Assemble This: the BILLY Bookcase
The BILLY bookcase is one of IKEA’s first offerings, sold since 1979, and it’s by far IKEA’s most popular item. The bookcase is affordable, simple and incredibly customizable. You’ll find tons of IKEA hacks and popular alterations to make the BILLY really pop as a cabinet, pantry, display shelving and, of course, a regular book shelf. We once literally built over a hundred of these for a new university campus, in one day!
Summary:
Difficult: Easy
Possible to Do Alone: Yes
Assembly Time: 15-45 minutes
Parts: About 30
Good for DIY: Yes!
No ruler? No problem! Use one of the drop in shelve you’ve set aside at this point and draw a straight line in sharpie or pencil along the rough edge.
Tips:
Seperate the drop in shelves from the frame as soon as you open the box..
Set up your assembly in a long open area, about twice the length of the bookshelf, in order to slide the backing in easily.
Have a pencil or marker handy and make a mark on the back of the walls, where the middle shelf meets them.
After sliding the backing in place, use one of the drop in shelves to draw a straight line between the two and add a few nails there for extra support. I find that 5-6 nails in each shelf works great!
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any issues in the comments.