Hackers Help: Stacked BILLY bookshelves?

Jules Yap·
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stacked Billy bookshelves
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Has anyone stacked BILLY bookshelves one on top of another? I’m thinking of laying them down on their side and stacking one on top of the other (I only have 2).

stacked Billy bookshelves
BILLY | IKEA.com

I just don’t know if the bottom shelf will support the weight of another BILLY bookshelf being laid on top of it as well as whatever I put in the shelves and a 47 inch TV on top of the whole thing?

Has anyone tried this with success?

Thanks very much,

Sandra

Jules Yap
Latest posts by Jules Yap (see all)

8 Responses

  1. Just do the same as you imaged. looked very good to fit my purpose. I want to add some legs for the next step to make the cleaning easier.

    Reply

  2. I just did one like what you described, looks ok for enough support. The 18mm sideboard is supportive enough working as a piece of worktop. Just don’t separate the shelves to far from each other and it only have a distance of 30 to 40 cm. the last but not least nail the two together .

    Reply

  3. Surely it would be cheaper to use an IKEA product for that purpose as opposed to reinventing the wheel? Besta or Kallax will do precisely the same thing and you would not have to worry about stability etc.

    I have used a Billy Bookcase on its side as a bridging unit across 2 wardrobes placed either side of some french doors but we very specifically built it without the top and bottom pieces being used in their normal place and we screwed them at the ends. You will also need to fix all the shelves, ideally using pocket fittings if you do not want screws visible.

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  4. In addtion to previous comments, I’d also have one Billy with the foot on one side (right?) and the next one on the other side (left?). That could bring some creativity and more stability, as inner shelves won’ t be aligned, the weight will be more distributed. Of course, both feet still have to be hidden as they’re ugly.

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  5. We have two billy stacked on the floor. We nailed down the two units together to avoir tipping, we didn’t add any additional shelves and have no issue (and they are filled with kid’s book…)
    To avoid seeing the ugly bottom of billy on the side, we added a very thin sheet of plywood, painted and it works

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  7. Hanging or on the floor?
    How many shelves are you including? The billy shelves have somewhat locking supports/pins, so they shouldn’t fall over (but since you are stacking them, you could throw some nails/screws in the center).

    If you are stacking them on the floor, and include a few shelves other than the required middle one, I don’t think you will have any problems with it supporting the weight of the other shelf (well distributed) or the TV, assuming its a recent TV, they are absurdly light now, I would worry about a plasma, etc., but even that, if it’s well supported on the center shelf, may be fine.

    Reply

  8. I think that if you align the inner shelves (and fix them in some way, normally they are held down by gravity) the weight of the upper Billy and TV will discharge through them to the floor.
    More shelves, more support.
    Just nail the two Billy together to avoid tipping.
    Sadly, the foot of the Billy is ugly to see on the side, IMHO.

    Reply

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