Ikea "Billy" displays

[dholden007]

Thanks. I have 2 singles (on opposite sides) and 1 double and I am thinking about getting another double. Would you agree the Oxbergs look nicer?

 

[Lumos]

Personally, yes. I think they make the cases look much classier, and since my collection is in my bedroom, I appreciate that. They look more like...I dunno...FURNITURE, vs just glass cases, if that makes any sense. I was originally going to go with detolfs until I saw them in person. Honestly wasn't super impressed. The Billys aren't exactly solid wood masterpieces - don't get me wrong - but slap on those doors, and they look pretty darn decent!

It all really comes down to personal preference and the room you're putting them in, though.

 

[dholden007]

Personally, yes. I think they make the cases look much classier, and since my collection is in my bedroom, I appreciate that. They look more like...I dunno...FURNITURE, vs just glass cases, if that makes any sense. I was originally going to go with detolfs until I saw them in person. Honestly wasn't super impressed. The Billys aren't exactly solid wood masterpieces - don't get me wrong - but slap on those doors, and they look pretty darn decent!

It all really comes down to personal preference and the room you're putting them in, though.

Yeah I agree. Mine are in the living room. I also just realized I have height extensions on my Billys and I don't think they make those small all-glass extension doors, Oxberg only.

 

[ninjajimmy]

I'll share mine, just posted them in another thread. I have more pieces on display then when I took this shot, but you get the idea:

Now that is an awesome setup! I think i'm going to have to take a ride to IKEA this weekend

 

[Garrison]

Just a quick question regarding the Billys with the Morliden doors. Is the glass on the Morliden clear? The pictures on Ikea's site make it seem like the glass is frosted.

 

[chris rankin]

Just a quick question regarding the Billys with the Morliden doors. Is the glass on the Morliden clear? The pictures on Ikea's site make it seem like the glass is frosted.

It is clear, it just has a piece of plywood behind the glass that you can remove. It is so people can put designs behind the glass like pictures and it is just held in place with little clips that you can remove.

 

[Garrison]

It is clear, it just has a piece of plywood behind the glass that you can remove. It is so people can put designs behind the glass like pictures and it is just held in place with little clips that you can remove.

Thanks for the reply Chris! So if the plywood can be removed does that compromise the strength of the door? Is the glass strong enough to be used on it's own.

I'm trying to decide whether to use these doors or the Oxberg's for the Billys.

 

[chris rankin]

Thanks for the reply Chris! So if the plywood can be removed does that compromise the strength of the door? Is the glass strong enough to be used on it's own.

I'm trying to decide whether to use these doors or the Oxberg's for the Billys.

The plywood doesn't add any structure to the door at all, its just there for decoration. The doors are really sturdy and they are held on with 3 hinges. The only thing to worry about is opening the doors without having the bookcase anchored to the wall as it is prone to tipping from the weight. I have these doors and IMO they offer the best visibility just like the Tombo as it has a thin frame.

 

[Garrison]

The plywood doesn't add any structure to the door at all, its just there for decoration. The doors are really sturdy and they are held on with 3 hinges. The only thing to worry about is opening the doors without having the bookcase anchored to the wall as it is prone to tipping from the weight. I have these doors and IMO they offer the best visibility just like the Tombo as it has a thin frame.

Thanks for the info Chris, I appreciate it! It looks like the Morliden only comes in the shorter size (15 3/4 x 38 1/4) individually. Which might help with the tipping issue on the 15 3/4 x 79 1/2 units since I would need two to cover the unit. I will definitely be anchoring these to the wall.

 

[badbob001]

The morliden doors certainly come in both half-height and full-height sizes.

I've seen many setups where a light is put under each shelf. Has anyone tried to put a vertical strip of led lights into the frame of the doors, on the side where the hinges attach? So for a two-door Billy setup, there will be light shining in from the left and right side of the corresponding doors. I'm hoping the door frame is thick enough to allow something like IKEA's dioder led strip to be wedged in there. And when the strip encounters a hinge, the dioder comes with these 1" wired connectors that may be able to get around or through each hinge. I wonder if I can connect 6 dioder sections together.

I think this way, each shelf is lit more evenly top to bottom and with less shadows. And the only wires to manage are at one end of each strip. Only issue will be that the lights will not be shining into the bookcase when the doors are opened.

 

[badbob001]

Along a wall, I want to put a row of three 30"-wide billy bookcases. At where the last bookcase would be, the wall indents in about one foot. So instead of having the last bookcase be indented in as well and looking staggered from the rest, does it make sense to keep the front bookcase flush with the other two and then add another billy in the intended area? My idea is to remove the backing from the 'front' billy so that the 'front' and back 'billy' are flushed, front to back, so to essentially make a double-depth billy (at least 22+" deep).

I would need to figure out how to connect the front and back billys together (maybe connect with wood pieces from the bottom and top). I think if I use the regular wooden shelves on each, there will be a gap between the front and back shelfs. I think the glass shelves are slide-in so maybe I can slide in the front glass shelves so they are flush with the back glass shelves, but I'm wary of the strength of the glass. I wonder if I rotate the back shelves 180 degrees would the gap be smaller, find some way to push the front shelves back, or see if I find wood strips to fill the gap.

And why not just get 22" deep item like a Pax? Because Pax and even Besta don't have clear glass minimal-frame doors like the morliden.

 

[Resident Eric]

The morliden doors certainly come in both half-height and full-height sizes.

I've seen many setups where a light is put under each shelf. Has anyone tried to put a vertical strip of led lights into the frame of the doors, on the side where the hinges attach? So for a two-door Billy setup, there will be light shining in from the left and right side of the corresponding doors. I'm hoping the door frame is thick enough to allow something like IKEA's dioder led strip to be wedged in there. And when the strip encounters a hinge, the dioder comes with these 1" wired connectors that may be able to get around or through each hinge. I wonder if I can connect 6 dioder sections together.

I think this way, each shelf is lit more evenly top to bottom and with less shadows. And the only wires to manage are at one end of each strip. Only issue will be that the lights will not be shining into the bookcase when the doors are opened.

Bad idea...the lights aren't going to reach the center of the cabinet. You'll have uneven lighting.

 

[duo_maxwell_1017]

Does anyone know what the shelf weight capacity is for each shelf? Trying to determine if the shelves can handle Hot Toys Iron Man figures. Trying to make sure that shelves don't sag after a period of time.

 

[Dixmois]

Does anyone know what the shelf weight capacity is for each shelf? Trying to determine if the shelves can handle Hot Toys Iron Man figures. Trying to make sure that shelves don't sag after a period of time.

Says 66 pounds on the site. The glass shelves are 22 pounds.

 

[Kroatos151]

Customized a Billy (or better two) here with an interlayer and also separate LED lights. Works well and most of the HPP figures are matching (armor testing Tony unfortunatly not due his bigger base).

Displaying is not yet finsihed at all

 

[Sardo Numspa]

Looking at Billy displayed collections, it seems most are using the Oxberg doors instead of all glass Morliden. The Oxbergs do look classier with the frame but I was wondering how much visibility do you lose because of the frame (especially in the middle of the cabinet with two doors). Is there a big difference? I was originally going to pick up the Morlidens but now am leaning toward the Oxberg doors.

I used to have the Oxberg doors, on the larger Billys (so two doors per bookcase), and I collect 1/6 figs. In that scenario, you have to remember that the frames are essentially double in the middle of the shelf. So in that case, you lose a LOT of visibility. I could basically only keep 4 figs per shelf if I wanted to see them all when the doors were closed.
With the Morliden, I can keep as much as 7 figures per shelf, without it getting too crowded, and have a nice view of all of them.

Morliden



Oxberg

 

[Sardo Numspa]

Sorry for the bad lighting on the Oxberg pic, that was when I had pot lights instead of LEDs

 

[memphissfinest]

Anybody got anymore pics of their collection with white Billys with the Morliden doors? I'm still torn between getting white or black Billys for my collection but I'm leaning more towards white.

 

[Omega9300]

I know this is a very old thread but I am dusting it off bk I am really curious to see if anyone has more pictures of their 1/6 figures in an IKEA Billy. My wife doesn’t like the Idea of Detolfs down in the basement but is cool with the Billy. Thanks in advance!

 

[irezumi]

I know this is a very old thread but I am dusting it off bk I am really curious to see if anyone has more pictures of their 1/6 figures in an IKEA Billy. My wife doesn’t like the Idea of Detolfs down in the basement but is cool with the Billy. Thanks in advance!

Just switched from detolf to Billy cabinets.