Library shelving

grumbler

Nice shelves can be made from solid wood worktops cut to strips. I have 3 shelves 190x33x4cm made from one worktop and supported only at the sides. Some intermediate support may be needed for a bigger span, but this can be done easily.

Jeepers_Creepers

Wow, Billy is good stuff, but still comes to £1500?

With that kind of sum, I'd be asking a local chippy to see what they can do - it would then be truly bespoke, so height and width would be exactly what you were after.

You might think it would be prohibitively costly at first glance, but I think that will depend on a few things. It should be bread&butter stuff for a chippy to rip down boards to the required depth - 200mm will take the vast majority of book sizes for example - and assembling this in a lattice is as easy as chippywork gets. So that's all very quick and easy. It can be made to look good with a few tricks (I'll add a couple below), and this involves nothing complex either. You'll then save a small fortune if you finish the units off yourself - sand off the sharp edges, and then paint them using a water-based paint of your choice - 'chalky' finishes will look great, although eggshell will be more durable (but, hey, who needs durability - I use, gasp, emulsion on mine.)

You can build this out of 18mm MDF, but - as with Billy - the anti-sag solution is to have vertical supports (panels) every 400mm or so; if I were going to use Billy and expected to load it up fully with books, I think I'd use mostly the 400mm-wide Billys for this reason. Ditto if you are bespoking - tho' you could probably stretch to 500mm with no issues. (Not teaching to suck eggs, but the horizontal shelves should be continuous strips, and the vertical supports the ones cut to height to fit in between. And the back edges of the shelves should be supported continuously to the back wall/panel either with pegs or thin decorative mouldings.)

This will all look too 'boxy', tho'? Not if you add MDF archi/trim/rails/frame around it, and down the fronts of the vertical panels at regular intervals - ie not where every 400mm support is, but - say - every 800 or 1200mm. Decor rails can be as simple as 80mm-wide MDF strips, with a V-groove routed in around 20mm from each end, and the corners lightly bevelled, as I've done.

Doors? I wouldn't have them. Two reasons - huge extra cost, and appearance. This is going to be a wall of books - they need to be seen, felt, and smelled :-) 

Finally, make a cuppa and Google 'bespoke bookcases' or similar - give this some solid thought. Are you having the same HEIGHT spacing on all rows? The same WIDTHS between vertical panels? Is it really going to touch the ceiling, or might you want to add a larger archi along the top to make it look like a bespoke 'unit'? What about the backs of the units - do you need one, or won't your existing wall do? Will it be ALL books, or do you want the odd space for your frogs? If so, want any lights in these spaces? If so-so, run ELV LED lights so you can DIY this yourself safely. (And don't fit halogens like me that will set the books on fire if turned up too high).

Spend a good while researching, and get into your head things like best colour combos - the unit 'housing' (back and sides) can be one colour, and the archi another - usually best darker, I think? The beauty is, with MDF you can change this completely at will.

https://www.designbest.com/en/catalog/poliform/living_room/bookcases_and_bookshelves/wall_system/33977

https://www.thebookcaseco.co.uk/custom-made-bookcases/

My 'tricks'. My V-grooved back panelling is made from 3mm hardboard routed with a router. Cost is minimal. (You can also buy sheets of grooved MDF or hardboard - much easier and cheaper than using real planks.) The top cornice is made from lightweight ceiling coving - the same as I've put around the house. Glued to a wood moulding, and painted all together. Paint is normal wall emulsion, except for horizontal surfaces - the unit shelves and tops are satinwood for more durability.

Jeepers_Creepers

And if your bookshelves are going right to the floor (ie no cupboards at the bottom), then run a nice (ogee or similar) tallish skirting along the front of the unit, and start the first shelf from that height.

rach_k

I'd go for Billy, too.

We copied an Ikea hack with Expedit shelving for toys/general rubbish - stacking units to the ceiling and filling a wall - and it looks good.  I think Billy would look even better in an older house because the dimensions are more traditional.  We will be repeating the Expedit process with our existing and some new Billies when we can.  Once you have a wall of books, that will be the focus rather than 'is this shelf from Ikea?'.

One thing I would do different to the photos posted by Doozergirl is that I'd not want any gap between shelves to fill.  Ram the shelves in tight and fit as many books as you possibly can into as small a space as possible is more my style!  Less work too.  If there's a gap at the end, they do half width shelves, or you could cut one down to fit perfectly.  I've seen people use GNEDBY units too (available in the same colours as Billy and take out most of the shelves).  

twopenny

One thing about the glass doors. Good idea. I had the bright idea of floor to ceiling bookshelves and they were a nightmare to dust. And the dust got on the books too which meant regularly getting the lot out and brushed if I didn't want the place smelling dusty. I decided then that anything in future would have doors.

Ditto the shelves. As smooth as possible for the same reason. Make cleaning quick.

Love the look you've got - and Jeepers too. Might just borrow that

Jeepers_Creepers

Dust? Pah! Books should be dusty...

phoebe1989seb

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Dust? Pah! Books should be dusty...

This ^ Yours look amazing, btw!

We're also planning floor to ceiling bookshelves - although ours will be upstairs and mainly housing office stuff/overflow books. Our main book shelves are freestanding/antique (we have a great art nouveau bookcase with applied tile detail that DH won at auction by phone bid fifteen years ago 😉), but I've long hankered after library type shelving....

I'm intending to use the IKEA hacks (and had already saved some of those links Doozer posted 😊) with Billys (probably) mounted over cupboards and particularly want a library ladder. The ceiling is 9'6" high so think I might be able to justify it, lol!

Rosa_Damascena

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Wow, Billy is good stuff, but still comes to £1500?

With that kind of sum, I'd be asking a local chippy to see what they can do - it would then be truly bespoke, so height and width would be exactly what you were after.

You might think it would be prohibitively costly at first glance, but I think that will depend on a few things. It should be bread&butter stuff for a chippy to rip down boards to the required depth - 200mm will take the vast majority of book sizes for example - and assembling this in a lattice is as easy as chippywork gets. So that's all very quick and easy. It can be made to look good with a few tricks (I'll add a couple below), and this involves nothing complex either. You'll then save a small fortune if you finish the units off yourself - sand off the sharp edges, and then paint them using a water-based paint of your choice - 'chalky' finishes will look great, although eggshell will be more durable (but, hey, who needs durability - I use, gasp, emulsion on mine.)

You can build this out of 18mm MDF, but - as with Billy - the anti-sag solution is to have vertical supports (panels) every 400mm or so; if I were going to use Billy and expected to load it up fully with books, I think I'd use mostly the 400mm-wide Billys for this reason. Ditto if you are bespoking - tho' you could probably stretch to 500mm with no issues. (Not teaching to suck eggs, but the horizontal shelves should be continuous strips, and the vertical supports the ones cut to height to fit in between. And the back edges of the shelves should be supported continuously to the back wall/panel either with pegs or thin decorative mouldings.)

This will all look too 'boxy', tho'? Not if you add MDF archi/trim/rails/frame around it, and down the fronts of the vertical panels at regular intervals - ie not where every 400mm support is, but - say - every 800 or 1200mm. Decor rails can be as simple as 80mm-wide MDF strips, with a V-groove routed in around 20mm from each end, and the corners lightly bevelled, as I've done.

Doors? I wouldn't have them. Two reasons - huge extra cost, and appearance. This is going to be a wall of books - they need to be seen, felt, and smelled :-) 

Finally, make a cuppa and Google 'bespoke bookcases' or similar - give this some solid thought. Are you having the same HEIGHT spacing on all rows? The same WIDTHS between vertical panels? Is it really going to touch the ceiling, or might you want to add a larger archi along the top to make it look like a bespoke 'unit'? What about the backs of the units - do you need one, or won't your existing wall do? Will it be ALL books, or do you want the odd space for your frogs? If so, want any lights in these spaces? If so-so, run ELV LED lights so you can DIY this yourself safely. (And don't fit halogens like me that will set the books on fire if turned up too high).

Spend a good while researching, and get into your head things like best colour combos - the unit 'housing' (back and sides) can be one colour, and the archi another - usually best darker, I think? The beauty is, with MDF you can change this completely at will.

https://www.designbest.com/en/catalog/poliform/living_room/bookcases_and_bookshelves/wall_system/33977

https://www.thebookcaseco.co.uk/custom-made-bookcases/

My 'tricks'. My V-grooved back panelling is made from 3mm hardboard routed with a router. Cost is minimal. (You can also buy sheets of grooved MDF or hardboard - much easier and cheaper than using real planks.) The top cornice is made from lightweight ceiling coving - the same as I've put around the house. Glued to a wood moulding, and painted all together. Paint is normal wall emulsion, except for horizontal surfaces - the unit shelves and tops are satinwood for more durability.

Wow! Why don't you just come to Southend-on-Sea a weekend and kit me out?

I actually do have Billy / Oxberg combi at home, bought in 2001, very hardwearing and still look like new. Sadly the colour (original Beech) was discontinued quite a while ago, otherwise it would save me a bit of thinking.

Doozergirl

Rosa_Damascena said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Wow, Billy is good stuff, but still comes to £1500?

With that kind of sum, I'd be asking a local chippy to see what they can do - it would then be truly bespoke, so height and width would be exactly what you were after.

You might think it would be prohibitively costly at first glance, but I think that will depend on a few things. It should be bread&butter stuff for a chippy to rip down boards to the required depth - 200mm will take the vast majority of book sizes for example - and assembling this in a lattice is as easy as chippywork gets. So that's all very quick and easy. It can be made to look good with a few tricks (I'll add a couple below), and this involves nothing complex either. You'll then save a small fortune if you finish the units off yourself - sand off the sharp edges, and then paint them using a water-based paint of your choice - 'chalky' finishes will look great, although eggshell will be more durable (but, hey, who needs durability - I use, gasp, emulsion on mine.)

You can build this out of 18mm MDF, but - as with Billy - the anti-sag solution is to have vertical supports (panels) every 400mm or so; if I were going to use Billy and expected to load it up fully with books, I think I'd use mostly the 400mm-wide Billys for this reason. Ditto if you are bespoking - tho' you could probably stretch to 500mm with no issues. (Not teaching to suck eggs, but the horizontal shelves should be continuous strips, and the vertical supports the ones cut to height to fit in between. And the back edges of the shelves should be supported continuously to the back wall/panel either with pegs or thin decorative mouldings.)

This will all look too 'boxy', tho'? Not if you add MDF archi/trim/rails/frame around it, and down the fronts of the vertical panels at regular intervals - ie not where every 400mm support is, but - say - every 800 or 1200mm. Decor rails can be as simple as 80mm-wide MDF strips, with a V-groove routed in around 20mm from each end, and the corners lightly bevelled, as I've done.

Doors? I wouldn't have them. Two reasons - huge extra cost, and appearance. This is going to be a wall of books - they need to be seen, felt, and smelled :-) 

Finally, make a cuppa and Google 'bespoke bookcases' or similar - give this some solid thought. Are you having the same HEIGHT spacing on all rows? The same WIDTHS between vertical panels? Is it really going to touch the ceiling, or might you want to add a larger archi along the top to make it look like a bespoke 'unit'? What about the backs of the units - do you need one, or won't your existing wall do? Will it be ALL books, or do you want the odd space for your frogs? If so, want any lights in these spaces? If so-so, run ELV LED lights so you can DIY this yourself safely. (And don't fit halogens like me that will set the books on fire if turned up too high).

Spend a good while researching, and get into your head things like best colour combos - the unit 'housing' (back and sides) can be one colour, and the archi another - usually best darker, I think? The beauty is, with MDF you can change this completely at will.

https://www.designbest.com/en/catalog/poliform/living_room/bookcases_and_bookshelves/wall_system/33977

https://www.thebookcaseco.co.uk/custom-made-bookcases/

My 'tricks'. My V-grooved back panelling is made from 3mm hardboard routed with a router. Cost is minimal. (You can also buy sheets of grooved MDF or hardboard - much easier and cheaper than using real planks.) The top cornice is made from lightweight ceiling coving - the same as I've put around the house. Glued to a wood moulding, and painted all together. Paint is normal wall emulsion, except for horizontal surfaces - the unit shelves and tops are satinwood for more durability.

Wow! Why don't you just come to Southend-on-Sea a weekend and kit me out?

I actually do have Billy / Oxberg combi at home, bought in 2001, very hardwearing and still look like new. Sadly the colour (original Beech) was discontinued quite a while ago, otherwise it would save me a bit of thinking.

Paint it 🙂

Jeepers_Creepers

Doozergirl said:

Paint it 🙂

As with Phoebe's idea of using Billy on top of existing cupboards, once it's all painted the same it'll look part of it.