Hanging Ikea Expedit Bookshelf On The Wall

As I’ve been planning my scrapbooking/homeschooling room for the past few months, I decided to buy an IKEA Expedit bookshelf to organize my scrapbooking supplies and my son’s homeschooling supplies. Ikea is in Renton which is a long drive for me so I spent the entire day there! I wanted a big Expedit but I didn’t have room so I ended up buying one birch effect 4×2 bookshelf and on the way out, I realized they had an “as is” section so for another $75 I got another one just like it but in the black-brown color. It had some scratches on the bottom but nothing major.

I also bought a bunch of rails and hanging baskets, etc., in the Bygel series, they are so inexpensive that I got extras because it’s way too far to drive back to Ikea! I know I can use them in other areas of the house if there are too many for my scrap area.

Anyway, I ended up hanging the Expedit bookshelves on the wall, horizontally (even though everything says not to) and it has been working out just fine. In searching for information on how to hang them on the wall, I realized there are a lot of others who want to do the same thing and since there is no information on how to do it, I’m going to share how I did it.

Supplies needed:

1. 4 x 2 Expedit Bookshelf *of course*
2. 1 x 2 piece of wood the exact length of your Expedit
3. (4) 2 inch L brackets and screws long enough to reach into the studs in your walls (don’t’ use the little screws that come with the L brackets)
4. Level, electric screwdriver

Step by Step Instructions:

1. First I measured my Expedit, since it’s the 4 x 2, it is 58 5/8″ tall (long if you are hanging it horizontally).
2. I cut my 1 x 2 piece of wood to the same length.
3. I located and marked the studs on the wall that I wanted to hang the Expedit. In order to hit the studs and have the L brackets match up with the strongest part of the shelf and the studs, I ended up moving it to another part of the wall, after all, stability and safety is the most important thing! Once I marked the studs, I used masking tape and I taped the outline of the shelf on the wall and then stood back and looked at it to make sure that I would like the location.
4. After deciding on the best location, I used my level and a pencil and marked along the bottom of where the shelf would be hung and on the top where I wanted to line up the L brackets.
5. Next, I screwed the 1×2 piece of wood along the mark I made on the bottom of where the bookshelf would hang, this wood is important because it provides support for the bookshelf. IMPORTANT: I made sure to hang this into my studs to make it as secure as possible. *If you are sitting under the bookshelf like I am, you will be looking at that strip of wood so you will want to paint it or decorate it. I used a piece of wall paper cut to fit for one of mine and for my other Expedit, I am going to paint it to match my son’s homeschooling area decor.*
   
6. With help from my brother and step-dad, they lifted up the Expedit and rested the bottom onto the wood strip and then screwed four L brackets into the wall (into the studs) and connected them to the top of the Expedit. We put the L brackets onto the top of mine but you can screw them into the inside of the cubbies if you wanted. I just didn’t want mine to show.

That’s it! Pretty simple huh? Once you know where to put it and where the studs are, the only hard part is lifting it up!

Here is a picture of each of mine, please note that they aren’t organized, I have stuff shoved into the cubbies while we build the rest of the room. (I’d show you pictures of the room but it’s basically piles of tools and supplies and boxes!)

Here is the one on my side of the room (Scrapbooking side)

and this is the one that is over Tyler’s homeschooling area and next to my computer where I pay bills and stuff:

I’ll post better pictures when I have our stuff in them and better organized.

I hope the instructions helped. If you have any questions, just let me know and I’ll try to help.