IKEA billy/ kallax

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone has successfully stacked the IKEA billy bookshelf on top of the kallax cubes and whether it would be safe to do this? Obviously all fixed into the wall, but whether the Kallax would hold the weight. I have included a very comprehensive set of diagrams below. We have a wall that's 310 cm long and 240 high. I want the whole wall in storage for toys/boxes/books.

Option 1- 2 kallax units on their sides giving 8x cube boxes for storage, with 4 billy bookshelves on top. There will need to be some spacing going on and some white panels added to make it 'fitted'. There will also be a small lip of about 18cm because the kallax is wider than the billy.

Option 2- kallax stacked at one side, then billy shelves filling the rest of the space. Same sort of trimming to make it look fitted. Will need height extension for the billy I think.

It's in our playroom but will need to house our books and files etc.

Or any other combinations anyone can think of?

Damned Pinterest.

Option 2, wouldn't want to risk all that weight on the Kallax. I'd be tempted to set Billy forward somehow so fronts all flush.
We have three lots of Billy fixed together with top extensions. Looks good but some shelves with heavy books have sagged.

Option 2 as above. If you're going for white they will probably be different shades. Our billy is whiter than the kallax.

Option 2 and push the billy forwards so it is in line

Option 2 - but unless you're boxing in the bit behind Billy, it won't be stable or safe enough. So I'd say just have them both flush against the wall, and deal with the fact that they're not in line.

Yes, I think you're right. I suppose the other option could be kallax at either side and billy in the middle so it is symmetrical at least......

Could also then fix the billy to the kallax through the sides so it holds together as one big unit.

Thanks all.

Now I just have to find a way to tell dh he was right

Why not just Billy throughout? You can get a height-extender. And some of the IKEA storage boxes (particularly the kids ones or kitchen ones) fit Billy perfectly.

I just thought we would need deeper boxes for toys, with shelves for books. We did consider kallax all over, but I don 't think books will go on those cubes without a lot of wasted space.

Do they do boxes for billy? I find the IKEA website very difficult to just skim and search through, unless you know what you're looking for!

A lot of the boxes fit, but aren't expressly branded 'for Billy'.
We have some white plastic ones which were from the kitchen section and we have some fabric orange/blue ones which were from the kiddy section. (I spent a lot of time picking up various boxes and trotting over to the nearest Billy to test!). Will try find you a link...

Try the besta range. You can make any combination you like and they have upright units and such with options for shelves, drawers, cupboards etc.

There's also a besta planner on their website. www.ikea.com/gb/en/customer-service/planning-tools/bestå-planner/

Humpfh. Looks like the orange/blue ones have been discontinued. (Kusiner was the name)

One of the kitchen ones that works is this (check the size though) - it works well that there are handles for children to pick up. www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/kitchen-products/kitchen-organisers-shelves/variera-box-white-art-30155019/

There's a neater white plastic box too with lids, but it's harder to pick up so I think the one I've linked to works better. Trofast boxes also fit, but don't look so good.

The billy would be no use for storing heavier toys like the kallax. Shelves would sag and not very deep.

Perhaps. We've not had any issues yet, but we don't have many toys that heavy (we are pretty heavy duty book readers though and I don't think our toys are as heavy as our books). Maybe the wooden train, it's currently in a trofast, but if it was at the bottom of the Billy (only safe place for it to be!) I don't think it'd sag as it's the bottom shelf which is (sort of) supported by the front strip.

It's the fact that we need books/CDs and boxes on there. I've had besta before but unless they've changed them in the last 10 years, they are too deep for books (lots of empty space at the front!). I will check out the planner though in case I've missed something.
We are planning a daytime trip to IKEA as dh had the day off on Tuesday- whenever we've been on a Saturday it's been like the 2nd circle of hell in there and I haven't been able to concentrate!

They do so many boxes don't they, but don't seem to advertise any as being suitable for billy. I'm sure on the displays though they have boxes on them, so that may work. I will have to fill my trolley with different boxes and stake out the billy section

The other one is www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/small-storage-organisers/storage-boxes-baskets/kuggis-box-with-lid-white-art-60280205/

Just looked at besta but it's a bit out of my price range unfortunately!

This is the bottom of our billy at the moment. The trofast only fits one wide (just checked). The blue/orange ones are the discontinued ones.

Thanks, that looks really smart. Those white boxes are from the kitchen section? They look good with the handles

I wouldn't get Billy for anything too heavy. The narrow (40cm?) ones are fine, but the shelves on the wider ones will sag if full of heavy books and cds, it's very annoying.

They need to bring back the old Lack bookcase

Do you definitely want the open look?

I have a bank of Ikea Pax wardrobes for the playroom and I can shut the door on it all and hide everything away. For board games we use the Skubb canvas boxes and stack the games on their sides meaning they are easily accessed.

I have Bonde (original Kallax name) and I have had billy. Kallax - you do lose books on it, you can stack them 2 rows deep, so I understand the billy option.

If you don't want Besta or Pax then I would put billy in the middle and have a Kallax either side and drill through the sides to attach the whole unit together and attach it to the wall for safety.

Yes shera they do a 40 cm and 80 cm width. Do they sag even under the weight of a shelf of 'normal' books?

Yes, the handled boxes are from the kitchen section. They're the VARIERA ones. The shelf under is the same boxes in a bigger size so side-on. We've only had billy-sag on one shelf where i was hoarding a huge number of heavy magazines.

They sag under the weight of a few colouring books and a box full of craft stuff. A shelf full of paperbacks and it would definitely bow. We use ours for board games, boxes of lighter toys (there's a foldable box in the children's section that fits 2 side by side on Billy), and the kitchen boxes posted above for random bits. The books go on the 40cm wide one. There's a narrower one, Benno I think, that's suitable for CDs and DVDs. It can sit flush next to Billy.

Those 4x1 kallax are pretty robust - vastly more so than the bigger kallax units. We have stacked our 4x4 kallax on a 1x4, well secured of course, and it seems very solid to me. However I think it would be very tempting for little ones to stand on the 18cm lip. While that's prob ok I think I'd go with the side by side option. I'm sure there are examples on eg ikeahackers of a sideboard type thing made of shelves over 4x2 kallax.

The downside with billy for toy storage is the 40/80cm width is a bit annoying. Most boxes are slightly over half the width and/or too deep for the shelf. They are great for montessori style offering a handful of options but not ideal for storing volumes of toys. That said we hadn't found those white boxes pictured by savage, and you only need one type to work.

We haven't had any problems with "normal" books bowing, and we put all the heavy stuff like encyclopedias and files on the bottom.