Ikea Kallax for kids bedroom

Tigerandahalf

Hi

I am thinking of getting the above.
My main concerns are that
1. it won't fit over the skirting board
2. They don't seem to come with a thin backboard to stop stuff falling in behind.

What have people done to compensate?
Can you get wooden legs that lift it above the skirting board?

I already have a billy bookshelf elsewhere but it did come with a backboard.

Thanks

oLoonatic

1- Depending how wonkey your walls are you could cut the skirting and push right up against it. Make sure to secure it to the wall using the brackets provided.

2 - you would easily get a bit of thin wood and cut to size.

We use the coloured fabric boxes made with a cardboard inside to give them a bit of strength (from IKEA), have done us a good 4 years so far.

Cathmandooo

I have Capita legs attached to my Kallax, it lifts the unit higher than skirting (16cm high) so it can be flush against the wall, nothing falls out.

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/products/kitchen-products/kitchen-cabinets/capita-leg-stainless-steel-art-10267895/

There are other legs too at different heights.

If you don't want the legs then get baskets for each, depends if you want them to display things or for storage. The fabric boxes are fairly cheap and come in loads of colours

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/products/small-storage-organisers/paper-media-organisers/dr%C3%B6na-box-dark-grey-art-00298487/

Tigerandahalf

I am not cutting the skirting board.

If the kallax had legs (also with ikea) it might reduce the skirting board issue. I am sure it is a common issue.

Some people cut out the bottom of the kallax to go over the skirting board but with the Billy you would be cutting out one of the bolt attachments, so perhaps then it is not secure. Maybe it is possible with the kallax.

miamee

We have several of these around the house and most of them are mounte don the wall just above the skirting board. No chance of anything falling out the back but as someone else suggested you can get baskets for them or if you get the door inserts, there are backings on those (I think!)

seamus

Built one of these last week, but haven't put it in the kids' room. You're right, it won't fit over the skirt, and you can't really cut away at the bottom to make it fit.

You could make your own legs to go on it, but Ikea also do a load of spare legs for couches and beds that will work if you get something big enough; e.g. https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/products/mattresses/bed-legs/burfjord-leg-oak-art-20299693/

Prop it up on the legs and bolt it to the wall and it'll be stable and strong enough.

The larger Kallax units (more than 4 squares) are not recommended for mounting on the walls. The frames are hollow core chipboard, so no matter how many brackets you use to secure it to the wall, if a child decides to climb onto it, the brackets will tear out of the frame and it'll come off the wall.

Tigerandahalf

@catmandoo

Yes that is what I was thinking about. The only downside then is the bottom corner of the unit might hurt their legs. It would be quite an edge.

The Billy is the other option but you tend to have double shelves against each other, wasting space.

I must look at the Kallax sizes to see what fits.

Tigerandahalf

Ya these things are made of chipboard and aren't really made for hanging on a wall. A kid putting their weight on it would damage it.

The Billy I have looks decent and once you don't move around the shelves (the holes start to chip) they do a decent job.

I see the Billy is 28cm deep and the Kallax is 39cm I think. I think the Billy's depth is ideal when space is tight. I am not sure if the kids stuff would need the 39cm depth.

I see the Kallax don't have adjustable shelves. The shelf height is also 33cm which I think is too high and would just waste space. Difficult to stack stuff upto that height.

The benefit of the Billy is that you can adjust the shelf height.

miamee

We don't have any kids and they are absolutely fine where they are but I understand with little climbers it'd be a different story.

Cathmandooo

I guess it depends on what you're looking to store. Billy is better for books and display items, adjustable and less wasted space, as you said. Kallax with box inserts is better for toys or just general storage, tidying things away. I have both in various rooms that work that way anyway.

macnug

Have both Billy and kallax in the house. Billy does have space for skirting but only up to a height of about 3 inches as far as I remember so not very useful for most skirting. Could have cut out skirting but decided it was quicker to fix a length of wood to the wall, then unit to wood, with the weight of the unit sitting on the ground. Can't see the wood at all with the Billy but the wood is only hidden with the kallax if you have baskets.

I have Kallax Stuff, thrown together to make a TV unit, and it's been there about a year now, and it's fine. It'd only about 4'6" tall, and there's a TV/speakers etc. on it so it's not stuck to the wall (with the centre of gravity, it wouldnt ever fall over, though you could pull it over if you really wanted to).

I've had no issues with it and would reccomend it. As per miamee's post above though; I have no kids, so that may mean I have a differing viewpoint to you.

Ikea sell a smaller-than-billy-bookcase called Gersby though, which might be worth a look? (Cheap, too - So if it's broke it won't be as heartbreaking to replace it).