IKEA Billy Bookcase Hack: Frequently Asked Questions

Several years ago we turned a blank wall in our home into a wall of built-ins using IKEA Billy Bookcases. I published a blog post tutorial for our IKEA Billy Bookcases turned wall of built-ins in October of 2020, and I have been answering questions ever since. I never mind answering questions at all, but I thought it would be helpful for people embarking on this build to have another blog post to refer to for questions. So that’s the why behind this IKEA Billy Bookcase Hack: The Most Frequently Asked Questions blog post!

If you don’t find your question answered in the original post or below, you can message me on Instagram, or leave a comment below!

Before we get started, I must mention that this is just a roundup of frequently asked questions. If you want the entire IKEA Billy Bookcase tutorial, you will want to read the original blog post, which can be found here: IKEA Billy Bookcase Hack – Wall Of Built-ins

IKEA Billy Bookcase Hack: The Most Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Are the lights hardwired?

Yes, the lights are hardwired. My husband is an electrician, so he wired them. You can see in the above photo, the wiring he left out on the top right before we did anything else. If you are hardwiring lights, you will want to have an electrician come do his/her part before you start the project.

That being said, you definitely do not need to have lights hardwired. I have seen plenty of great “hacks” you can use if you don’t want to wire in lights. Check out this post by Nesting With Grace for her “magic light trick.”

P.S. Where are the lights from is another question I get daily! Find the Brass Wall Sconces Here.

2. Where did you get the doors for the bookcase?

The doors are from IKEA. They are the Oxberg Doors. We used these knobs on the doors.

3. Did you have to do anything different with the door hinges?

Yes, we did have to adjust the hinges for the trim.

We drilled in to the cabinet just as you would do if they were regular Billy Bookcases. We just adjusted for the thickness of the wood trim we added. For instance, if you add a 5/8″ piece of wood, you will move the hinges out 5/8″. We adjusted for the extra depth, and used the screws they gave us to drill into the cabinet in a different spot. However thick the wood is on the front, you will move it that amount.

4. Did you paint the bookshelves?

We only painted a small portion of the actual Billy Bookcases. (We obviously painted all of the trim work we installed.)

You can see from the photo above the portions of the actual bookshelves we painted.

We painted only the top of the 1st bookshelf, the inside of each shelf, but only on the left and right (where we attached molding and filled the shelf holes,) and the top. The rest we left unpainted. We used a Zinsser primer before painting the bookshelves.

I have seen IKEA hacks done where the whole bookshelf is painted, and it looks amazing. I wanted ours to be white, which worked out to be the easier route, because we didn’t have to paint everything. If you are wanting to paint yours, check out this blog post by Chris Loves Julia.

5. What color did you paint the Billy Bookshelves?

We used Benjamin Moore Simply White in an eggshell finish to paint the portions of the Billy Bookcases that we painted. (See #4 above for which portion was painted.)

6. What color are your walls in this room?

Our walls are Benjamin Moore Simply White, which is the same color as the portion of the bookshelves that were painted. (see #4,5 above for details on this.)

7. How did you cut out for the bookshelf electrical?

We used a jigsaw to cut out a portion of the bookshelf for the electrical plugs.

Note, we have received the following question a couple of times regarding the electrical boxes: “Did you keep them mounted as they originally were to the stud, or remount them to account for the thickness of the back of the shelves?” Answer, my husband used box extensions and longer screws.

8. What did you build the IKEA hack base with?

We built the base for the bookshelves to sit on with a mix of 2x4s and plywood.

9. How did you attach the trim to the wall and ceiling?

We attached trim pieces to the walls and ceiling, so we would have something solid to attach the bookshelves to. We used screws into the portions where we could hit wood, and sheetrock anchors on the rest.

10. Did you use the backing that comes with the Billy Bookcases?

We did use the backing that comes with the Billy Bookcases. We have had zero issues with it, and I think it still looks great years later.

11. What did you use to fill the pre-drilled holes?

Shown above, IKEA Billy Bookshelves come with pre-drilled holes for shelves. This is so the shelves can be adjustable, which is great! We opted to fill those holes after deciding on shelf placement. I have seen others that haven’t, so this is completely a matter of preference.

When filling these holes, we used DAP DryDex.

12. What is the size of your wall?

The blank wall was 141″ wide, and our ceilings are 9′ tall.

13. How long did the process take?

We did the building of it all over the course of 2 days, and then took our time over the next two weeks for caulking, filling holes, sanding and painting.

I took my time filling holes, sanding, filling again, sanding again, etc. I did not want it to be noticeable where the holes were at.

14. What tools do I need?

Here are the tools that we used for the project:

• air compressor with brad nailer
• compound miter saw or this one
• table saw or this one
• jigsaw or this one
• drill
• And if you aren’t handy, and a handy husband, wife or friend will help :-)

15. How much did it cost?

We didn’t keep a record of the exact prices, and the cost will vary depending on how big of a bookshelf, doors/no doors, etc., but this should give you a ballpark idea:

• (4) IKEA Billy Bookshelves $200
• (4) IKEA Billy Bookshelf height extenders $100
• (8) IKEA Oxberg Doors $280
• paint, caulking, hole filler, etc. $125
• wood- molding, trim pieces, material for base, etc. $200
• hardware- we used these knobs $100
• estimated cost = $1,000

A few additional notes:

The molding that we used: 1×10 MDF trim for top; 1×6 MDF trim for sides; 1×4 MDF trim for between each shelf; 2x4s & OSB crown molding for top.

I have an IKEA Hack highlight on my Instagram page that you may find helpful. I have included videos and more details that are hard to convey in a blog post. You can find that highlight here.

I hope you found this IKEA Billy Bookcase Hack: The Most Frequently Asked Questions blog post to be helpful! Let me know in the comments below if you have anything additional to ask!

If you are wanting to know where something pictured above, you can shop my home here.

Other posts you may be interested in:

8 Items To Use For Simple Shelf Styling

How To Decorate Shelves & Bookcases: 7 Simple Steps

IKEA Billy Bookcase Hack – Wall Of Built-ins

The Sommer Home

Kaari has spent the last 20 years building, renovating, and decorating homes. She is a home styling expert and an avid Amazon hunter, sharing her home styling advice, as well as home decor Amazon finds.