Easy, peasy. If you like the look and the dimensions fit, go for it.

Also, if you are a long way from your IKEA, I'd open the package in the parking lot and have a quick look to make sure everything looks good.

Thinking we would just have it delivered to the house and looks like it comes by truck. I wonder how many ginormous boxes it comes in! Good to know that easy peasy is the operative phrase here.

We have a small seldom used upstairs room with a very low ceiling and needed to use it for some storage, which, becuase of its size, needed to be neat. We used IKEA bookshelves, pictured here. They are great (and were even trimmed down by our handyman to fit around an obstruction). The only thing I might do eventually is add a molding at the top, and a piece of trim to hide the center seam and make it look like a custom piece. We also have IKEA in our closet and it's fantastic. I'm not one for spending big bucks on a closet (our bid from California Closets was $12,000 - what we got from IKEA cost $1,100), but besides the money, they're really really functional (great drawers).

Looks very nice! I am sure you can fill it up and make it a stunner!

I was sure you were going to say the pictured one was available on your CL! Sometimes you can find Ikea stuff that someone else has had the "pleasure" of assembling and you don't have to pay for the labor, or do it yourself. All my Ikea purchases that require assembly have been fine, but for the directions given in pictures. I'm more of a word person and sometimes the illustrations just don't make sense to me.

My handy husband has helped family and a few friends assemble IKEA items (cabinets, some furniture and a bookcase--but not this one) and he likes being able to assemble himself because he adds extra parts for stabilization such as an extra nail or bracket unseen but in a key place for stability. I don't think you have to do that but it makes him feel extra handy I guess. If you have a hardware store nearby for the occasional missing piece, I think you'll be fine to assemble. The pictures aren't so helpful at times as Olychick mentions but they are fairly intuitive.

Auntjen, editing to add that Ikea is purposely decreasing its use of wood in its products. It's not a bad thing... they are a big user of the world's wood supply and have taken some heat about not being sustainable. At their prices, they can't be using quality wood anyway.

Two things:

1. I'd prefer actually assembling them myself than buying them used preassembled (unless you can get a good deal);

2. They give you the package dimensions online, bottom of the page under product information, http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20269361/ Click on the link for package measurements and weight

Oh, forgot: 1. is my opinion; 2. is a fact; no, actually, 1. is also a fact.

I would want to go seem in the store and see if they have a bunch of heavy books on the shelves and see how they are holding up. I really wanted some of the Billy bookcases for my narrow hallway but the store display had some stuffed with magazines and the sag of the shelf from the weight was obvious so I had to pass on them. Some of the more expensive bookcases may be sturdier so it may be worth a look still. Of course it also depends on what you plan to store on them. If they will not be stuffed to the gills with hardbacks my point may be moot.

We have the smaller Liatorp bookcase in our office/study and use it to store vinyl records, books etc. DH's stereo system with record deck sits on the top. If my memory serves me correctly we bought it about four years ago and it's not sagging under the weight so far :) DH enjoys a bit of DIY but is not so keen on the pictorial instructions that Ikea provide! Agree that once you get into the swing of assembly it becomes easier......

Here's a couple of pics of the small Liatorp at our previous house...... please excuse the mess in the first one!

I would happily have liatorp in my home. Assembling it yourself is easy and just takes time. I use wood glue when assembling.

Thinking about your reading room, would a semigloss white bookcase "fit?" The colours you have chosen already seem so organic.

I dunno. I also like this one which comes in a very dark shade but it's about two feet shorter in width than the white one.

I've always thought IKEA is a great option for bookcases. My parents have just downsized and I've recently been shopping for them for storage solutions for the den in their new place. IKEA it is!

I think the Liatorp is great! Not sure if you've considered the good ol' Billy bookcases? I've been on Pinterest and am loving all the ways you can do a Billy 'hack' to customize the look...make it look like custom built-ins with addition of mouldings etc.

Here are a couple ideas...

I've always wondered how the shelves hold up? Do they sag overtime? Just curious. I have zero experience with Ikea products. Jen have you checked the shipping charges? I looked at something years ago, a couch or chair I think, and the cost to ship was absolutely CRAZY.

I'm surprised by the above comments about the Billy bookcases. All I can say that my parents have floor to ceiling Billy's (with the extender), packed with books, and nothing sags.

Have you looked at Hemnes?

The cost to ship the larger piece is around $140, which I didn't think was awful.

There is another custom oak bookcase listed on my Craigslist that has caught my eye! It is in new condition and seller is only asking $450 but our issue is how to move the pieces and get them up our stairs. Still pondering.

Have you seen the IKEA bookcases in person?

I like the CL one you just posted. As far as moving it and getting it upstairs have you checked CL for people that will move your purchases for you? In my area there are a couple of "guys with a truck" that offer that service for very reasonable cash. I haven't used them myself but a friend recently did and it was a good experience for her. you can also rent trucks/vans at the big box stores for about $20 an hour, but that doesn't get the piece up the stairs. Lol!

I like your ideas, but have another one .... a set of Mexican pine. I see them often on our CL, but even new ones are priced well. We have a local store that sells them (I have an armoire). They look good natural, or can be stained darker. Our guest room headboard is Mexican pine; I stained it dark and love it.

I can see them going well with your decor.

Headboard, mahogany Min-Wax:

auntjen - The dark Ikea Hemnes bookcases (the wide ones) you showed are each 2 inches narrower than the wide Liatorp bookcases. If you use 3 wide Hemnes bookcases with similar (add-on) doors as shown in the white Liatorp, I think you'll only be 3 inches short on the width.

Shipping for 4 Hemnes bookcases without doors was $99, but I'm only about 170 miles from a store.

Rent labor from U-Haul to load into your (own or rented?) vehicle and unload into your house.

I plan on using the Billy's to build a mini library. I will trim and add molding for the built in look. I liked that I can pick out 2 31.5" units, 1 15.75 and turn the corner with one of the smaller CD/DVD sized units. A big plus for me is that I can build them right were I am going to use them so no need to find guys to move my current ultra heavy wall unit

The Hemnes is solid pine so the shelves may hold up better to a heavy book load than liatorp... Not sure.

There is "light brown" hemnes which looks like rustic pine. Not sure how nice it looks in person.

I thought I remembered a max load of 60 # per shelf for the Hemnes, but I can't find a reference.

I'm loving all these ideas for adding trim etc to ikea bookcases to make them more custom - not sure we do that here in the UK. Will do now though as they look great :)

We have a set of Liatorp tall white shelves which used to be in our family room and now is in the kids' playroom. As someone noted above, the finish is a bit shiny so keep that in mind if you won't be able to preview in person. The unit does show wear but the kids have gotten good use out of it. If I could have IKEA change one thing about the Liatorp it would to be to have the unit go all the way to the floor. It accumulates dust and stuff (crayons, Lego, etc.) underneath; not so fun to clean down there. For that reason, I probably would prefer the Craigslist one you posted.

We have a bunch of tall Billys that are "built in" (trimmed out) in our study. These are holding up well thus far, and no gap underneath!

We also own one Hemnes unit which did show some shelf sag from being overloaded with hardcover books.

Some IKEA items do not travel well assembled. The backs of the Billy are kind of flimsy so I think those units are best if built once and never moved. We had no issues moving the Liatorp.

Assembly is pretty simple; as a reference point my kids (oldest is 10) enjoy helping "build" IKEA furniture.

Good luck!

Nosoccer - Why surprised? I've never been to an Ikea store and never saw one in person. I've never paid a lot of attention to the specific Ikea hacks either. A lot of bookcases do eventually sag overtime so it was an honest question. I'd like to eventually use them, so I'm glad to know they hold up well!

Jen - That's not bad for shipping. Whatever I had in my cart at the time was $3 or $400 to ship.

Thank you all for the helpful input! I'm still mulling it all over. I'll think about it and look around, and then put it on the backburner - then start the thinking process all over again. Just not sure WHAT we want to do, and I'm not even sure if I will be happiest with floor-to-ceiling bookcases, or counter-height bookcases running along one wall. I still love the collected look of Jane Fonda's gallery library too ...

Although when I showed DH three oak bookcases that were going together on our CL recently (one in the middle taller than the two on either side, which were barrister style - would have lent itself to the Jane Fonda look, I think), he quipped, "What are you gonna do? Open a cigar store?" So clearly he has a different take on slightly mismatched cabinetry than I do.

We've nixed the CL bookcases as we aren't sure we could easily get them up the staircase and then do the turn on the landing to get into the reading room. Having to hire movers adds a whole new problematic aspect to purchasing a large CL unit too. Building them in the room would certainly be preferable, so I'm going to keep thinking about how to do this. And trying to figure out exactly what I want in the room!

auntjen - Just to clarify...You can "rent" just the laborers from UHaul. I think my friends paid $20/hr per person for 2 men to carry all their furniture/belongings from the house and into a truck. They filled a 26-foot truck in about 6 hours. It's a lot less expensive than hiring a moving company with truck. If you and DH already have a vehicle and the CL bookcases are on ground floor in the owner's house, you might only need labor at your house - $40?

sjhockeyfan325 - Do you have any photos of your Ikea closet? We're in the early stages of designing and budgeting for a remodeled master closet and I would be curious to see how yours was done with Ikea products.

Delilah - I perused our local CL yesterday for movers (and just for "guy with a pickup") and found among countless over-posts (ugh - that drives me nuts) a couple of possibilities. I didn't know that you could rent laborers from UHaul though! That's definitely good to know.

Going in a completely different direction, I'm loving these offerings from Nebraska Furniture Mart. Granted, they would each work out to be around $3k, but would definitely give us the library look we're after. The second one of these is probably a bit too "grand" for our space. But I still really like them both. Don't know when we will have an extra $3k to blow on something like this though!

Auntjen, I would consider looking at some of the local Amish furniture stores. They certainly would not be cheap but they may give you some options in finishes and customizable features. If you do go to look, ask them when they usually have sales as well.

@sheisback

Sorry, I wasn't commenting on your post but commented on tishtoshnm's remark about seeing sagging Billy bookcases. However, by the time I hit submit, several posts had been made in between.