It’s a ready-made carcass for a designer sideboard, waiting for a flip, some legs, and a little swagger. The internet has quietly agreed: the plainest IKEA unit can become the most talked‑about piece in your living room, at a price that doesn’t sting.
I’m standing in a small north London flat, mugs clinking, Sunday light sliding across a flawless “oak” sideboard. The kind you see in boutique hotels, all calm lines and grown‑up storage. My friend says, “Guess what it used to be.” I run a palm across the top, feel those telltale IKEA edges, and my brain does the maths: shallow depth, neat proportions, that slightly too-perfect rectangle. “BILLY,” she grins, and taps a discreet brass knob like a magician revealing a hidden pocket. We laugh because it’s cheeky and a little brilliant. We’ve all had that moment when a room needs something beautiful and a budget says no. She nods at the base, proud and conspiratorial. Just one twist.
The unlikely sideboard hiding in plain sight
Look closely at a BILLY and you see it: the slim 28 cm depth that reads “sideboard”, not “bookcase”, once it’s horizontal. The 80 cm wide unit becomes a tidy cabinet when flipped, with room for records, glasses, and those infuriating TV remotes. The taller 202 cm version, halved or combined, gives you scale worth paying for. In a world of chunky consoles, the BILLY’s narrow footprint feels sophisticated. You move it, spin it, add legs, and it suddenly belongs beside a grown‑up sofa, not in a student bedroom. It goes from background to focal point with a few confident moves.
Take Jess, who found a scuffed BILLY for £15 on Facebook Marketplace and followed a tutorial with the precision of a pastry recipe. She laid it on its side, reinforced the back, and wrapped the doors in cane for texture. A slab of MDF on top, a whisper of oak‑stain varnish, and skinny mid‑century legs screwed into corner plates. Her shopping list came to about £110—less than a third of the designer piece she’d pinned. Two weeks later, guests were stroking the doors and asking for the brand. She just smiled and poured another drink.
The hack works because BILLY is a skeleton with manners. It’s rigid enough to hold shape, light enough to move, and boring enough to accept any costume. Modular widths let you build a double or triple‑unit run for long walls, while that shallow depth keeps traffic flowing in tight spaces. It’s also everywhere—tens of millions sold—so spares, seconds, and freebies fill local groups. You’re upgrading an everyday object into an anchor piece, and the environmental story is decent too: reuse, not landfill, with materials you can source locally.
The step-by-step hack, without the drama
Start with a clean, assembled BILLY and rotate it horizontally so the “top” becomes your front edge. Add an MDF or plywood slab as the new top, leaving a slight overhang for that bespoke shadow line. Pre‑drill and fix with countersunk screws into the existing frame, then wood‑filler the heads for a seamless skin. Install corner braces inside to stiffen the base, especially if you’re adding doors. Now fit legs: angled mid-century styles for warmth, pin legs for loft vibes, or a plinth for a seamless, furniture‑grade look. Paint or veneer the top. This is where the magic starts. Add doors—rattan, shaker, fluted—using concealed hinges, and line the interior with shelf pins for proper storage.
Little wins matter. Degrease the surfaces and sand lightly for grip; primer makes budget paint feel expensive. Add edge banding on exposed MDF for a clean profile, then caulk tiny gaps so your brush doesn’t telegraph imperfections. If you want fluted doors, glue half‑round dowels to flat MDF with a carpenter’s adhesive and a square to keep lines straight. Keep legs square with a scrap piece of timber as a jig. Let the paint cure for 48 hours before styling so candles, trays and vases don’t leave ghost rings. Let’s be honest: nobody actually sands between every coat.
If you’re worried about strength, think like a cabinetmaker. Add a hidden stretcher across the back and fix it into wall studs with discreet anti‑tip brackets, especially if you’ve got kids. Use a decent primer under dark colours so chips don’t reveal a telltale white. Upgrade knobs or pulls and your hands will understand the difference daily. Your eye will too.
“The trick is treating flat‑pack like a blank instrument,” says interior stylist Lucy H. “Tune it, don’t fight it. Change the stance, dress the face, and finish it like real furniture.”
- Flip it on its side — establish the sideboard silhouette before any finishing
- Add legs — corner plates or a plinth give strength and style
- Finish like furniture — primer, filler, and hardware lift the whole piece
Why this little switch changes the room
When storage looks like furniture rather than “a unit”, a room exhales. The BILLY‑to‑sideboard shift gives you a low horizon for art, lamps, and ritual: music on a Friday, keys in a bowl, a quiet drink by lamplight. The shallow depth keeps flow clear, so small spaces feel grown rather than crammed. Guests read the silhouette as intentional design, not “IKEA, but try.” Style the top like you’d style a mantle—one tall, one low, one wild card—and the whole wall starts to hum. It’s the same footprint you already had, but with purpose woven through it. Your home starts to tell better stories.
| Point clé | Détail | Intérêt pour le lecteur |
|---|---|---|
| Rotate and reinforce | Flip the BILLY horizontally, add a top and internal braces | Instant sideboard proportions with real stability |
| Door and texture upgrade | Cane, fluted dowels, or shaker MDF on concealed hinges | Designer look without the boutique price tag |
| Furniture-grade finish | Prime, fill, paint, and fit quality hardware | Durability and a premium feel every time you touch it |
FAQ :
- Can a BILLY really handle the weight as a sideboard?Yes, with simple reinforcement. Add a back stretcher and corner braces, and anchor to the wall if you’ll store heavy tableware or records.
- Which legs work best?Use metal corner plates and 12–18 cm legs for a balanced stance. A full plinth looks high-end and spreads the load evenly.
- What doors should I choose?Flat MDF for paint, cane panels for texture, or fluted dowels for a boutique edge. Concealed hinges keep lines clean.
- How do I get a smooth paint finish?Degrease, light sand, shellac or bonding primer, then two thin coats of durable eggshell. A mini foam roller gives that near‑sprayed look.
- Will it look obviously IKEA?Not if you change the stance and touchpoints: legs, top thickness, edge banding, and hardware. Those small decisions erase the flat‑pack “tell”.
