IKEA BILLY bookcase stands the test of time

Range news29 June 2023

First launched in 1978, the BILLY bookcase has been a fixture in Australian homes for 45 years

BILLY is one of the most beloved IKEA products and it is much more than just a bookcase – it represents an important part of IKEA’s history. One BILLY bookcase is sold every 5 seconds across the world and this iconic piece of furniture has found its place as a member of the family in over 1 million homes in Australia.

At the heart of BILLY lies the five dimensions of Democratic Design: form, function, quality, sustainability and low price. These dimensions are represented in all IKEA products, and they are constantly reviewed to ensure they are both meeting the IKEA vision and customers' expectations. 

The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people, and this means offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them, while not compromising on either functionality or technical quality.

Speaking of BILLY’s design, Gillis Lundgren, who was one of the first IKEA employees and the original designer of BILLY, said “When we were developing BILLY, we wanted to make a bookcase that would be discrete in its form, while also being attractive and timeless.

“It was designed with Democratic Design in mind to create an affordable bookcase, that is functional, beautiful and flexible enough to suit many different people and many types of living spaces. That’s why it can never go out of style.”

As a result of its careful design, this timeless product that has only received minor updates over 4 decades, with the first improvement occurring in the 1980s. This included shaving off 10cm from the width of BILLY to strengthen shelves. Interestingly, this adjustment, designed to improve the bookcase in the long run, caused a protest. Customers gathered at the IKEA Stockholm store wearing T-shirts that said, “Don’t touch our BILLY.”  

The next significant update occurred just last year. These included using different materials to make BILLY more sustainable and design changes to improve the appeal, quality, and durability of the product’s lifespan. 

This new version of BILLY launched in Australia in 2022, with most materials used to produce the bookcase coming from renewable sources, signalling an important step towards the IKEA ambition to use only renewable or recycled materials by 2030. These changes included a shift from wood veneer to paper foil, resulting in fewer trees being harvested.

Additionally, nails used to attach the back panel were replaced with snap fittings to make assembly easier, and disassembly and reassembly possible, as well as creating more possibilities for repairs. These improvements were made to help increase BILLY’s lifetime by making it easier for customers to bring BILLY with them throughout their lives, as well as aligning with the IKEA people and planet positive strategy to design products circularly from the very beginning.

BILLY is available online and in-store, with prices starting from $119.