I'm all for innovative storage, especially when it comes to displaying my books. Face it -- bookcases can be so dull, especially when your budget calls for Billy after Billy after...Billy. Luckily, ShelterPop has a great solution for a DIY bookcase I can pretty much guarantee you've never seen!:

Enter a fun and flexible (pun intended!) solution. Originally created for Design Showcase 2009 by Pete Oyler, the S T R E T C H Shelf is slated to hit boutiques any minute now with an approximate price point of $120.

Eek. That certainly breaks the bank for me. But what if we used Oyler's product as inspiration for our own rubber band shelving system? I can imagine them working quite well in a modern, industrial space using brightly-colored heavy duty rubber bands and a few stainless screws.

Or try a few animal rubber bands in your child's room as a great way to display light artwork. And for a long, floor-to-ceiling rubber band bookshelf, why not use a bright resistance band used for exercising?

Forget the Billy and book it (ha! another pun!) to your nearest office supply store for the coolest rubber shelving in town. Stretching your dollar never looked so chic.

IKEA is good for a lot of things, yes, and my college dorm room would have been ridiculously bare without the extra help from my Swedish furnishers. Yet now that I'm older (and hopefully wiser!), the Billy bookcase just doesn't do it for me. I've seen it lined with gift wrap, wallpaper, and covered with cabinet doors, but I can always spot a Billy from a mile away.

Until Ali Mode's creation, of course. By taking plaster columns and crown molding to her traditional Billy bookcases, she's created a glamorous and customized look that will take any space to the next level. And with a mounted swinging arm lamp? A complete makeover done in a day.

Check out Ali's tutorial from our friends at ShelterPop, and if you're looking for a few good reads to line your newly glamorous bookcases, check out a few of DIYLife's book reviews right here and here.

IKEA is good for a lot of things, yes, and my college dorm room would have been ridiculously bare without the extra help from my Swedish furnishers. Yet now that I'm older (and hopefully wiser!), the Billy bookcase just doesn't do it for me. I've seen it lined with , , and , but I can always spot a Billy from a mile away.Until creation, of course. By taking plaster columns and crown molding to her traditional Billy bookcases, she's created a glamorous and customized look that will take any space to the next level. And with a mounted swinging arm lamp? A complete makeover done in a day.Check out Ali's tutorial from our friends at , and if you're looking for a few good reads to line your newly glamorous bookcases, check out a few of DIYLife's book reviews right and .

Shake up your living room! Bookcases don't have to be boring. Have you noticed that the big home decor stores have quietly introduced bookcases sporting more unusual styling? Like this one from Crate and Barrel, for instance. Yet this is something the DIY'er might like to try his or her own hand at. Need ideas? I found this wonderful example from Lowes sister site, LowesCreativeIdeas: it's a "Zen" shelving unit -- "inspired by the clean lines of Asian design." Visit the site to check out their photo of what the finished project will look like. Isn't it just gorgeous?

A rundown of materials needed and instructions are on the site, along with diagrams and the finished-work pic. However, you can download a pdf of full instructions from the site, too. Nice. The Lowes elves estimate the total cost to be around $120, which is substantially less than it would cost you to buy ready-made. On the down side, this looks like it would be fairly time-consuming for a beginner woodworker like myself. (Read: completion date estimated sometime in 2010.)

Here's a thought: "fake it, don't make it." I wonder if you could cut corners by using pre-made storage cubbies, like this one of mine pictured above. You could attach them within A) a frame of your own design or B) an unwanted bookcase with the shelves removed. Once painted to match and installed, no one would notice they are not all one unit.