Lacking Ikea Lack Perfection

Posted by on Sunday, July 3, 2011 · 5 Comments 

I’ve been looking for the perfect bookcase to use in my living room to separate the office area from the actual living area.

About a month ago, I fell in love with the library-look created with the sleek modern (and backless!) Ikea Lack Bookcase in Alexis Johnson’s Polished California Condo Home Tour on Apartment Therapy.
Lack bookcases arranged by color in office

After many hours searching online and in store, I had found the perfect solution for my blank wall. And it was only $129. Hooray! Super excited. So on the Saturday of July 4th weekend, we ventured to the Ikea in Charlotte only to find out that the Lack Bookcase has been discontinued…

We’ll that’s not entirely true. They wouldn’t say that it was discontinued. The clerk said that Ikea doesn’t really discontinue items, they just don’t carry it anymore. Really? You’re going to pull corporate verbage on me when telling me you don’t have what I travelled three hours through the middle of nowhere to get? Where am I, the Apple Store? Cue being bummed and pissed amongst hoards of people and children. Yay!

Still in a funk, once I was home, I started an online hunt to find my perfect shelves. I found the red version in Chicago for $100 and the dark brown/black version in New York for $70. But how the heck am I supposed transport this thing?

Ikea Lack Bookcase

Enter a very feasible solution – make it myself for around $30 in supplies. I found a detailed how-to guide written by Ana White on how to recreated the Lack bookcase. At this point, I’m thinking I may attempt this seemingly impossible feat with the help of the boy (since he has tools and engineering know-how and, you know, I would rather pretend that I’m somewhat helpless everyone needs a handy wood-working helper).

Okay, avid blog readers, let me know whether you think I should try to build it or go on a Craig’s List adventure in the big city.

Photo Credit: Apartment Therapy

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  • http://studioreddance.com Dancegeke

    Hi GwynnI happen to have three of these bookcases that I am about to list on Craig’s List.  I am in the Seattle area.  Where are you?

  • Anonymous

    Hi there, thanks for stopping by! As it turns out, I’m the East coast in North Carolina, so the shipping charges would be out of my price range. I appreciate you reaching out to me though. Good luck selling your bookcases!

  • Pf4161

    Hi Dancegeke, I understand that your post is six months old, and that by now you might have already get rid of them, but since I’ve been looking for quite a while for one or two of them in white, I’d be interested in knowing the color of the bookcases you had (or, if I’m lucky, that you (still) have). Let me know. Paolo

  • kat

    So….? Did you build them? I wanna know. I am thinking about doing it myself too! 

  • http://www.gwynnemurphy.com/ Gwynne Murphy

    Although I have often thought about it, I haven’t built the shelves. It would be nice to have some shelves and rescue the books that have been crammed into the credenza for almost a year. But in my time in my space, I’ve noticed that the living room can be a bit lacking in the natural light department, so I think shelving that is a little more open like the parsons bookshelf would keep the space looking a little lighter. If you are still looking to build the shelves, several people have submitted their finished versions to the Ana White site, so I would check out their projects.

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