Brave New (Upcycled) Billy

Materials: Billy Bookshelves, Faktum Kitchen Cabinets, Leksvik Coat Hanger, Liding� Kitchen Cabinet Doors, various wooden trimmings and additional board

Description: Follow my 10 steps if you feel like upcycling your old Billies instead of tossing them!

Now, lets get hacking!

1. Build a beam base structure. The base should be of a matching proportion of the FAKTUM units you will be using (which in turn should match the BILLY's you�re using).

2. Mount the FAKTUM cabinet to the base structure, then glue a painted top board on top of the cabinets (clamps add pressure while drying).

3. Fasten the cabinet to the wall (I had to use some scrap pieces of wood as a distance between the back of the cabinet and the wall, building approx 3cm).

4. Mount the BILLY on top of the Faktum (with the board in between the two).

5. Fasten the Billy to the wall, I used sturdy angle irons.

6. Now for prim trimmings...Start off by covering the horisontal front edges of the individual shelves inside the Billys�In doing this, I used a great little tool called a Nail/Centre Punch.

7. Continue by mounting the vertical trims along the vertically mating outer edges of the BILLY shelves.

8. Mount your choice of doors to the FAKTUM cabinets, I used the "Liding�" ones. As I used 60cm BILLYs (and consequently 60cm FAKTUM cabinets) I opted for a 2�30cm door setup for each unit.

9. Now, install the LEKSVIK Coat hanger trompe l�oeil drawers�Firstly, you need to fasten the door knobs. Second, fasten a wooden block (approx W:5cm, L:5cm and D:2cm) to the back of the individual hanger, then add some strong double sided adhesive pads and stick the back of the hanger to the front of the base of the Billy.

10. Add bottom base board for a chic cover up. There are great many varieties out there, just remember the width of the board should match the height of the base beam structure (I used 95mm in both instances. I used a Mitre Box tool with pre-made slots to make sure I got the corner angles right.

Best of luck Billy-cycling!

For lots of pics & more details, visit my blog: Scraphacker: Billy upcycle hack.

~ Filippa Malmegard, Stockholm, Sweden