IKEA BILLY Kitchen: The popular IKEA bookcase also works in the kitchen

We took down a wall between our kitchen and living room. We had to keep a support column, so we decided to build a room divider/kitchen island.

What we’re proud of is our DIY kitchen island is an IKEA BILLY kitchen hack that saved us a lot of money in the process. It also looks and works great. We get so many compliments from everyone when they see this kitchen island bookshelf storage thing we hacked.

We used three BILLY bookcases and a NUMERAR butcher block as the main ingredients for this island.

Materials:

  • BILLY bookcases x 3
  • NUMERAR countertop

IKEA BILLY Kitchen island instructions

DIY IKEA BILLY kitchen hack
Photo Credit: Courtney Affrunti

First, we assembled the BILLY bookcases and fastened them to each other. To do this, just screw two side panels together with short screws so it won’t poke through.

DIY Kitchen Island made from BILLY bookcases
Photo Credit: Courtney Affrunti

Then, we covered the back of the bookcases with beadboard and trimmed the whole thing with molding from a big box store.

DIY Kitchen Island made from BILLY bookcases
Photo Credit: Courtney Affrunti

We allowed the butcher block to hang over the back side, supported by corbels. Now, we have a bar-height IKEA BILLY kitchen island with a seating area.

DIY Kitchen Island made from BILLY bookcases
Photo Credit: Courtney Affrunti

Lastly, is to decorate it. On one end, we fixed a hook. On the other, we hung a wire basket, which is great for holding plates, napkins, and lunch bags for the kids.

On the kitchen side, we’ve added lots of open-shelf storage and filled it up with all our goodies.

See more of the DIY IKEA BILLY bookcase kitchen hack here.

~ by Courtney Affrunti

You may also like these DIY kitchen island hacks

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kitchen island with seating
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Lori made a kitchen island with seating for 3 to 4. The IKEA product she settled on was the IKEA KARLBY walnut countertop and HEMNES chest of 8 drawers to create her unique kitchen island.

2. Compact kitchen island with stainless steel top and drawers

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After digging around on Etsy for what seemed like a million years, CommandoGirl still couldn’t find one that provided enough storage and was also small enough to fit into the limited space in her kitchen. So, enter the Hemnes dresser. And out came her small kitchen island with drawers.

3. Country kitchen island

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Kitchen islands are expensive! And they are not very cute. Joanne took an old HEMNES 3-drawer chest (the bigger one) and re-purposed it into a charming country kitchen island.

4. Rustic kitchen island

rustic kitchen island
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Michelle was tired of her round dining table with chairs. For a change, she wanted something that was chic yet functional. She also wanted something that would be a space saver. That was when she took a second look at the HEMNES dresser, observed a few kitchen island ideas on different websites, and got to work on a rustic kitchen island.