Customise an IKEA Billy into a pro bookcase
From floor to ceiling, three tweaks for a bespoke effect
IKEA's £50 Billy can become a floor-to-ceiling £200 bookcase with three well-executed tweaks.
The IKEA Billy is the standard for the affordable bookcase. But left raw, it looks like IKEA. Three tweaks transform it.
Tweak 1, take it up to the ceiling
The Billy is 202 cm tall. If your ceiling is at 250 cm, you have a 48 cm dead zone above it that sabotages everything (see rule 03.12). Solution, add a bespoke top box above the Billy.
What you'll need. MDF panels cut to size (£40-60 at Castorama Castorama or Leroy Merlin Leroy Merlin). Screws and brackets. Paint to match the Billy.
A simpler variant, the IKEA Billy extension top box (available at 35 cm height), which slots straight in.
Tweak 2, add mouldings
On the sides and top of the Billy, glue fine wood moulding strips. Instant "Haussmann bookcase" effect.
What you'll need. Fine decorative mouldings Leroy Merlin, £15-25 for a Billy. Wood glue plus a manual mitre saw.
Tweak 3, paint the lot in a deep shade
The IKEA white is what shouts "IKEA". Painting the whole thing (Billy plus top box plus mouldings) in forest green, midnight blue, or terracotta radically changes the look. Also paint the back of the Billy in a slightly contrasting shade (lighter or darker) to add visual depth.
What you'll need. Undercoat plus matt paint Farrow & Ball or Tollens. Budget £50-80 of paint for a full wall.
The full combination
3 Billys 80 cm wide aligned (240 cm) = £150 at IKEA. Bespoke top boxes = £80 of materials. Mouldings = £25. Deep paint = £60.
Total = roughly £315 for 240 cm of floor-to-ceiling bookcase painted in deep matt.
An equivalent bespoke bookcase would cost £2,500-4,000.
Filling the bookcase
70% books, 30% objects (see rule 07.8). Plants, vases, framed photos, sculptures, horizontally stacked books. Some shelves deliberately left emptier (the empty counts, rule 07.13).
## Key takeaways
The Billy is not a bookcase, it is a chassis. With mouldings plus floor-to-ceiling top box plus deep paint, you save £1,500 against the equivalent bespoke piece. The rule, never let a Billy stop halfway up a wall (see rule 03.12).