Billy Bookcase: Hi-Fi Integration

Jules Yap·
Media Storage
··18 Comments
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Materials: BILLY bookcase, Stanley Knife

Description: This is one for everyone. You don’t need to be a DIY hero or own a box full of tools. A sharp knife/scissors would suffice.

I just moved to a new flat and realised I didn’t want a big Hi-Fi unit wasting floor space so decided to integrate it into one of my lovely Billy Bookcases.

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I marked out where needed to be cut, did the cutting on the floor with a wooden board protecting the carpet and there you have it.

Personally I think the white bookcases look very neat with these bits of technology integrated into them, especially with the glowing lights.

~ Matt K, Cardiff

Jules Yap
Latest posts by Jules Yap (see all)

18 Responses

  1. For anyone who has dealt with a bunch of hifi cords, the big problem is when you get them all neat and then shove the unit back and just have an unsightly wad of cords sticking up in the back. Sure, you can guide them all through a hole and make it very neat but I find it is still awkward if you need to get to the back to add or change the configuration. I may do this to my entertainment center. I would rather just move the entertainment center out from the wall to change a few things than pull the receiver and risk yanking on the connectors and so-forth. Thanks for posting. I agree, it doesn’t take a whole lot of effort, but the payoff is probably worth it. Thanks for posting, despite all the haters’ comments.

    Reply

  3. You sir, have brought shame upon the ancient Ikea hacking tradition. I believe I speak for us all when I say that what once was a noble and sacred art form has now been irrevocably trivialised. I weep for the Swedish visionaries who dared dream of the Billy Bookcase and the artisan revolutionaries who saw fit to build upon its greatness. Allen keys chime together to herald the passing of a once great time of innovation, lost forever when one man deemed it fanciful to cut a hole in his ‘lovely’ Billy Bookcase in order for it to ‘look very neat with these bits of technology integrated into them, especially with the glowing lights’ – for shame.

    Reply

  10. Thank you for showcasing how even the simplest of modifications (“hacks”) can transform the function or use of an item.

    I’ve cut little holes in the back board of my billy bookcases to accommodate the wires of electronics. But as I see this, with the hi-fi sticking out the back so it’s nice on the flush on the front, has me re-looking at my stereo with it’s front feet just barely gripping to the front of the shelf, and the 2 inch gap between the back of my shelves and the wall. Great idea to take it one step further like that!

    As for the bowed shelves, it’s a valid point. I’ve gotten around that (read: delayed the inevitable) a couple of ways:
    1) Try to keep the heavier items on the centre shelf, the one that actually has to be screwed in.
    2) When the bow gets really noticeable, simply flip the shelf over, and the bow will work it’s self back down.

    Reply

    1. And the reason you, like many of the others of us who have hacked (excuse me, simply cut holes into)our billy’s, is that after you custom cut for the electronic device, it is limited to that one spot. When you cut cord holes its far less noticable and easier to move and or add pieces to your set up than with something like this.

      Reply

    2. actually i had put holes in the back of my billys for my electronics and when i decided to make a library out of them after moving to a new place i simply put some decorative contact paper over the backs, covering the holes and giving the bookcases a whole new look.

      Reply

    1. Being simple and looking neat does not make it a hack. I am sure most of the people that have ever bought a billy has cut some holes into the back of it.

      Reply

  12. Whoa that was wild. Lets not get too crazy here! Cutting holes, next you are going to tell me you didn’t put the washers between the screws.

    Reply

  14. Holy bowed shelves Batman. Might wanna figure out some bracket support for those shelves before your hi-fi ends up lo-fi

    Reply

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