DIY IKEA Closets in Our Master Using Billy Bookcases

A step-by-step tutorial and budget breakdown for using IKEA Billy bookcases to customize his & her closets in a master bedroom.

Things don’t always work out the way you plan… whether that’s in DIY projects or life in general, honestly. 😉

Remember the last time we talked about our master bedroom his & her closets and our grand IKEA closet Pax system plans?

Yeah, that didn’t happen.

Because the math just didn’t add up, and the more we tried to make the Pax system fit into our tight closets, we realized we would be wasting more space than if we just attempted a different route.

We’re no strangers to hacking Billy bookcases (Exhibit A and Exhibit B over here), and we discovered that the width of the bookcase frames would fit perfectly without a single inch of wasted space, whereas the Pax system was going to create more problems than they were worth.

If Plan A doesn’t work out, there are always 25 more letters in the alphabet, right?

So here’s the skinny…

Supplies for Robert’s Closet –

(Some affiliate links are provided below. Full disclosure here.)

• 1 – 31 1/2″ x 79 1/2″ Billy bookcase
• 1 – 15 3/4″ x 79 1/2″ Billy bookcase
• 1 – 31 1/2″ Billy extension
• 1 – 15 3/4″ Billy extension
• 8 – Skuggis hooks
• 2 – Pullout tie organizer racks
• 5 packs of Bumerang hangers
• 3 adjustable closet rods
• 1 – 1×4 MDF strip
• Finishing nailer
• Table saw (Any saw that can cut in a straight line will do 😉 )
• Caulk
• Paint color matched to IKEA white in satin finish

Total cost: $324 (not including the power tools we already owned)

This was the before situation in Robert’s closet…

The Steps for Robert’s Closet:

1. After we removed all of the old wire shelving, patched holes with spackle, and painted the walls, we just built the two Billy bookcases following IKEA’s instructions and placed them side by side in the closet.
2. The bookcases were SO snug that we were just millimeters shy of the two not fitting in the closet together. No wasted space! Yay! It was a close one.

3. Then we added the Billy extenders on top of the bookcases to use all of the space up to the ceiling and anchored the bookcases to the wall.

4. To close the small 1 inch gap between the top of the bookcases and the ceiling, we trimmed it all out with the 1×4 MDF strip.

5. Then, we caulked all of the cracks, and painted over the caulk with the IKEA white paint color once the caulk was dry to make it all look like one seamless built-in closet.

6. The rest was just screwing in accessories like the closet rods, Skuggis wall hooks, tie organizer racks, and wooden Bumerang hangers.

Supplies for Lauren’s Closet –

• 2 – 31 1/2″ x 79 1/2″ Billy bookcases
• 2 – 31 1/2″ Billy extensions
• 1 – 19 5/8″ x 22 7/8″ x 92 7/8″ Pax wardrobe frame
• 2 – 19 5/8″ Komplement drawers
• 2 – 19 5/8″ Komplement shelves
• 1 – Komplement pull-out multi-use hanger
• 4 – Skuggis hooks
• 4 – 1×4 MDF strips
• 4 adjustable closet rods
• 5 packs of Bumerang hangers
• 3 inch L brackets
• Finishing nailer
• Table saw (really any saw that can cut in a straight line will do 😉 )
• Caulk
• Paint color matched to IKEA white in satin finish

Total cost: $464.50

Here’s my closet’s before…

(Don’t ask why on earth I had a bouquet of flowers up on my top shelf. Haha! No idea.)

The Steps for Lauren’s Closet:

1. After doing all of the prep work of wire shelf removal, spackling, and painting in my closet too, we built the Pax frame and moved it into the back recession of my closet.

(Mine is an L shape but it’s extremely tight and would barely be considered a walk-in, so the Pax frame made the most sense in my closet’s back niche.)

2. We built the 2 Billy bookcases and placed them side-by-side with a 12″ large gap in between them.

3. Then, we added the Billy extenders on top of the bookcases to use all of the space to the ceiling and anchored the bookcases and Pax frame to the walls.

4. To make a skinny shoe shelf out of the 12″ gap between the two Billy bookcases, we used some of the Billy shelves to cut with the table saw and frame out like its own bookcase using 2″ L brackets.

5. We cut more Billy shelves to create shoe shelves in the skinny bookcase we made from the 12″ gap, attaching the shelves to the two Billy bookcases with the nail gun.

6. To close the small 1 inch gap between the top of the bookcases and the ceiling, we trimmed it all out with the 1×4 MDF strip. And we did the same to the Pax frame on the top and sides to make it flush with the walls.

7. Then, we caulked all of the cracks, and painted over the caulk with the IKEA white paint color once the caulk was dry to make it all look like one seamless built-in closet.

8. The rest was just screwing in accessories like the closet rods, Komplement drawers/shelves, Skuggis wall hooks, and wooden Bumerang hangers.

We’re still waiting on the two different types of baskets we ordered as that was our solution for not having any drawers so that we can store out-of-season clothes and accessories in them.

Truthfully, I don’t think we’re going to miss having drawers at all, and I do still have a couple of drawers in my closet with the one Pax frame we were able to use.

I am SO excited to see how this has all come together and this Plan B with the Billy bookcases has worked out perfectly to help us maximize even more space than what we had originally planned and with what we had before using the wire shelves.

Now probably the hardest part comes next: actually sorting through my mountain of clothes. SOS! Send help!

Here’s hoping we’ll be sharing the full reveal with everything all organized soon!

Got any Kon Mari-ing clothing tips in the meantime? 😉

If you want to save this post for later, you can pin it here: