I know people trim out the Billy bookcases to look built in, so I imagine you can do that mixing in other pieces.

As long as all your measurements are correct, and it will all fit correctly, it seems like a great idea! It will be a bit of work, but has the potential to look great. You'll need good primer to cover the knots in the pine. You will have to take pics and share!

The proportions are wrong---the bookcase is too high. At least the bottom below the secon shelf up should be sawn off, if you can manage that.

Here are a few pictures that demonstrate the desirable proportions. The last picture looks like it was a hack as well and seems subtly "off" iykwim.

Rather than cut the legs on the secretary, you should wrap the bottom of this unit with moulding, i.e. baseboard moulding that matches the rest of the room. That would also give you more of a built in look. You could also reduce the appearance of the height of the bookcase by adding flat trim and crown at the top.

Imagine you are lying in bed and want to set something on this piece of furniture that is effectively your nightstand. Measure the height of your bedframe and mattress and find the area of your planned piece of furniture that is level with the top of the mattress. How easy will it be to access a flat surface? The secretary is 42 inches high, so do you plan to leave the drop down door open at night? In the down position, it will extend out far enough that exiting the bed will be a maneuver.

What about the hemnes built in bookcase with three drawers?

Best part is it comes in white stain, which is still solid pine but essentially pre-primed for you. A lot of people leave the legs on the hemnes but use trim to cover in the top and bottom and make them look built in. Then you just need some new pulls and voila, nice built in.

For me personally, I prefer a surface on which to set things down which means I might be looking at stacking kitchen cabs instead (12" deep on top of 24" deep) but that would be several hundred dollars more expensive.

Or the same secretary with its add on unit - but I see the add on has solid doors which you probably don't want. Maybe if you did something like that you could leave off the doors and leave off the dropdoor for the secretary - leaving everything open. I guarantee there will be holes already drilled for the doors however.

Although this person did do the secretary hack and I think it looks quite nice. She writes "Yes, Hemnes secretary with a Hemnes bookshelf (cut to size). We have 9 ft ceilings. Added crown moulding and trim to the fronts. The middle shelves were made from MDF, painted"

Here's a view of the bookcase trimmed out to look built in

daisy, I'm sure you know that IKEA has the secretary with the matching top............maybe it's not tall enough currently to appear like a built in? Is that the problem?

Not sure you can successfully install the tall bookcase on the secretary

The drop down worksurface is 30" high and may work next to your bed, but what about lighting?

OR

Maybe we can create something more custom from the IKEA Besta pieces for you. The are available in a variety of sizes and can be mounted on the wall if required. I know you have a lot on your plate, but if you could give us the dimensions and parameters of what you want next to your bed, maybe we could provide some assistance.

All good thoughts and things to consider.

I'm pretty sure the ceilings are 9ft but even if they end up at 8 ft, it should be workable to cut down the base of the bookshelf and leave off the top of the secretary (I looked for a small dresser the right height and width, but couldn't find one).

graywings, I'm pretty sure we will have to leave the top of the secretary off to make it fit. I was thinking we could pull the bottom part out from the wall by a couple of inches and that would be a bit of a ledge for a bedside table. The bed will likely be about 26" (altho our last mattress seemed much higher than that) high and the top of the table would be about 32". Not too much of a height difference.

kswl, subtly off doesn't bother me too much if it means the difference between an $800 hack or $3000 builtins :)

Here is the look I'm trying for

And, OMG, I just found this one that looks just like what I'm thinking of - unfortunately, no details of how they did it.

Sorry, guys. We were cross posting and I missed the last few posts. I have to run to meet with electricians, but will respond later - looks like some more great thoughts.

My only issue is that the secretary is on sale until today, but maybe it is worth an extra $100 to wait and figure this out before rushing off half cocked.

This configuration also comes in white. The bridge in the center might have to be adjusted to fit the size of the bed you decide to select.

And there is also a similar configuration from Besta, though it might be to contemporary for you. Finally, it's likely the built in could be arranged using IKEA kitchen cabinets, which would be taller and could be supplied in a Shaker style.

I'm going to ask what is probably a stupid question - but are these Ikea shelving units all flat-pack products with assembly required? DH and I are also considering how we want to do the built-ins for our new reading room, and he likes the idea of DIY'ing with Ikea pieces. If these things come crated and easily transportable (I mean, you get them where you want them and build them there), that would make things so much easier for us.

auntjen, yes everythng comes flat pack, you must assemble yourself. I did a pharmacy a few years back in IKEA cabinets and furnishings and had everything pulled and delivered to the job site for assembly.

Whether I purchased one cabinet or the whole store, the shipping fee for the 135 mile trip was $129. We had hundreds of boxes delivered and they placed them inside for us. It was well worth the money to have it delivered.

Thanks, Beverly! What a nice looking pharmacy you helped to create!

Hahahaha! Love it!

If it's on sale today, but it an leave it packaged, you can always return Ikea stuff within 30 days if it's not unpacked/assembled.

Beverly, please tell me about the lighting installation in that pharmacy----did you create it? I LOVE it ! And i would go out of my way to patronize a pharmacy like the one you designed over my local Rite Aid. !!

Thank you kswl2. I wanted the pharmacy design to set these pharmacists apart. We had a very small budget. I found the storage shelves for the prescription drugs from a pharmacy that was going out of business. By the time we got to the front end of the store, there was no budget for lighting so I scavenged branches from a brush pile, hung them from wires off the suspended ceiling and purchased inexpensive paper lanterns to identify the waiting area. Here's a picture of when I just finished hanging the lanterns and trimming some of the branches. This could easily be adapted for a dining room.

Beautiful-----and so organic with wood and paper! You couldn't have done better with a budget of thousands. I just LOVE THAT! You are so clever---and gifted.