Best IKEA Bookshelves for Board Games (Tested + Compared!)

If you’re on the hunt for the best IKEA bookshelves for board games storage, you’re in good company. With collections that range from a handful of classic family games to entire walls of titles, board gamers everywhere are searching for selves that not only look good, but work hard. We, like you, are constantly on the search for the best storage solution for our games. We’ve tried multiple types throughout the years, including building our own storage solution. We’ve also owned and tested multiple IKEA bookcases in our home, filled to the brim with games of all sizes, and we’re sharing the pros and cons of each to help you find the perfect match for your collection!  So let’s get to it and give our thoughts on the four most popular bookshelf options IKEA has: The Kallax, the Billy, the Tonstad, and the Hemnes. The Kallax It’s probably likely that if you’re reading this, you’ve seen the chokehold these square bookshelves have on board gamers.  Priced low, seemingly unbreakable, and coming in a wide variety of size options, these bookshelves have been the go-to for many homes. However, it is with serious love in my heart for you and your overall happiness that I recommend you avoid this shelf option for board games. This is our least preferred option for games for a number of reasons, but I’ll give you the top three reasons to AVOID the Kallax. First and most importantly, the square shape of each shelf is too limiting. They rob you of a massive amount of shelf space that a traditional bookshelf provides. When shelving a standard board game box, you can typically fit, at most, 4-5 games in a single square. We’ve had our Kallax’s for years (back from when they were known as Expedit) and there’s no delicate way to put this: They simply do not hold that many games. (It takes three cubes of the Kallax to hold what one shelf on the Hemnes can!) Secondly: the shelves are not adjustable. Often this leaves you with a bit of air space above your games and on the sides, so you’ll attempt to fill this in with a random assortment of small games perfectly Tetris’ed into their places. Turning the act of putting the games away into a solo puzzle that only you can solve and will frequently need to reconfigure.  Adjustable shelves are huge when trying to fit as many games in a bookcase as possible — the kallax is locked into its square shape indefinitely. You can spend as much extra money as you’d like on the new shelves or drawers that IKEA and other third party providers have created in an attempt to make the square shape more functional, but that’s just more money to fix a bookcase that isn’t working.  Thirdly: The shelves are too deep. At a whopping 15 3/8” deep, each square of the Kallax becomes a deep cave. Add in the likely bump your shelf will get from the floor trim and they’re even deeper since there is no backing board to stop your games from going all the way to the wall or falling between the shelf and the wall.  This depth is only good for a select few games. For average games, you’re left with a bunch of unused space either in the front or, likely, in the back as you try to keep your games flush with the front so you can see them. For small games they’re unusable, requiring you to stack games two rows deep leaving the back games forgotten. Baskets will be your next solution, but then you’ll be left with 8 inches of dead air above them. In short: we do not recommend using a Kallax shelf for board games.  The Billy Easily IKEA’s most famous bookshelf for book-lovers, and the star of many stunning DIY built-in projects. But does the Billy work well for board games?  Yes….and no.  What we like about the Billy Bookshelf The Billy bookshelf is an excellent budget option. You can snag a large Billy for $70 and each shelf can hold a ton of games.  We currently have four Billy bookshelves in our home, one large bookshelf, and three half bookshelves. Each were extremely easy to put together and feel very sturdy for the price. They’re a no-nonsense shelf with a classic look to them that won’t go out of style.  What we LOVE about the Billy bookshelf The shelf heights are highly adjustable and IKEA sells extra shelves so you can get even more storage out of your bookshelf! This allows you to create larger sections for taller games and shorter sections for your small to medium size games without having a bunch of leftover space.  If adjustability is your goal, you won’t find a better option in IKEA than the Billy. However… What we don’t like about the Billy bookshelf The biggest set back for the Billy bookshelf is that it is simply not deep enough for the standard size large games like your Ticket to Ride and other similar games that come in the standard 12×12 square box.  The Billy shelf depth is 10 1/4” deep which sees these games overhanging by a significant amount. Even if you were to use these shelves to create a built in look in your home, adding trim to the front of each shelf likely wouldn’t make up the difference needed for large games to sit flush on the shelf.  Since the Billy is intended to be one of IKEAs more budget friendly options, the shelves are also of a slightly lower quality compared to other shelving options. They’re meant to hold books, not heavy board games. I have seen many images of bowing Billy shelves that give me pause about extended storage of heavy or large games on the shelves. This is something I would recommend strongly considering before using these shelves for any type of more permanent built in project. Even with the...

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