Kilby as a bass trap

Materials: Kilby bookcase, acoustic panels, Lenda fabric

Description: A simple but effective bass trap for acoustic correction.
Using some acoustic panel (made of cotton, totally harmless) and following the rules of the acoustic gurus, I've locked a layer of material on the bottom of the Kilby, using a simple cotton wire stapled on the sides, then I've created a "stapled-wire-bed" a few inches from the front side of the Kilby itself. On this "bed" I put a second layer of acoustic material and stapled it on the front.

Same thing on the upside of the Kilby: layer of acoustic cotton, stapled wire, some inches of empty space, the "stapled-wire-bed", second layer of material, stapled wire to lock it on site.

Once done a couple of Kilbys I covered them with Lenda cotton. Now they sit on the corners of my homestudio, doing their work: to capture the low frequencies.

See more of the Kilby bass trap.

~ Ugo, Italy

Kilby upgrade

Materials: Kilby Bookcase

Description: I just love Kilbys because they're so cheap and only 24 cm deep. Well I love it, except the grey board behind the shelves, what were they thinking?

Anyway I bought 4 Kilbys for my living room and figured I can do something about the boring grey. At first I wanted to paint it, but then decided on wall paper. I found an animal print that i liked and got to work. It was quite easy actually. I used Mod Podge to glue the wall paper.

The width of the gray panels is bigger then that of the wall paper, so I had to do a bit of cutting after the wall paper got almost dry. I secured the bookcases separately to the wall according to Ikea instruction and added some metal frames between them to pin them together and make it look like a single piece of furniture.

See more of the Kilby upgrade.

~ Ioana, Bucharest, Romania

Kilby goes for a roll

Materials: Kilby bookcase, casters, scrap from fridge cover panels

Description: I had a 10 inch gap between my fridge and the wall. My older house didn't have a pantry, so i thought I'd try to make that work. I decided to go with a bookcase, and the only one ANYWHERE I could find shallow enough was the Kilby.

I thought about a rail system, but couldn't find anything that would work, so I decided to go with casters. As you can see, the pantry is full, so I'll just describe what how I made it work, but it's not too difficult. I used 2x4s to build up the space between the base of the cab (the cavity on the bottom of any cabinet) and the rails that it sits on. The amount of shimming depends on the size of your casters, again, up to you.

I put a caster (I used fixed, not swivel) on each corner, made sure they would roll straight, and fixed them through the 2x4s into the base of the bookcase. I then measured the opening between the wall and fridge and cut a piece of scrap cover panel I had from my massive fridge enclosure, and attached that to the front (through the back, like all cover panels). I found the middle of the panel, and eyeballed a good height for a handle, and attached. I then cut another short piece of cover panel to make up the side gap above the fridge. Hope this helps!

~ Ryan

Bookshelves BassTraps

Materials: Kilby, ecocompatible acoustic panels, wire

Description: Using a pair of Kilby bookshelves I've put a sheet of acoustic cellulose and fixed it at the bottom with crossed wire, stapled on the bookshelf itself.

A few centimeters from the front side I stapled another grid of wire as sustain for another sheet of cellulose. A final grid of wire fixes everything.

Next step: some fabric to cover it all...

~ ugo, italy

Mud Room Lockers from 2 Kilby's

Materials: 2 Kilby book shelves, circular saw, drill

Description: The great thing about Kilby is that it is only 9.5 inches deep and fit into an opening that I had at the side door.

In order to do this hack you will need to put together all inside portions before you assemble the outside to the bookshelf.

1. Open Both boxes of the Kilby.
2. Bottom Vertical: We are going to be cutting up one long section of the Kilby from the extra box. Cut 9.5cm off the bottom of long board.
3. Bottom Vertical: Cut the same board 72cm from the bottom cut. This will be the verticle on the locker bottom.
4. Top Vertical: Use the big remainder piece from the Bottom Vertical. From the top (uncut end) of the remaining portion of the first board board, cut off 17mm.
5. Top Vertical: From the cut in step 4 (inside top), cut the piece to 108.9 cm from the top.




The new Vertical boards will likely be hollow except around the edges. We are going to dowel the Verticals to the top board, middle board and bottom board.
1. Find the drill bit that matches the doweling in the Kilby kit. Best to use a particle board bit but a wood bit will do if you can go fast accurately. Put tape on your drill bit so that you only drill to half of the length of the dowel. All holes will be the same depth.
2. On the Top vertical board (it is the longer of the two you cut). Drill two holes on the top unfinished edge 2cm from the front and the back.
3. On the Top vertical board (same board as step 2). Drill two holes on the bottom unfinished edge 2cm from the front and back.
4. On the Bottom vertical board (it is the shorter of the two you cut). Drill two holes on the top unfinished edge 4cm from the front and the back.
5. On the Bottom vertical board (same board as step 2). Drill two holes on the bottom unfinished edge 4cm from the front and back.

Now we are going to attach our vertical boards to the top, middle and bottom boards. Remember to only drill to the depth of half the dowel.
1. There will be 3 boards in the first box that are about 63cm long. Mark the boards as Top, Middle, and Bottom.
2. Measure and mark the center of each board. You will need to measure the Middle board top and bottom.
3. On the Top board make sure the finished edge is away from you, and then drill two holes 2cm from the front and back.
4. On the Bottom board make sure the finished edge is toward you, and then drill two holes 4cm from the front and back.
5. On the Middle board, make sure the finished edge is toward you and then drill two holes on the top 2cm from the front and back. Turn the board over so that the finished edge is away from you and drill two holes 4cm from the front and back.

Put together the inner portions.
1. Put 2 dowels in the top board, and attach the top vertical board.
2. Put 4 dowels in the middle board and attach to the top vertical board.
3. Attach the bottom vertical board to the middle board.
4. Put 2 dowels in the bottom board and attach it to the bottom vertical board.

Put the bookcase together according to instructions, cut out some shelves and install. Note we had to put the bookcase in place. Position the hooks where we thought they should go and put a nail through the back board. Then remove the unit and put wallboard screw supports in so that winter coats did not pull them off the wall.

Hope this inspires someone!

~ Connie, Canada