Talk to me about Ikea shelving

[saraha]

We desperately need new shelves. What do you think of the Ikea shelves? They say they are made of particle board, paper etc, are they sturdy? Thanks! (Why does my return button not work?)

[Tap]

Depends on which shelves and what you are shelving.

 

The Billy Bookcases are Amazing for books. Very sturdy but as with anything be smart about it. If you have a bunch of ubber heavy hard bound books, spread them out, put them on the bottom or be willing to have a bowing shelf after a few years. If it is just a normal mix of paperback and typical hardbound books, no problem. I have bunch of extra tall art books that are all glossy pictures. I put them on the bottom shelf to avoid the bowing because I want them all together. That one shelf probably holds more weight than the entire rest of the books in the case. I have had Billys full to the hilt for years and they all look as good as the day we bought them.

 

We have the Besta unit in the living room and it is sturdy as well. The shelves are deeper so it wouldn't be my first choice for just books, but for a mix with other electrical components, it works great. That being said, I have 4 glass shelves and it holds a collection of 30 hard cover books (mixed with decorative glass pieces). Zero problems.

 

We use the Besta in our pantry as well. They have been there two years. Shelves full of canned goods, heavy bake ware, and miscellaneous appliances. No problems and no sagging there either. I try to put canned goods around the edges of the shelves and not so much in the middle if I can help it, but honestly it usually ends up mixed up.

 

 

I wouldn't expect IKEA furniture to last 15 years if it has a lot of weight on it without some sagging or bowing, but honestly, so far so good!

[saraha]

Do you have one of the besta tv units?

[soufflegirl]

I agree, it depends on the shelves and how often you plan on moving them around the house or up/down stairs. I swear by the Expedit shelves, and I put the large itso boxes from Target in them to corral the kids' toys.

[KungFuPanda]

I have some shelves that are 10 years old and look brand new. We haven't moved, so maybe that helps?

 

I've been told if you want them to last nearly forever, to put a piece of plywood on the back. I've never done that, but it makes sense. In fact, the last set of billies I put together I put fabric on the back before assembling them. I think they're pretty :-)

 

I do think there was a time when ikea furniture was cheaper and much more cheaply made, but they've come a long way.

[craftyerin]

I passionately love my many Expedit shelving units from Ikea. I think we have five of them in our house, in various sizes.

[craftyerin]

dp, sorry

[Supertechmom]

Love our Besta cabinet which is currently jammed packed with books. ( and hidden behind pretty doors that cost way less than Billy doors YES!) they do have a narrow cabinet now that is perfect for books ( I think it is 7 or 8 inches deep) We bought two of those and put in the kids room to hold all their video games and favorite book collections. the Besta can hold more weight per shelf than the billy last I remembered and holds more cd/vidoes than the special cd tower they make as well..

[KrissiK]

We have one of their shelving units in our school room and also have their desk sets. They're a year old, but my kids are hard on everything and they are all holding up quite nicely. I also love the way it looks.

[Mrs Mungo]

We have a ton of Billy bookshelves and a several Expedits. Oh, I also have a handful of Kilbys that can sometimes be put inside of closets because they are shallow.

 

I've had some of them for 15 years, and they've been moved: within Germany, from Germany to the US, CONUS to Hawaii and back, then back to Hawaii. This last move is the only time some of them were damaged by very careless movers. :( But, my dh managed to put all of the IKEA bookcases back together, none of the rest of my bookcases were salvageable.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Our living room- Billy and Expedit- a picture says a thousand words. :-)

[gardenmom5]

as others have said - it depends what you want to do with them. we have billy in three rooms. one set of five, has LOTS of hardbacks with no problem. I had bought those used, and they've been in my basement for five years with books.

 

some things, like hemnes, are made from pine with a fiberboard back.

 

the only difference I would have done was get the 15" deep billys in my family room because I wanted full doors on the sides, but some books stuck out more than 11". I only have doors on the bottom. except the extensions only come in 11" . . . . . . . If I had it to do over, I may have done the hemnes in the family room becasue I liked the gray wash but they weren't as tall as I wanted, and I love the looks of liatorp, which is what I really wanted, but no way would have fit . . . .

 

eta: I have a besta between the family room billys for electronics (needed depth). the TV is wall mounted above it. the besta are stronger. I have another besta wall mounted above the piano for music.

[*Jen*]

I love my new wall of billy bookcases. After we installed them we read about not using the cardboard backing and having thin plywood cut to fit the backs of them. I wish I would have done that because the walls in our house are old and not even If the kids push hard enough on the books, the back bows out in a few places.

 

Here's a pic of my billy wall.

 

[saraha]

THank you so much!! THe pictures are really helpful too.

[G5052]

FWIW -- I have a wall of Billy shelves in my office that are 15 y.o. Other than being very plain, I have absolutely no complaints. They are floor-to-ceiling and are anchored to the wall.

 

I really need more, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to get them. I sold a ton of books this summer, and still have a lot in boxes. Maybe in 2014? That's my plan. A homeschooler can never have enough bookshelves...

[IrishMum]

I have Besta shelves all over my house, in my living room, dining area, and homeschool room. They are about two books deep, so not great if space it tight.

Here are pictures of the ones in my living room.

 

[IrishMum]

Our living room- Billy and Expedit- a picture says a thousand words. :-)

 

 

 

Monica, how do you post you pic like that?

[Samiam]

I love the Expedits! While they are partially particle-board, it's not the same as the yucky particle board from Target/Walmart type. I have a cube shelf from Target and it's waaay more cheap/fragile than the Expedit cube shelfs. I think that Ikea uses better engineering in their materials and design. They are bigger cubes than those Target/Walmart ones too...I can stand up a binder in them, while the cheaper ones are not tall enough for binders. We have Expedits in our school room, and all four bedrooms, as well as our bed and DS14's bed and his dresser are from Ikea (not Expedit stuff, another line). Our entertainment center is Ikea. We LOVE Ikea, and I feel blessed that we have two within driving distance, we make a trip a couple of times a year.

 

I'm not a big fan of the Billy bookcase look....I think they look just as cheap as Walmart bookcases....now again, the quality is likely better than Walmart particle board. But I've not bought any cuz of the plainness. (Though I see the pics here and they do look nice when they have that built-in look). I just prefer the cube style since there shelves as not as long as a whole bookcase shelf, and thus not as big of problem of books falling down on their sides.

[Miss Cornelia Snook]

I have an Expedit in my boys' room. It holds up well, but it currently just collects junk, so I'm planning to move it to my living room and buy some baskets for it. Make it into a launch pad.

 

I want to look at their mattresses, the next time I'm there. Anyone have good or bad reviews on those?

[Tap]

It is funny to hear what people like and don't like. I like Billy and Besta, but really dislike Expedit. We have 4x4 of it in dd6s room. It works for what we want it to. It is her dresser and holds books/toys etc. We use the pink fabric bins that work as drawers for her things. I hate the way it looks though. It is big and chunky, taking up a lot of room for the amount of things it holds. If it wasn't for the fact that it works for her dresser, it wouldn't be in the house.

 

 

My Billy and Besta all have glass doors and a few solid doors. I like that everything is put away.

 

 

ETA: I think one of the reasons I dislike it, is the proportions. I don't like the square or 2x ratio of the design. I like proportions that are in more odd numbers than evens. I don't like symmetrical geometric shapes with distinct ratios...it is just ad oddity of mine.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

 

Monica, how do you post you pic like that?

 

Your picture has to be web-hosted somewhere, like flickr or another photo hosting site, or in my case, on a blog. I go to my blog, right click on the photo I want to share and select "view image", which then loads a page with a direct URL to the image itself. I copy that address, then in the forum, I click on the button that looks like a pic of a tree and paste the URL into the window that pops up. HTH!

[xixstar]

I added several Billy bookcases to my craft/school room. Does well storing books, projects, art supplies, craft supplies, etc. :) I have an expedite in the living room for toys and such, like it too but wouldn't use it as primary book storage due to shelf shape and how much 'dead' space is there too. But I do love them for toys.

[Heather in Neverland]

I ADORE my Expedit book cases!!!

[Χά�ων]

I am wondering this myself. I have some cheap bookcases I bought at Target 8 years ago. They fell apart and I gorrilla glued them back together but I need to start looking for shelves. I have lots of hardback books that are incredibly heavy.

 

 

FWIW the gorilla glue is stronger than the cheap plastic screw-like pieces the shelves came with that were used to hold it together.

[IrishMum]

 

Your picture has to be web-hosted somewhere, like flickr or another photo hosting site, or in my case, on a blog. I go to my blog, right click on the photo I want to share and select "view image", which then loads a page with a direct URL to the image itself. I copy that address, then in the forum, I click on the button that looks like a pic of a tree and paste the URL into the window that pops up. HTH!

 

Thanks, it did help!