This Clever IKEA Hack Showed Me That BILLYs Can Work in Any Room of the House

Written by

Sarah EverettAssistant Editor of Home Projects
Sarah EverettAssistant Editor of Home Projects
I organize the Before & After series and cover DIY and design. I joined AT in October 2020 as a production assistant. I have an MA in Journalism from the University of Missouri and a BA in Journalism from Belmont University. Past editorial stops include HGTV Magazine, Nashville Arts Magazine, and local magazines in my hometown, Columbia, Missouri.
published Jan 30, 2025
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Before: Basic grayish white bathroom with washing machine in corner

IKEA BILLY hacks are great for adding budget-friendly storage to any room — yes, even the bathroom. I love this IKEA BILLY hack in particular because it not only adds storage, but it also divides a small space and makes it multipurpose. 

Agathe Corbet (@amastudiointeriors) and her husband, Jeremy, live in a small apartment in France, and while they’re lucky to have in-unit laundry, the washer and dryer certainly don’t have their own room. The bathroom also doubles as a laundry room. 

“A washing machine not being the most pleasant thing to look at, I wanted it to be hidden,” Agathe previously told Apartment Therapy. She and her husband retiled, paneled, and painted the whole bathroom, but an approximately $40 IKEA find makes a major difference. “We hacked a BILLY bookcase into a partition wall that doubles as open shelves.” 

Credit: Ama Studio
Credit: Ama Studio

Agathe and Jeremy used the narrower BILLY bookcase option, and they extended the bookcase up to the ceiling and used lots of caulk to make it look built-in — a bit of a challenge given that none of the walls in their older apartment were straight. They painted the bookcase in a bright white called “Coconut” to match the walls. The shelf side faces the bathroom, and Agathe and Jeremy used a curtain to conceal a stacked washer and dryer.

The whole hack cost about $100 — and didn’t require any relocation of plumbing or fixtures. So, the next time you’re wishing you could divide up your space or add a wall, don’t rule it out, even if you rent or don’t know the first thing about drywall. You just might be able to divide up your space with a cleverly placed big box find or two. For more of my favorite space dividing IKEA hacks, check out the gallery below. 

1 / 3
IKEA BILLYs carve out a cozy bedroom in this studio apartment. Read more about the project here.