IKEA furniture

[friendofdorothy]

I want a place to moan about the rigours of assembling BILLY bookcases. I'm at the wish-I-had-never-started stage.

 

[Epona]

Sorry, shouldn't laugh

 

[friendofdorothy]

Sorry, shouldn't laugh

thanks

 

[Callie]

I love making IKEA furniture

 

[dessiato]

I love making IKEA furniture

It's strangely satisfying, isn't it?

 

[Epona]

thanks

Have been through hell on occasion with arthritic hands and those piddly little allen keys they give you.
Ended up with nice bookcases mind, I don't think they are the Billy ones - like unfinished pine that I used beeswax on - was a labour of love honestly.

 

[weepiper]

It's not so bad if you use proper tools to do it.

 

[friendofdorothy]

I don't mind bits of it, but these have been heavy going as they are 2m tall and there are 7 of them. (we have a ton of books to house)

Spent all day doing them yesterday - really tiring. Thought I'd give the neighbours a sunday break from all the hammering today.
Still need to nail all the boards on the back of 5 of them tomorrow - 15 nails in each

Most of the assembly was ok - but fitting up against the wall will be a pain. Sawing bits off the bottom so they fit up to skirting.
Then there are some pipes and sockets so I will have to cut some holes in a couple of them.
and drill into the wall to fix them. At the moment they all lean away from the wall at the top - so will have to add something under the front so they lean up against the wall more.

Didn't help that I dropped one of the boxes (ouch), fortunately it only damaged the back board in the middle, so hopefully that will get hidden when shelves are full.

 

[friendofdorothy]

It's strangely satisfying, isn't it?

I've made two 5x5 Kallax units in the last couple of weeks. Satisfying to finish them and be able to unpack all my stuff on them.

I know it recommends fixing them to the wall but they seem so solid I didn't bother.

 

[friendofdorothy]

I hate using a drill or any power tool. Hate the noise.

 

[Elpenor]

Sounds like you’ve done a good job of it. I don’t mind ikea stuff but doing 7 would probably mean the appeal would diminish quite a bit.

I did 3 Billy bookcases last year, only the 40cm wide ones not sure I could manage an 80cm one on my own, but had to build them in a confined space which was a challenge.

When they’re attached to the wall they don’t lean. I considered using a hole saw to create access to a plug socket but in the end ran a 6-gang extension lead with individual switches out behind the bookcases. Luckily I didn’t have any skirting board issues.

 

[Epona]

It'll be lovely when it's all done and you've got all your books on them.
I love looking at my book collection all on the shelves (and sometimes I even read them )

 

[friendofdorothy]

Sounds like you’ve done a good job of it. I don’t mind ikea stuff but doing 7 would probably mean the appeal would diminish quite a bit.

Thank you!

These are the 40 wide ones - I read reviews that said they were prone to bowing under the weight of books and thought the narrower ones might hold up better, We have a lot of very heavy books.

 

[friendofdorothy]

It'll be lovely when it's all done and you've got all your books on them.
I love looking at my book collection all on the shelves (and sometimes I even read them )

I find they make a room feel cosy, like wall insulation. Buscador's books mostly, and she is very fond of them.

 

[Elpenor]

Thank you!

These are the 40 wide ones - I read reviews that said they were prone to bowing under the weight of books and thought the narrower ones might hold up better, We have a lot of very heavy books.

That makes sense, I found the 40cm ones fitted rooms better. Suppose you’ve bought a few extra shelves?

If you bought the corner bracket they sell to maximise space, sort of metal feet the bookcase sits in, getting those right I remember being quite tricky.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Best part of moving was assembling the furniture tbh.

 

[Cloo]

I've had mixed experiences. Mostly good, but we did once buy these lovely-looking dining chairs with curved wooden backs when gsv and I first moved in together, but the first few we found that the curved bits just didn't line up with the parts they were supposed to fit to, like all the holes were out of line so we gave up and we had to just take them back and get a refund because we couldn't trust any if them would line up properly. Which was a shame, as they looked nice.

Currently all our non built-in wardrobes are Ikea, we've done OK at building them.

 

[friendofdorothy]

That makes sense, I found the 40cm ones fitted rooms better. Suppose you’ve bought a few extra shelves?

If you bought the corner bracket they sell to maximise space, sort of metal feet the bookcase sits in, getting those right I remember being quite tricky.

Yes have bought 1 extra shelf per unit, but think we will need more. Will worry about that if I ever get to the unpacking all the books stage.

No corner involved here. Why don't they do bolts to link units in a neat straight line though? I can see the units will all sit slightly askew from each other otherwise, maybe our wall or floor are not quite even? I went B&q and bought some screws for that purpose today, hope that works.

Tomorrow morning it will be noisy here with lots of hammering. And swearing.

 

[friendofdorothy]

Best part of moving was assembling the furniture tbh.

Show off.

Definitely not the best bit for me. A wooden bed frame can't be assembled where it was supposed to go as it is one inch too long, very annoying. Mattress would fit But frame projects a bit at head and foot. But that's not from IKEA and is made of solid wood so perhaps we can alter it with saw and chistle, will have a go (Wish I had had opportunity to learn carpentry at school, but that was before equal education act )

 

[friendofdorothy]

I just want everything in the right room and unpacked. Hard to settle and enjoy the new house with everything in such mess.

 

[friendofdorothy]

I just want everything in the right room and unpacked. Hard to settle and enjoy the new house with everything in such mess.

I'm possibly seeking to avoid dealing with my tax return too

 

[friendofdorothy]

I love making IKEA furniture

Its a bit sad that Billy bookcases don't involve an Alan key at all. That might make it more satisfying.

 

[Callie]

Its a bit sad that Billy bookcases don't involve an Alan key at all. That might make it more satisfying.

I like the ... Twisty screw grabbers. No idea what their real name is.

 

[quiet guy]

It's a rite of passage to be able to say you've built a Billy bookcase.

 

[skyscraper101]

I just had a billy bookcase delivered this morning. That will be a job for this evening.

 

[friendofdorothy]

It's a rite of passage to be able to say you've built a Billy bookcase.

I've built seven of the fuckers. That rite is well and truly passed.

 

[friendofdorothy]

Big Thanks to golightly for hours of help and bringing his absolute beast of a drill. "Goes through concrete like butter". All seven units are all securely screwed the wall and each other. Bit of a faff to get them looking level and neat

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Looks level and neat from where I'm sat. Big up to the Billy bookcase, and kudos for the construction.

 

[Epona]

Looks great!

 

[Boudicca]

Here's my recently finished Ikea Havsta, zhuzhed up with Farrow & Ball Pink Ground paint.

It made an appearance on the DIY thread as I tried and failed to break the glass so that I could use rattan. Plan B was to just glue the rattan to the glass but that didn't work either as it was skew wiff, so I ended up just using some film.

I at last have some lounge storage and can unpack the boxes that have been in my junk room for a year.