Happy birthday to Ikea's Billy bookcase

Happy birthday to Ikea's Billy bookcase

Love it or loathe it, Ikea has got a big blue and yellow grip on our homes. Out comes the Ikea catalogue, up comes the carpet, and lo and behold, we've all got strip wood flooring (well, laminate), glossy furniture and a wall of Billy bookcases.

Let's face it, who doesn't have a Billy bookcase? Or at least an imitation of one? This singularly bland piece of furniture is so popular that Ikea's furniture factory in Sandhem, Sweden, churns out 15 of them every minute. And now, to celebrate Billy's 30th birthday next month, Ikea is bringing out a range of limited-edition graffiti-style bookcases, covered in Shakespeare quotes.

On its own, a Billy bookcase is actually very boring: an unassuming, plain, functional, building-block-style bog-standard bookcase. The fun comes from making it all your own ...

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Papering the back of a bookcase is the easiest way to make a plain piece of furniture a little more aesthetically pleasing. I'm planning to use my Billy (technically it's an Ilva copy) to make a feature wall like this one.

Over on Ikea Hacker, one blogger used a row of wallpapered Billies to hide her bed in an open-plan studio. Another hinged two Billy bookcases together to make her very own craft pod.

It's not just the Billy bookcase that has had makeovers. Will Taylor customised his Ikea dining table - with similar ingenuity, you could cover a side table in mirrored tiles, mock-Venetian style.

Another blogger replaced the flimsy plastic drawers in an Ikea dresser with luscious fabric insets; and with a little paint and new handles, an ugly pine dresser was completely transformed into this elegant nightstand.

So with a little bit of imagination, you can make an identikit piece of plain Ikea furniture all your own. Are you a fan of Ikea's basics? Have you carried out your own home makeovers? Let us know in the comments section below.

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