Room and Board has this:

Their prices are wicked expensive, imho. For the quality you get, that is.

Would a painted finish work?

Thanks!

Yes, the first one is from IKEA, Kippy. :)

Zmith, I've actually thought about that one though it's a little bit missiony. I intend to put several cases together (because I can't commit to built-ins) and that one would require surgery to put multiples in a line. I do like that R&Board has recognizable wood species.

Really anything in what I'd consider "normal" wood is hard to find...now it's all weirdly distressed or reclaimed or an unpleasant shade of brown...I went to RH with my 33% off coupon in my hand, got depressed, and left.

Errant, it might...the trim in the room is all stained wood so would I want wall color or something different altogether?

I think wall color would look great, if you're going to do a large bank of them. For that, you'd need to paint them yourself, or have them professionally done. If you go that route, then you could use the ikea cases.

Home Decorators has several styles, but you would need to shave off the side of the top so they would sit side by side. http://m.homedecorators.com/h5/pdp?path=%2F%2Fp%2Foxford-72h-bookcase-with-glass-doors%2F50%2F210%2F

ETA: they come in black and the color of the R&B bookshelf above.

Did you try the local unfinished wood places?

I was also thinking painted. Would you be willing to paint the poo brown ones yourself? All straight lines, stupid cheap to compensate for your labor?

Thanks Iowa--that's a retailer I'd missed. I'm sure I've missed most of them because I don't really know what I'm doing. :)

Crl, I've looked, but they didn't have anything right. Either 1980s inspired or mission. Retro, but not in a way that matches my house. And maybe I need to go through a catalog but they didn't seem to cater to the non-oak/pine/poplar crowd.

I wonder how many coats of paint it would take to cover up Ikeabrown....

That is exactly what I was thinking, Linelle!

Something like this from hoot judkins with doors added? And painted?

A little too Shaker, maybe, but worth a look.vermont cherry

Found on Houzz. Would walnut work? Ikea also has the Stockholm glass case in bright yellow with wood base.

[https://www.houzz.com/products/milano-glass-door-cabinet-walnut-prvw-vr~31065008[(https://www.houzz.com/products/milano-glass-door-cabinet-walnut-prvw-vr~31065008)

Stockholm also comes in white on wood base. eta: Grrr...picture disappeared.

Yeah, Crl, that might work. I guess I wasn't looking at these with paint in mind. Paint does open things up a bit!

Things I like about the IKEA cabinet include the weird size--it's 46" wide which I haven't seen elsewhere. That means I could get a didgeridoo in there almost flat! I am not sure if I want feet or a plinth base, but if I get feet, I like these because they match up when you have them side-by-side.

I think I'm going to get to buy my first paint sprayer, aren't I?

I'm not sure how that style with the legs would look with bunch of them right next to each other? Like a herd of legs? I thought you were going for a built-in look?

They have gorgeous stuff, Mabeldingelding! It's definitely too Shaker though--a look I've always loved but had to abandon when I moved to my midcentury (but not very modern) ranch.

Viola, that's pretty. I always forget that Houzz is a shopping destination! I don't think a wall of them would work though. ( I want to mostly fill ~177" of wall, which is probably pertinent information!) The Stockholm is interesting but I think a wall's worth would be like the aquarium section of the pet store.

Crl, i think they are meant to be ganged together--the feeties join together to form one deeply seamed foot. IKEA wouldn't lie to me would they? They are in the catalog like that! Anyway, compared to other footed bookcases/display cabinets that have them inset (which looks a bit more upscale), these seem to be less footy when stuck together. Or they might look awful. Who can tell? I could always plinth 'em.

But still, I'd rather buy something nicer and finished to start with. :)

Did you actually speak to someone at the unfinished furniture places? I went into ours and was disappointed they didn't have what I wanted. I was happily surprised when the salesperson told me that everything they have is fully customizable. That's how we ended up with our island.

I may have missed it, but has anyone suggested taking a pic of what you want to a cabinet maker? I think you'll be surprised to find they're not as expensive as people think they are. We had cabinets priced out for two small kitchens and the cabinet maker was no more than stock cabinets at the stores. The main difference between custom & stock, besides getting exactly what you want, is it may take a little longer than ordering thru a catalog.

Since you really want a wall unit instead of a bookcase, you should check thrift or consignment stores in your area. My neighbor tried to have an auction house take office furniture and a desk from her late Mother's house. They refused, saying people don't buy desks and bookcases anymore. The new digital age? Ugh!

Vermont Wood Studio makes outstanding quality furniture and will customize. I have one of their dining room tables and 8 chairs in natural cherry. The Shaker look can easily be changed. However, one bookcase will cost as much as your wall width of IKEA units.

have you thought about going to Lowe's and checking out a permanent installation of wall cabinets with Kraftmaid? I know that I would not want to have to clean underneath a row of bookcases. And I second the idea of hiring a cabinet maker. With that route, you should be able to pick your door style and glass as well and have a custom piece that is exactly how you want it, and if you aren't pleased with the results, the cabinet maker can change it.

Paint those IKEA ones :)

You could buy the IKEA ones and cover them with contact paper. :) Then sell them on Craigslist someday.

Donna

Fori, I understand what you're going for and I also like those Ikeas....except for the color. I'm no help (we have old 20+ year old solid wood from an unfinished furniture place) but I'm interested to see where you go with this. We have about 2,500 hard back books and have several different styles of bookcases scattered about.....would be nice to have something more cohesive.

We have a bonus room with canted ceilings and have some books in that room. We found cheapo bookcases that were tall enough to fit along the wall and are using those. Of course, we're running out of space.....

Thanks all for the suggestions!

I've been checking consignment stores and Craigslist (Donna--you're setting me up for the CL fail thread, aren't you? hehe!) for wall units and related things. I don't mind used (textiles excluded) and I'm happier with more vintage styles anyway.

I have thought about going to the local cabinet guy who has done my last two kitchens. If he doesn't do free-standing furniture he probably would know someone who does.

I do know that I don't want this built in. I know I need the storage space and that isn't likely to change, but I don't know that I'll always want it in this location.

I echo the suggestion to check with a local cabinet maker. We found one who is doing our built-ins for our library (I know that's not what you want), and we are very pleased with his pricing. It's much less than we figured for custom work and waaaaaaay less than buying a nice piece of ready made furniture for our space.

Crate and Barrel has quite the inventory of glass front cabinets, though some are particularly pricey. They tell you where the furniture is made, such as Italy, China, USA, etc.

i don't know if you like RH furniture, but they had several options of bookcases with glass doors a year ago... what i like about them is they also have different ht options if you're interested in something taller...

Gripper primer and BM Advance. Shouldn't be that huge an undertaking.

Well, there's always the Tuscan collection at Ballard Designs. But the units only come in gray, white, black, or your unwanted brown:

http://www.ballarddesigns.com/ProductSearch2#w=tuscan

Thanks all. I'm still looking! Crate and Barrel has some nice ones, but not for putting side-by-side, which is disappointing. I really wanted to find something at RH before my 33% off coupon expires but everything looks so grubby or splintery this year that I'd rather forfeit the discount. Ballard does have a good selection of bookcases--if I end up with open cases I'm going to keep them in mind. And their brown is a nice brown, a regular old traditional brown brown that is perfectly nice. :)