We're wanting to organise my records (mainly 45s) into a "nice looking" unit or two (they're currently mainly in cheapo bookcases) and I'm trying to come up with some smart looking (i.e. living room friendly) bookcase units that would be suitable for records. The obvious place to start is Ikea, and their Expedit shelving looks great but it's not quite the right size for the space I need to fill (and it looks like it's LP sized rather than singles). The Billy bookcase looks like it might be more the right size but again, it's not quite the height/width I'm after and I'm not sure how strong it would be if fully loaded with singles.

Ideally I need something that's around 210cm high by 130cm wide (or slightly less) with shelving for 7" singles with dividers/supports along the shelf - which is also strong enough to take the weight of the records of course.

I just wondered if any of you had bought any nice solid bookcases (in the UK) recently to house your vinyl 45s and if so, if you could give me any pointers.

cheers

Martin

There was a thread about this last year,couple of people had them custom made by a cabinet maker who's on here,sorry cant remember names

there's a decent Ikea alternative to Billy. i think it's called besta or so.

there's a decent Ikea alternative to Billy. i think it's called besta or so.

i've got the ikea onbe its good and solid. The shelves are split into equal sized square segments. I think there may be a couple of different size options as well.

thanks for the replies gents, will check those out. Any further suggestions welcomed

I use billy, I have a bunch of them and they're pretty much perfect. Can take a picture of one of them if you want.

They are flimsy, perfectly fine for holding 45s (you need to make sure they're bracketed to the wall) but they won't survive a move or two. But that's true of all ikea furniture.

The one negative I have is that they discontinued the color from when I first started buying the shelf so one or two shelves are different colors now.

I've got the Billys. The shelves on mine are fitted so there's one rack of LPs then one of 45s, then another of LPs, then one of 45s then two top ones of LPs. The rest of my 45s are in the 18 litre strong plastic boxes from the Really Useful Box Company.

The "Billy" bookcase always makes me sn***** I'm afraid.

Whilst I was in the army we used to use the word billy before a word to describe somebody, taking the idea from Billy Whiz. So we used to have Billy idiot, Billy a***hole, Billy beard (special forces in NI - beards apparently made them covert ), Billy p*sshead, Billy nutcase, etc

... You had to be there

Billy bookcase

Sorry, on topic - I made my own.

Edited March 12, 201213 yr by paultp

Hi Martin

Have a look here https://www.i-cubes.co.uk/ they do quite a range of styles. I've ordered some LP storage cubes from them (not arrived yet). I was thinking about getting the IKEA Expedit bookcases but read that they weren't really strong enough to support a large number of LP's..

atb

Jon

Hi Martin

I use Billy. No weight problems at all. Get the 203 x 40cm size and 3 will fit your space quite well for a good price.

Regards

Paul

Hi Martin

Have a look here https://www.i-cubes.co.uk/ they do quite a range of styles. I've ordered some LP storage cubes from them (not arrived yet). I was thinking about getting the IKEA Expedit bookcases but read that they weren't really strong enough to support a large number of LP's..

atb

Jon

i've had the same full expedit for over 10 years, no problems at all with it, no bending of the shelves, had loads of use and abuse, whoever told you that is wrong, they're fine for albums.

i use i cube S300-type shelves for 45's stacked on top of each other, again not problems with them. I did find a cheaper place on ebay i think it was when i got mine, they send them plain so you can paint/spray/varnish/whatever, think they were around £16 each at the time. all i have to do is actually paint/spray/varnish/whatever when i get round to it...

cheers Sutty

I have slight bending of the shelves on the billy bookcases that are 10+ years old, but it's pretty slight and overall they are the most cost effective way (in my experience) to house a larger collection, and they look pretty good. You have to get a couple extra shelves when buying one to fill up the whole unit.

My wifes mate gave her a pine bookcase when she moved house, we didn't really need it so I decided to turn it into a record cabinet. I removed the shelves with the help of a car jack then put them back with better spacing plus an extra one. I've just finished making the doors, just got to stain them to match now.

Thanks again all,will have a mull over,billy does sound like the frontrunner.

Martin

Thanks again all,will have a mull over,billy does sound like the frontrunner.

Martin

I will try to take a pic today and post it