Turn BILLY bookcases into bold, large wall art

BILLY bookcase with large wall art

I was tired of looking at rows of DVDs, blu-rays, games etc. in my BILLY bookcases … so I decided to add doors to conceal everything. However, I wanted to make it more visually interesting. I decided to turn the cases into one large piece of art. After looking around, it seemed vinyl sticker transfer decals were the easiest answer and most economical. This idea would also work if you had a photo or something you wanted to use, you would just have to get it custom printed to size.

You will need:

  • Billy Bookcases
  • Morliden Glass Doors
  • Artwork. My wave decal came from Stickerbrand. They have large wall decals of varying subject matter. The vinyl can be ordered in numerous colors.

Instructions:

The Morliden doors come with a thin board insert with a white side and black on the other. If you so choose, you could do a “reverse” image. Use the black side of the panel with a white decal for example.

  1. Assemble bookcases with doors.
  2. Install bookcases right up against each other, and adjust doors to your liking
  3. Measure the gaps between the door inserts. Note: you are measuring the spaces between the edges of the actual inserts, not the outsides of the aluminum door frame.
  4. Remove the door insert panels and set them up next to each other spaced out exactly as they would be installed in the cases using the measurements you took. I wound up clearing space in the kitchen, I put the panels down on the floor and used a tile line to line them up. I then taped them to the floor using painters tape in various locations.
  5. Install the decal. PATIENCE. I suggest you watch some videos on youtube on how to use these transfer decals. Expect to spend upwards of 3 hours of more depending on your project size. Another person helping is recommended. I installed the decal all at once, not worrying about the pieces laying between the gaps. When I finished, I used a pen knife to remove the unused sticker pieces that lay in the gaps between the panels.

NOTE: When removing painters tape, carefully peel from the inside of panel out towards the edge. If you start at the edge first you risk removing some of the face layer from the panel.

~ moto wander