Modern China Cabinet: An IKEA BILLY Hack

Jules Yap·

Dining

·November 25, 2016·2 Comments

Home

IKEA HACKS

Dining

I wanted to share my recently installed modern China Cabinet, hacked from IKEA BILLY bookcases.

For a couple of years now, I had been searching for the perfect china cabinet for my breakfast nook.

I wanted it to be tall. (Vaulted ceilings so everything needs to be tall). Approximately 60 inches wide and no more than 15 inches deep.

Glass doors on top and closed storage on the bottom. Also needed integrated lighting and glass shelves.

Nothing I found had all of the requirements I needed, so I decided to hack my own. BILLY was exactly what I needed!

IKEA pieces used:

1 x BILLY Wide Bookcase
2 x BILLY Thin Bookcase
1 x BILLY Wide Extension
2 x BILLY Thin Extension
2 x OXBERG Panel/Glass Door
4 x OXBERG Small Glass Door
2 x OXBERG Wooden Door

Here’s a drawing of the bookcase set-up:

How I hacked my modern China Cabinet

I glued and screwed all the bookcases together. Then, attached them to the wall with the anchors provided in the cartons.

Next, I added crown molding to the top of the piece and shoe molding to the bottom to give the unit a built-in look.

For the door knobs, I used new ones that matched my kitchen cabinets in place of the ones provided.

I also used the IKEA DIODER LED lights (2 sets) to add lighting to the cabinet. The lights are plugged into an outlet at the bottom center of the cabinet. (I had to cut a hole out of the backing to allow for plugging things in). For easy access, I put the lights on a remote and the switch is attached to the right side of the cabinet.

The finished product is 63 inches wide, 96 inches tall (including molding), and 11 inches deep. It has a surprising amount of storage and is even the perfect depth that I can store my KitchenAid stand mixer in there!

I am so happy with the way this modern China Cabinet project turned out that I have already began planning a BILLY hack for my living room – wall to wall storage with room for a TV in the center.

~ by Julie Rosenthal

IKEA dining chairs recover from dog bites

The empty wall between the kitchen and dining area was very disturbing, even screaming at me to fill it with something. I came up with a hack on the IKEA MALSJO cabinet turning it into a tall glass cabinet.

#2 Dining room sideboard from the HEMNES

We took our unused large, black HEMNES dresser and repurposed it into a dining room sideboard. First we removed the four large drawers and their drawer slides. The holes were filled and sanded and the entire base was painted with two coats of white paint. See the rest of the tutorial.

#3 Dining buffet with hutch

I turned an old IKEA LEKSVIK cabinet into a dining buffet with hutch.

Author
Recent Posts

Jules Yap

Jules Yap started IKEAHackers.net in 2006 as a personal blog to showcase the most impressive IKEA hacks from all over the world. Since then, she has learned a lot more about power tools and DIY. Her site has helped thousands modify IKEA furniture with step-by-step tutorials, craft projects and home styling.

Jules is the author of IKEAHackers.net: 25 Biggest and Best Projects".