IKEA Billy/Oxberg bookcases

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

Has anyone got the Billy bookcases with the glass Oxberg doors on? have you found magazine files and box files that will still fit on the shelves even with the doors? I had just about decided that that is what I wanted to get, when I read somewhere that box files etc protrude by 0.5cm and the doors don't close! But I am not sure that they are always standard dimensions, and some of the files and boxes online say 25 or 26cm, which should be OK.

The depth of the bookcases are 28cm, the shelves are 26cm and I have read that with the doors on, there is only about 26.5cm of space.

I have loads of box files, magazine files, and lever arch files to put in them, and I wanted the glass doors to keep them dust free. I don't have room for any wider shelves, so this is my best option. I don't mind buying some new boxes/files to put stuff in if needed, though would be more ideal not to replace everything at once. I need them to be quite heavy duty. A4 pages and books aren't as wide as 26cm, so you'd think there would be some files I could get.

I just wedged some thick cardboard under the front of my Billy bookcases to discourage them from tipping over. I think this is sufficient in a household with no children.

My first baby is arriving in May and it is on my to do list to attach the Billy bookcases and one Malm chest of drawers to the wall.

They are sturdy bits of furniture which in the normal course of things don't seem at all unstable, but then I'm not using them as a climbing frame!

Really strong sticky tape from a diy store could stick mirrors and bins, though wood is very easy to screw into (buy something labelled "wood screws") Never screwed into tiles that does sound hard.
My walls are solid, if very hollow sounding keep knocking till you find a hard bit. You can buy an electric tester thing you run over the wall if you are worried about hitting stuff. I used to use one but now I just avoid drilling in the line of any plug sockets and haven't done any in the kitchen or bathroom.

maybe there will be a map of the pipes etc when I get the documents for moving in! That would help.

I doubt the wardrobes or cupboard doors are actually wood - they're things like IKEA Pax wardrobe doors and stuff. Maybe chipboard? I don't really know what IKEA makes things out of but it doesn't seem too heavy. But little screws might work.

I've got both new Billies & old Billies & they're the same depth. The shelf holes are different - so fitting new doors to old Billies requires drilling new holes - & the height too, very slightly, but that's all.

Have you got Aldi near you? Their "shoe boxes" fit perfectly - in lieu of box files - & they were on special last week.

Also these wedges are helpful for stabilising - if you can lean them back a bit towards the wall they are less likely to topple. Ours aren't attached to the wall but there are no kids here - I think if there were I would get them attached

www.screwmaster.co.uk/10-furniture-levelling-wedges-1mm-to-8mm-brown-plastic-snap-off-excess-200-p.asp

NB - finally - I don't know if you've got them yet but the glass doors are bloody heavy. For concealing filing I'd stick with half-height solid doors

oh excellent, yes I think there's an Aldi somewhere around, will find it!

I haven't ordered anything yet as I think I need to get in first and check out position of sockets and things to see just how many I can get and what height. The builders seem to have decided that any blank wall where you might put furniture needs to be decorated all over randomly with sockets, switches, thermostats, doorbells, whatever other 'things' that need to go somewhere (why not on all those little walls that don't have anything else? Or if needed, at the very edges of wall?). Very frustrating!

No children around either, though some visiting, but always with supervision, so not worried about climbing or anything, but does have to take the weight of books. There wont' be much moving about once they're installed (mainly because there's nowhere else to move them to - not many choices of where to put them!) but solid doors might still be good - I wanted to hide clutter, so doors generally are good, whether glass or solid. Glass I thought might look a bit more elegant or light, but not really a bit deal.

But - here you go - box files will fit fine too! (I hadnt tried them with the doors before )

So you could have some box files & some shoe boxes maybe to maximise space. The shoe boxes are fab for random non-filing stuff)

Sympathy about builders' placement of Things btw. I have been astonished at intervals all my life at what they think is sensible

yes there are quite a few things about the place that make me really wonder if they ever thought through the practicalities of living there! (And I'm, quite obviously, not the world's most practical person - but even if I can't do things with my hands - yet! - I can at least envisage the sort of practical things that would determine how you layout kitchens, or walls, or what have you).

Thanks for checking about the box files, as that will simplify things a lot - I have a lot of box files and magazine files that will take a lot of things, and the shoe boxes will be great for smaller stuff that needs to go inside something to keep it tidy. I'm thinking of getting a few extra shelves as well, so that I don't waste as much room between shelves if I have some things that aren't as tall.

Def get extra shelves, they only come with 5 including the fixed middle one. Here is my extremely untidy wall of Billies with lots of extra shelves (& top boxes). They're not fixed together or to the wall but with the wedges under they're pretty stable.

I have another set of doors too but to go on an old Billy & I haven't organised getting the new holes drilled yet (it's a precise job & neither of us is up to it )

Incidentally you don't have to go to Aldi specially for the shoeboxes, they do free home delivery & still have some stock of clear & orange.

Have fun putting it all together

www.aldi.co.uk/shoe-box-3-pack/p/068047099684200

I have the billy bookcases with the doors. Ours are anchored to the wall. It's a small bracket that IKEA will give you multiple of at no cost. We have three holding the main cabinet and two holding the top extension.

Please fix furniture to the wall. We had a scare with one of my kids opening two drawers and the whole thing starting to tip over. I was there so caught the dresser before it fell on them. After that I go brackets from the hardware store and fixed all furniture to the wall. It was so easy and not something I had ever given much thought to.

thanks!

that looks good, and it's helpful to see how the height extension fits as well. I hadn't realised the middle shelf was fixed, either, so that's useful to know - will def get some extra shelves. I'm thinking of going for the new beige colour one, which doesn't have extra shelves available yet, but there are glass ones, which could look quite nice. It's in a small corridor, probably lining it with shelves, so I don't want it to look too dark, and though I like the brown/black ones best, I think that would. The wood veneer would be similar to but not matching some of my other flat pack stuff, so would rather have something different, which leaves white, or the new beige or blue ones. white is OK but reminds me of childhood bedrooms, very ikea looking, so thinking that beige might be a good compromise.

I think drawers are quite scary for causing things to tip over, and a good reason for avoiding those in the bookshelves. I might have some in the Pax wardrobes though, but behind a door to prevent climbing. MIght still be worth fixing those to the wall, though, as that's a bit more of a flat wall.

do picture hooks just hammer straight into the walls then? No plug?

What about doors - either big doors like bathroom/bedroom doors, or small doors like cupboards and wardrobes, do those need special screws or nails or plugs?

It's possible that the outer walls and the walls between the flats are the solid brick infill ones, but the internal walls (not that there are many ,but between the bathroom and hall, and bedroom and hall) could possibly be hollow/wood frame - what kind of screws/nails/plugs would I need for that? If I can get the whole selection, then I'll be ready when I get assemblers or handy-person around to help! Or maybe they will have them will be and sell them, but good to be prepared.

We have had the black ones, a wall of them, they were dark dark dark. Ok if room otherwise light and airy
I am getting white or wood Kallax next time (having moved from book to toy storage as the years go on)

The fixed middle shelf holds the whole thing together pretty much - it's a vital part!

This is the rigid bracket that comes with for holding it to the wall - as you can see it's adjustable by an inch or so, but if that's not enough for your odd walls they do also make nylon fabric ones as PPs have mentioned. (The one shown in situ, with a top box above it, came already attached to a second-hand Billy - it isn't screwed to the wall. If I ever get a handyman in to sort out the hole for the doors I'll get him to fix it to the wall too.)

For hollow walls I believe there are special plugs which flare open inside the cavity to hold them in place if there isn't a convenient stud to drill into instead. We have a fairly heavy bathroom cabinet attached to a stud partition wall but again that was done by a proper handy-person & I don't know what he used - maybe the studs.

Picture hooks can be easily pinned (nailed) into plastered solid walls. For lightweight things you should be ok to tap the pins into skimmed plasterboard but I'd take advice for anything heavy like a big picture or a mirror.

Room doors are fixed to thick solid wood jambs with long strong screws & matching plugs but the builders should take care of that.

Examples from IKEA website of different wall fixings

I'd def recommend getting them fixed to the wall if you are having doors on them, it can really throw off the balance if the door is open

I have some old Billy bookcases so was a bit concerned about the new ones being different, as i need a couple more, now i have finalised the plans for that room

Also I always fix mine together...any difference in tilt, or gapping would vex me!

I had problems with the A4 lever arch files fitting into my (older) billy book case with door - ok without the doors though - I just got rid of them and moved the stuff into A4 ring binders . I have box files that fit fine (and ikea wooden magazine files)
DO fit them to the wall - even empty they are really heavy and narrow ish so quite unstable. It really isn't worth the risk - even if they only hit the opposite wall they will make a mess.
We have the tall ones in DDs' bedroom. We were having work done under the floor so they were emptied (shelves left in) and pulled out a few feet - only for a couple of hours and DDs were told not to go in there. But DD1 had to go and be nosey. I was telling her to come out (I thought she was going to put her foot through the ceiling more than anything) so saw it happen - she accidentally nudged, just really gently, the back of one and it fell forward... she was behind it so was fine but it smashed their table football game into bits. When we fixed them back I put extra long screws into the wall and two extra fastenings - it would have seriously hurt her and possibly killed her younger sister.

Tondelaya how old are your old ones? They changed about 18 months ago I think. Images show the height difference & also, if wood effect, they're a lot grainier now - much better quality & appearance in fact

Height diff could be minimised with wedges under the front edges

hmmmm, probably about ten years old! I only really need one, as we did not realise one of the cats was extravagantly peeing over the edge of his tray and it seeped under

i'll maybe look at somehow replacing the bit at the front that meets the floor instead.

Or you could try finding a second hand one nearby on eBay? I got 4 of mine that way (though 2 of them were not nearby, & once they're built they're harder to shift than I realised - that was fun )

thanks, that ikea graphic helps. So for the wood - if they are stud walls for the internal walls - it sounds like just screws would be OK. So I can get a selection of screws in various sizes, and then a selection pack of plugs like someone linked to earlier for the more solid walls on the outside. Then I can get the assembler or odd-job person to do the attaching for me! As well as putting up other stuff - and I can watch carefully to learn how even...

the doors themselves are already installed, but what I meant was for screwing things into them, like hooks and baskets and rails and stuff like that - the bathroom and bedroom doors will need hooks, the wardrobes and cupboards in the kitchen might need things fixed to them, etc. The doors might be real wood, which would mean a screw should be OK but I'm not sure about cupboard or wardrobe doors.

It's kind of exciting after being in a rented house for a very long time, to think about actually choosing to put stuff on the walls, rather than having to use over-door hooks, velcro fixings, etc., as well as choosing some of my own stuff - but at the same time, was quite nice to know that someone else was responsible for all the practical stuff like this! I'm sure it's not too hard, but when you've never done any of it, there's a lot to think about. So it's very helpful have this advice

Sorry, misunderstood! Room doors might be solid or not - you'd need to get into specs to find that out. Do you get any choice about finish?

sadly not, or I'd have had a lot to say about a lot of things...! I didn't reserve until they were all built.

I am hoping the info pack will have lots of useful information like that.