Ikea Billy bookcases - boxes/baskets like for Kallax?

[RunAwayHome]

I'm reposting this from Chat, as there weren't too many responses there, and I'm hoping someone here might have some further ideas:

Does anyone have any nice storage boxes/baskets that fit in the Ikea Billy bookcases (the narrow one)? And where did you get them from? I know there are lots of nice ones for the Kallax units, but I am considering the Billy ones instead, because it's a very small room that is going to need a lot of shelving, and the Billy ones have height extensions, and also are not quite as deep, so won't crowd the room quite as much (might need to go on several walls). And they have a fixing to let them fit in the corner, unlike kallax.

I like the idea/look of the Kallax ones though, because some of the stuff (craft stuff, games, etc) would go nicely in boxes and baskets, to keep it tidy. But I also have a lot of box files, magazine boxes, paperback-sized books and things, etc., which take up only half or two thirds the depth of the Kallax shelves, and that's quite a lot of wasted space then for the amount it encroaches into the room (paperback-sized things I could possibly stack both on top of each other and in front, but then it's hard to get at them). So I was thinking that perhaps several of the narrow Billy type bookcases next to each other with the adjustable shelves might be better for the height and depth, but otherwise similar to Kallax, and perhaps I could find some smaller but still nice boxes or baskets to get all the smaller stuff more neatly tidied away. And I could still get doors for some of it.

But Ikea don't sell much for the Billy series - there are a couple of cardboard type boxes, but nowhere near the variety of fabric boxes, baskets, and things that Kallax has. I'm sure there must be other places to find this kind of thing - would be nice to get something that really fits and makes it look like it's meant to be like that!

[DingbatsFur]

Don't bother with boxes. Billy bookcases have doors. Add the doors to the bottom part of the bookcase and your stuff will be neatly tucked away.

[DingbatsFur]

m.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/art/20275550/ billy bookcases are wonderful.

[RunAwayHome]

thanks, yes, I was going to get some doors. I quite like the look of the Kallax ones with mixed open spaces, doors, drawers, etc, and was going to try to replicate that, with boxes in the open spaces for all the little materials/games etc. But not sure they're quite big enough.

I was hoping to get black Billy, but I wonder if that will be too oppressive in a small place

[wowfudge]

For storage to fit - Billy is 28cm deep - try Muji; their stackable acrylic CD boxes are great and they have other things too. Also TK Maxx/Homesense have some good storage/organiser things in at the moment. Also worth a look are Dunelm and Argos.

[RunAwayHome]

thank you for those ideas, I'll check them out! I'd forgotten about Muji as we don't have one here, but I go to London sometimes and see them then, so I'll pop in next time.

[DingbatsFur]

I think if you are trying to replicate Kallax, then just get Kallax, or Trofast frankly which is brilliant for all the younger kids' stuff. Billy is not really deep enough for boxes, unless you put too bookcases one in front of the other. I do think black would be a mistake.

[RunAwayHome]

Not quite trying to replicate Kallax, as that would be a compromise in other ways, but trying to find a kind of half-way solution that works for both books/box files/A4 type stuff that is quite shallow, and also for baskets or boxes that can hold small stuff. Going for Kallax means a lot of wasted space in terms of the depth of each shelf, and in a very small room, I wonder if having shelves that deep would feel claustrophobic, so wanted to keep it as shallow as possible. But at the same time, it isn't all books (craft materials, teaching resources, etc) so need to store those neatly too. And it would be all in a very small flat (so this would be the sitting room).

The wood veneers made me wonder, because there will be other wood veneer things in the room (It will all be on the cheap, sadly, flat packed everything) including some I already have, and none of the woods will match at all. So I was thinking black or white might look better. I had kind of hoped black might equal 'sophisticated despite being Ikea', but maybe white would be lighter and less oppressive. And let's face it, it's all going to be obviously Ikea and Argos type stuff and recognisable as such! (Gradually to be replaced as I save).

[Minicaters]

I haven't found a great solution with billy. We use the clear plastic boxes from ikea, samla, but they are slightly over half the width of the standard shelf so not ideal. We also use a range of mixed and matched baskets which look ok. But we mainly use it for toy storage so I was after practical rather than pretty.

Other options are to have kallax to the height of 2 units, then put a billy on top, thus getting the best of both worlds depth-wise. I've seen it as a sideboard type thing on ikeahackers and it seemed to work with expedit. Alternatively look at b&q's attempt at kallax, called Mixxit. They are only 33cm deep. Argos might do something similar.

[RunAwayHome]

Thanks, will check those out.

I found a couple of boxes and baskets on amazon, and at lakeland, that are the right depth, but they aren't all that wide (maybe 36cm, when the shelves are 50cm). So aren't a fit that looks like they were made to go together. And not much choice in colours either.

I wondered about putting the two together, Billy and Kallax. I wasn't sure the colours were the same though - I have heard that even white varies between the two (though black might be less variable). Although given that I'm trying to avoid encroaching too much into the room, I'd be better with Billy on the bottom and kallax on the top, except that doesn't work!!

Will go for as many doors as possible if i do go for Billy (this is still a while off as I haven't moved yet), and hide stuff that way. But a bit of variety would be nice too, with open spaces, baskets, shelves, and doors, like the Kallax, just narrowed. Will check out B&Q for Mixxit though, might be a compromise!

[Minicaters]

i know what you mean, but visually having the kallax at bottom means the units recede up the wall, which will make the space feel bigger, honestly. You could also consider the galant but it doesn't look so good for flexibility. Good point about the colour matching.

You could also help it feel bigger by painting the billy backboard the same colour as the walls. It's easier to do this before you assemble them. Alternatively line them with wallpaper. Either option would minimise any colour matching issues.

[TheUnwillingNarcheska]

We have billy bookcases but the narrow 40cm wide ones (on top of an Ikea desk) and we use Tjena series from Ikea.

here

35x20x27 fits sideways, precisely into the 40cm unit. I went to Ikea, looked at their billy display to see what they had used and anything I thought would fit I walked back with it to the billy section and tried them

[RunAwayHome]

oh maybe they're only 40cm wide then, not 50, in which case the lakeland basket might fit OK too. Only one colour there though. The Tjena ones might look good covered with something, if I got round to it! Or plain black.

I know what you mean about the smaller shelves on top making the place look bigger, and it might be something worth trying out. But i think I'm going to be concerned about actual floor space, to fit the furniture in! Small room, surrounded by bookshelves on several walls, plus table and chairs, computer desk, TV, armchairs, etc. (one bedroom flat, where the lounge has to do everything else!!).

[Minicaters]

Fair enough. We have mainly billy for similar reasons, with a tall kallax in the corner for games etc.