It’s the day! The first Ikea Billy units are actually being installed!

Working out from the corner box, we planned to install two tall and two half height units. And, if possible, the extension units on top of the full height as well. It’s important to work out from the corner box to ensure there are straight lines. This is particularly tricky in an old house as walls are rarely straight. Straight walls are even less likely when there has been an extension throughout the years.

Despite what I initially thought, I leaned throughout this process that neither of the walls I wanted to build along, were straight.

This is an added bonus of the wall batons; they can help us make adjustments to ensure the bookshelves are straight and supported along a slightly curved wall.

But it’s not just about throwing some Ikea units into the room and bolting them together either. Remember that I want detailed pieces between each unit? That means we need to introduce space somehow, without compromising on stability.

Each unit gets blocks of pine timber screwed to the side at specific points (I became very good at marking out 15mm from the back, 10mm from the front, 300 mm up from the base and 25mm down from the top). The next unit is then screwed to these blocks. The blocks are the back of each unit are also, of course, screwed to the wall batons. Are you starting to understand how stable these shelves are? They will outlast my lifetime.

 By the end of the day, we had two full height, two half height and two extension units. All installed with absolute precision. I’m pretty excited; I can now start to imagine what the finish product will look like.