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Hide the storeroom with BILLY and OXBERG

A row of BILLY bookcases keeps our messy understairs storeroom hidden.

We call it the BILLY Goats Stuff because it allows me to hide my house cleaning and laundry stuff out the way. And we can hear when the kids sneak in there as they trip trap over the base of the BILLY frame.

It came about because we had a messy understairs cupboard and an oddly shaped living room, courtesy of a few house extensions.

We were also laying an oak floor and the end of that floor was at a different level.

With this hack, we were able to solve a few issues at once and get some extra storage for our living room.

IKEA items used:

Hide the storeroom with BILLY hack

We started by screeding. Then, tiled the floor in grey gloss tiles to reflect light.

After that, we built the two double width and one single width BILLY bookcases and underpinned the bases with wooden struts as one would be walked through.

We did not fit the backs on the false bookcase.


Related: See it. Or not. How to make a BILLY bookcase secret door


A frame was then built out of scrap wood from a partition wall we demolished in another room. We added plasterboard panels to this.

We’ve not quite finished this bit, we have to add the picture rail and paint the plaster.

Finally we used wallpaper featuring books pasted onto a 3mm ply to cover the walk through cupboard. We fastened the ply to the back of the glass door. This was important because otherwise light would spill through from the cupboard into the living room.

BILLY doors closed to hide the storeroom

Hide the storeroom

Opened to access the storeroom

We’re really pleased with the results. It blends perfectly with the rest of the room, though I might change the knobs later.

~ by Rachel Hill

The post Hide the storeroom with BILLY and OXBERG appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

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