[bobc]

I've been trying to find more Faarup bookcases to match my 10 year-old ones, but Faarup's disappeared from the planet. Just yesterday I found IKEA, and the Billy is an exact match in every way except for the shelf thickness. They're so alike I'm convinced either IKEA or Faarup made them for each other.

Faarup shelves are a full 1" thick, IKEA says Billy's are 3/4", some here say 7/8".

I use them in my office for my library (12 bookcases and counting so far), so they hold both hard and soft cover books. Billy shelves hold up to 66 lbs. each, so I'm okay there.

Just looking for some pre-purchase hand holding and reassurance that Billy's will work well since it's a 160 mile drive to Pittsburgh IKEA.

Thanks everyone! I feel the IKEA bug biting!

Bob

[quinncx]

My parents have had the same Billy bookcases in their house since the 80s- nary a wobble in sight. I've got newer ones that do feel less solid, but have none-the-less made the move with me from Kuwait to Bosnia to DC and are still holding together (and I have two extra shelves per unit and only use the Billys to store books). Have fun shopping!

[Narf]

Welcome!

Billy shelves are 7/8" thick.

My guess is that it didn't make sense for Ikea to have several different bookcase lineups, especially when the products are so similar.

[Tigratrus]

Re: Billy and old Swedish Faarup bookcases 

Took the picture when I read the original post, but didn't get it uploaded till late last night. Anyway, I've had my collection of IT tech books on these shelves for several years now (and they are *not* lightweight books) along with my woodworking books which are full of heavy color prints. I've never seen any issues with the durability etc. We got both of these from a "Handyman" cart in As-Is for about $15 IIRC.

James