Hit Craigs List. Hope you live in DFW...

Here is a link that might be useful: Lawyers Bookcases

1) Ikea's Billy bookcases actually have a pretty good reputation for durability (make sure to secure them to the wall as you would any tall furniture item). Ikea's kitchen cabinets have an even better reputation for "bang for your buck" and I'll bet you can work up a really good custom look that way.

2) Check local unfinished furniture stores. In our previous house I was planning to put the same kind of combination open/closed shelving you want in one room and an unfinished furniture store nearby was very helpful in figuring out how to do it without breaking the bank.

greenthumbfish - I'm actually between Seattle and Vancouver BC so not near the DFW area. That is a very pretty lawyers bookcase. I'll have to take a look at Craigslist. Since I will need several bookcases to fill the space, I wasn't sure Craigslist would be an option but I'll certainly give that a try, maybe someone's trying to get rid of a wall of bookcases :-) Thanks!

We have old old Ikea Billy bookcases -- and those have held LOTS of heavy books and items for years! This is an older photo -- just got a new standing lamp for MY reading corner! And yes! those ARE the Billy bookcases!

Twingirlsmom,

Please email me.

Thanks!

Don't forget to check out any local consignment stores. If you really want them to look built in, remove baseboads and push them flat against the walls, and add moulding, such as quarter round.

For some lower cost alternatives:

If you don't mind white, Ikea's Liatorp series might work well. It's not as flexible as Billy since they only make the bookcase in one size (37.5") but you can add doors or drawers and matching crown molding to get that more integrated look.

If you prefer stained wood, the Canopy Bookcase from Walmart might work. It comes in a medium and dark wood tone. It looks like you might be able to bunch these bookcases next to each other. I can attest to the nice quality and easy assembly of this line as I've bought other pieces for my son's room.

If you google "bunching bookcases", you will get some good results for ready made bookcases that can be bunched together to look built in. Also try homedecorators.com, they have a huge array of bookcases.

A little more expensive but Macy's and Ballard Designs also have some nice bookcases.

Molton Bookcases might be worth looking at as well. Their website is confusing but they sell DIY built in bookcases. Also, you might try local unfinished furniture stores. Some of them will finish or paint bookcases for an additional cost.

Ikea Liatorp

Canopy from Walmart

Costco.com - Villa Tuscano Bookcase $399 ea.

Jcpenney - Ellis bookcases

Also check out Target.

Here is a link that might be useful: Target bookcases

This might not be 'quality' enough for you but here's what I'm doing for my DGD's room:
Right now, BIG LOTS has 5 shelf bookcases on sale-2/$50, in white or I think oak color. I am getting the white, then adding a pair of vinyl shutters to the bottom half and placing crown molding on the top edge & decorative trim for the open shelves' edges. Will paint them a cream color.

This one is in our basement. DH actually built it following a photo we saw in a magazine. The skirting at the bottom disguises casters enabling it to be pulled out. It is "built-in" - the bookcase actually provides access for servicing the furnace and water heater.

{{!gwi}}

Great ideas here. Sharon, I would love to see photos of your project when finished and fnmroberts what a talented husband you have with a good solution there.

If you're a little handy, you can order unassembled from Scherr's. They build to suit, so you can get an exact built-in custom fit if that's what you're after. It's more than standalone units from a store, but much cheaper than having a custom place do it for you.

Here's a photo of my den that I did through them. I actually ordered unfinished as well since I wanted to match other cabs in the house. There's a lot of extra details that give this some "oomph" - I'd be happy to point them out if you like the look.

Chiefneil- your built-in looks fabulous! Is this the Scherr's in Minot, ND? Their site seems to be all about kitchen cabinets. What you did is pretty much what we'd like to do in our front study room so I'm real interested in how the process went with Scherr's. Was it your design? What wood species is it?

Those are really nice! IÂd like to know more about them too.

I second the idea of bookcases from an unfinished furniture store. They can be painted or stained as you wish for a built in feel!

Sorry I just now noticed the followup questions on my post. Yes, it's same Scherr's that's popular over on the kitchen forum, scherrs.com is their website.

They make anything, but the catch is that they don't have a design expert as such on staff. I came up with the design myself, and refined it over several passes with the contact at Scherr's. The process was very easy and painless. The only thing they could probably do better is make suggestions where small changes could have a large impact on the cost. In my case it was, "here's what I want" and they said "here's the price".

Total price was about half what a custom place wanted for a less elaborate design, however it did take about 6 months of nights and weekends to stain, finish, assemble, and install. (But I did get tired halfway through and took a month off.)

Hope that helps. If you'd like to see more photos and details, let me know and I'll start a new thread (there's a matching desk as well).

When I was shopping for bookcases last month, there were several that I liked from Home Decorators, though I finally decided to order one from Macys--any 6 weeks later, am still waiting for it to be delivered.

I was very impressed with the selection through Home Decorators and they looked very nice as well--esp. if you are interested in more of a furniture look without the cost.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Decorators