for a short while - shelves. I longed for some cabinet style storage where I can CLOSE the doors and not look at all of those things during eating time! Thing is, this is a front room, and the windows go low, so it was tricky to find the right ones. So I finally FOUND and BOUGHT my storage! Hooray! They go right to the bottom of the window - perfect fit! I feel so organized! Though my back is killing me from hunching over while building these units all day, but I am excited to have it done, and am pleased with the look and quality. Hooray for IKEA! The line is called "Besta". Here're the ones I bought: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60102152 But I put these doors on: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60118308 With these handles: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/96670683 So it was about $105 for each cabinet (I got 3). I have one more wall space to fill, without accomodating a window, so I plan to get a taller cabinet shelf that goes with these, like this: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80102127 But that will have to wait until another rainy day......$$$ I hope I don't sound pretentious, but I am so excited to get ORGANIZED! We put it off for so long, b/c we going to move, then not, then going to move, etc. Now we know we'll be in this place for another 2 yrs, so I felt right about spending the money working around this space. Any other IKEA fans out there? What's your favorite IKEA product? My other favorite is our Expedit cube shelf, like this: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80071319 Have had one of those for about 6 years - it still looks and works great. OK, just had to share - thank you!! - Stacey in MA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy loves Bud Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Stacey, You'll be so happy! I have a special place in my heart for Ikea. I have several Billy Bookcases. Upstairs in the "library" I used three of the Billy's, painted them the same mink brown as the baseboard in the room, and left the backs off so you can see the cream walls through them. Turned out great. In our breakfast room, where we do school I just put up two more Billy's. I had to modify a bit to do the doors the way I wanted. I put solid doors on teh bottom half, and doors with glass inserts on the top half. I covered foam board with fabric and put it inside the glass. So you see the pretty fabric from the outside, and inside it functions as a bulletin board. I have a few more projects to make the breakfast area function like I want it to and still look like a nice part of the house, but I'm well on my way. Enjoy your new shelves - the best part is filling them up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 How fun!! Happy organizing!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdie Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Stacey, Yeah! That must be a great feeling to get organized and you are going to enjoy eating in your dinner room with your matching bookcases. I spent the weekend reorganizing our hs den and moved a few Ikea Billy bookcases. I really appreciated that the adjustable shelves don't fall out when you move them due to their great design. The Ikea bookcases are so sturdy too. We have kept a set of encylopedias on the second shelf for over a year without the shelf bowing. Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mamagistra Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 In our breakfast room, where we do school I just put up two more Billy's. I had to modify a bit to do the doors the way I wanted. I put solid doors on teh bottom half, and doors with glass inserts on the top half. I covered foam board with fabric and put it inside the glass. So you see the pretty fabric from the outside, and inside it functions as a bulletin board. Oh, I would love to see pics of that. We school in the breakfast/dining/how'd-we-ever-get-a-table-in-here room, but my poor green Billy is a nekkid doorless wallflower. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2legomaniacs Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I am having some bookcase envy here. I want some Ikea shelves in a big way. My dream is to have a room with lots of neat shelves and cubbies and all. Oh, some day, perhaps. Nice shelves! I love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay in Cal Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 We have lots of IKEA stuff... Most of our shelves are not "pretty", but serviceable. We have tons of IVAR, which we started buying shortly after we got married. It has served as shelving in our living room (now replaced with something prettier), as extra storage in the kitchen and dining rooms, and now will be shelves in the school room of our new house. It is great stuff, because it is so modular we can move it around as we need. In the new place there is a wall with 6 units in a line, plus 2 other free standing ones. I also have some nicer Billy shelves in the bedrooms for books (we need more) and some cheaper IKEA bookshelves in the hall (now moving to the office in our new house). I'd someday love to do Billy shelves with glass doors, but not until the boys are grown! Hmmmm... I just realized our new house will have a total of 21 bookcases, not counting built ins. Lots of books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I'm so happy for you...and a bit envious, too. :D I so love my built in bookshelves that are in our dining room/school room. They work well for having the kids books on hand and my tm on hand as we do school at our dining room table. But, we need more bookshelves. Dd11 has one in her room which holds her library of books and texts, etc. Ds8 and 10 have one in their room which hold a number of things (just not a lot of books. :glare:). I'm thinking of stealing that from them and putting up some shelves on the wall to house their "junk". But, I LOVE IKEA stuff. Love the Expedit, but can't afford them. We have the Trofast frames and bins for toys. I like them, but my kids are so hard on the bins that they crack and break so often. A cheaper option for cube shelves for me are the Target cube shelves. I wonder if they are the same size as the IKEA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy loves Bud Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I posted this recently on the kitchen thread. The tall shelves are made to use the tall doors, so you have to drill extra holes in the bottom of the bookcases to make two short doors fit one on top of the other. I really wanted the fabric to show to dress them up, but didn't want glass on the bottom for fear it would be kicked. It was easy enough to do. I just covered the foam board and used a hot glue gun to place it inside the glass doors. Easy peasy. I still need to do a tablecloth and chair cushions - the table cloth is khaki with black trim with a six inch drop and is squared off at the corners so it doesn't slide around on the table. The chair cushions are the same fabric as is in the cabinet, but with apple green trim. I want to get some kind of decorative boxes to put on the table bases for larger artwork. Also, if you want to get creative ideas for Ikea products, check out Ikea Hacker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mamagistra Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I posted this recently on the kitchen thread. Also, if you want to get creative ideas for Ikea products, check out Ikea Hacker. Yo, yo, yo! Vita, that is LIVE! :D I hope my new IK-atalog arrives soon. :auto: Thanks. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey in MA Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 What a great job you did! Did you see that done, or clever up that idea on your own!!?? Looks great! There are actually web pages dedicated to customizing IKEA stuff. Sort of like this one: http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/ Fun to look at the cool creativity! Thanks for all the replies! I'm walking with a spring in my step b/c my dining area is so much less "confusing" now! ;-p - Stacey in MA ETA - Woooops! Just realized you linked that already - ah, great minds think alike, huh? hee hee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy loves Bud Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 We do think alike! I bet you are loving it. I'm not a naturally organized or tidy person, but I've started realizing in recent years that I get stressed out when there is a lot of clutter, and I find it difficult to function at my best. So enjoy your newly organized and lovely dining room! P.S. How difficult were your shelves to put together? I found that the Billy's, once I did the first one and knew what to do, were quick and easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 CONGRATS! I love organizing too and we have the Expedit shelves and LOVE them! Enjoy your new room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela in GA Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I bet it will be so much fun organizing your stuff on your new shelves! I have el'cheapo book shelves for our school stuff. I hate 'em, but I suppose it's better than nothing. I would really love to have some Ikea shelving. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Yay! New stuff is such fun!! Our whole house is Ikea because we moved countries and had to set up for not too much. We are about to move house and I'm buying an Expedit to use as a room divider to hide the school area from the rest of the living area. Plus all desks, chairs, shelves etc are Ikea. Sad eh. I love Ikea!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunrose Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I LOVE Ikea. The nearest one is 4 hours from me. I keep hoping they get one in New Orleans but it hasn't happened yet. Have fun organizing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Oh man, I miss living near an IKEA store. Hopefully my catalog will take a little of envy I'm feeling. Love...love...your new book cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey in MA Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 Yes, it was easy to put the shelves together. And after the first one, I was cruising! I love how "solidly" IKEA stuff goes together. I don't know why all companies use that bolt and round cam method! But the doors were a little trickier - I had to take my time. The hinges are pretty nice and heavy-duty quality though, so I'm pleased. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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