Tried and tested, Europe's most popular bookcases (Ikea Billy Bookcases)

Member Name: jamesontheroad

Product:	Ikea Billy Bookcases
Date:	07/01/09 (141 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to assemble, adjustable shelves, numerous finishes and endless configurations

Disadvantages: You have to pick them up from the warehouse yourself. That's why they're cheap.

Love books? Then you'll love Ikea's stalwart range of Billy bookcases. I know that I'm not alone, either. I've had the great pleasure of living in the cosy academic city of Cambridge, and have enjoyed meeting a number of academics, librarians and generally well read folk who work in the university or related academic disciplines. And the one thing they have in common? Sweden's most famous bookshelves, of course. I kid you not, in every home I have visited in that beautiful city, I've spotted a Billy. They're always laden with books and always holding up brilliantly.

Billy is more than just a standardised bookcase; it's an entire system of thoughtful and well designed storage units that aren't just designed to be attractive and easy to build at home, but to be compact and manageable in flatpack form, thereby saving Ikea money and carbon emissions when they're manufactured and shipped to your store.

Ikea's website currently lists more than thirty Billy products in the range. The core products are bookcases that are 40cm or 80cm wide and 28cm deep. Short bookcases are 106cm tall, and tall ones are 202cm tall. Additional single shelf extensions to go on top are available, which are brilliant in big old Victorian rooms.

Those various dimensions make Billy versatile. What makes Billy so appealing to so many different people are the different colour and wood finishes. Plus you compliment the shelves with specially designed lighting systems, glass doors and the Benno range of CD and DVD storage towers. These are shallower than the Billy range but match them and, when placed between Billy bookcases, can be braced a set distance out from the wall to allow your music and video collection to seamlessly merge with your books.

Summary: No more shame to buying so many books; Billy organises them and makes them look great.