Wall-To-Wall Bookshelves

Nothing will beat Ikea on price, and you can dress it up a bit yourself if you want.

Then really price goes up from there for nicer stuff or more custom.

I just did a R.S. White Oak built in bookshelf wall, with lower cabinets, with a fire place in the middle and panelling overtop on a wall maybe a bit longer than that not too long ago. I budgeted around 100 hours, and I think it was pretty close to around that. So I'm sure for custom, high quality stuff, you're probably looking closer to $20k - ymmv. Wood price increases are probably inconsequential for oak, walnut, maple, or whatever compared to the labour costs. Plywood has only gone up like $15 a sheet for me, and hardwood is only up maybe $1/bf at most. Probably need some electrical work done too, or if stuff falls in the right spot maybe you get lucky with some box extenders.

SubjectivelyObjective wrote: ↑ I just did a R.S. White Oak built in bookshelf wall, with lower cabinets, with a fire place in the middle and panelling overtop on a wall maybe a bit longer than that not too long ago. I budgeted around 100 hours, and I think it was pretty close to around that. So I'm sure for custom, high quality stuff, you're probably looking closer to $20k - ymmv. Wood price increases are probably inconsequential for oak, walnut, maple, or whatever compared to the labour costs. Plywood has only gone up like $15 a sheet for me, and hardwood is only up maybe $1/bf at most. Probably need some electrical work done too, or if stuff falls in the right spot maybe you get lucky with some box extenders.

Thanks! I appreciate the detailed response.

We just finished a $50k reno that covered a basement, living room and bathrooms. Not sure I can put aside another $20k for a wall shelf.

Even with Ikea, while the pricing is easier to manage, I'm still left with a lot of empty space.

Maybe I can build the Ikea cabinets and get someone to custom frame-in the extra space around to save on costs.

Thanks again.

mighty_chef wrote: ↑ Maybe I can build the Ikea cabinets and get someone to custom frame-in the extra space around to save on costs.

Thanks again.

It's pretty easy to ikea hack a lot of things, and there is lots of info online on how to do it.

The top and bottom is somewhat simple, you can always frame a base to raise it a bit or trim out the top and crown it if you want.

The sides are sometimes more of a pain. How much space are you going to have left on each side after you fit as much in there as you can?

https://www.heytherehome.com/create-built-family-room/

You can google something like ikea custom look wall to wall shelving

mighty_chef wrote: ↑ Even with Ikea, while the pricing is easier to manage, I'm still left with a lot of empty space.

Maybe I can build the Ikea cabinets and get someone to custom frame-in the extra space around to save on costs.

That a good plan. My brother reno'd with Ikea stuff but had the cabinets custom installed and it looked like a complete custom job

might not be exactly what you're looking for but i've always wanted to try this project out one day. Maybe it'll be helpful for your project.

astrolad wrote: ↑ That a good plan. My brother reno'd with Ikea stuff but had the cabinets custom installed and it looked like a complete custom job

We did this with a large wall unit and it came out looking amazing. So another vote for Ikea with a custom install.