Billy times three

This was the first in a series of 'limited edition' Billy bookcases; meanwhile we made three more.
And two for the girls' bedroom.

One for the boys' bedroom.

I venture to say I am an expert now. Everybody who hesitates to make his own version I would say: just do it!
It is fun, easy and the result is stunning.

I assemble the whole cabinet (do not nail the backpanel to the shelves), and mark the desired height of the shelves. Remove the backpanel, cut the fabric at the correct size. Prepare some white glue (schoolglue, or woodglue) by mixing it with water until it is a watery solution. Somewhere between 1(water)/1(glue) and 2 (water)/1 (glue).
Now comes the secret trick: soak the fabric and wring the fabric out; thus you avoid squander your glue mixture (you will need less glue mixture if you wet the fabric beforehand) and it will be easier to apply the glue. Place the fabric on the appropriate spot and apply the glue mixture.
Let it dry, put the backpanel back in the cabinet frame, place the shelves and ... admire your new piece of furniture.

Limited Edition

I sincerely think our local Ikea branch has a stock problem. The staff denies with a smile; but where are the nice pillow cases, napkins, and gadgets in bright fashionable colors? The only thing they have a load of are Samla storage boxes, they are exposed at every corner.

The ‘Limited Edition’ version of the Billy bookcase –the one with the turquoise inside and white outside- that I had in mind for the boys bedroom seems to be sold out.

Out of sheer necessity I bought the normal white version. Back home we made our proper ‘limited edition’.

The bookcase was temporary assembled to mark the height of every shelf. Consequently the fabric was cut to size and glued to the back of the cabinet with some homemade modpodge (I just mixed white school glue with water). Our homemade Billy bookcase!

I do not like the idea of fabric and glue; because if you do not like your project after gluing it all together you cannot recycle the fabric anymore. Nevertheless in this case necessity knows the law.

Luckily the boys, myself and even our dinosaurs are happy with the result …