DIY Real Wood Bookcase for Under $150 in 5 Steps

It has been almost a year since we moved from our small house in town to our only slightly bigger house in the country. The old house was already overflowing with books despite the great 4' wide by 8' tall built-in bookcase my parents built for us when we moved in. Obviously, that bookcase couldn't come with us. Four new bookcases later (plus the few small ones we had and could take with us), all of our 1422 books (as of June 8, 2016) are FINALLY unpacked. 

When we first moved in, we considered buying barrister bookcases (still want one someday), but they are extremely expensive. For good reason, but still ... here's an example of a real wood barrister:

Almost $1000, yipes! We did some shopping around and prices vary some, but it seemed like most of the single boxes were at least $150-$200 each (and then you just get as many as you want to stack). 

So then we considered an MDF barrister like this one:

Much better price ... but we hate MDF. Did you know that for a 3' wide bookcase, MDF can only hold about 9 pounds before it starts to sag? That just wasn't going to cut it for the amount of books we have. 

Then we considered building our own barristers, using this really handy guide:

There is a really helpful PDF on the second page of the website. If you are into woodworking and a little better than beginner, you could do this project. We looked at costs and thought we might be able to make this bookcase for around $400 (total for a 4-shelf case). We didn't factor glass costs into that, though. Still, it would have been a much better deal than any real wood versions we'd seen so far. BUT - I thought it would be a little too difficult for me and time consuming. It was the middle of the school year and we needed something quick so we could unload at least a few of our boxes of books. I wanted something simple.

So, I designed a much simpler bookcase and now we've made four of them. 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR BUILDING A SIMPLE BOOKCASE

(P.S.: a Kreg jig is essential to these instructions)

*Note that we used cheap boards from Lowes. I think the bookcase still looks nice, but with more costly/better boards, it could look even more professional. Also, if you don't hate sanding as much as me and you really sand down the tops of the shelves or put second coats of polyurethane, that could make it look more sleek. 

**These materials and instructions are for a  3' by 6' 4" bookcase with 4-6 shelves. It should be easy to adjust the dimensions to fit your needs; just factor in whether you need more or less wood. 

Materials:

Three 1x12x6 Whitewood Boards

- Use: sides, top, and bottom of bookcase

- Cost: $9.98 per board ($29.94)

Three 1x10x6 Whitewood Boards

- Use: 3-4 adjustable shelves and 1 stationary shelf

- Cost: $6.92 per board ($20.76)

Three 1x2x6 Whitewood Boards

- Use: shelf front trim/enforcers for 4-5 shelves

- Cost: $1.48 per board ($4.44)

1 Sheet 1/2 inch or 15/32 4' x 8' sheeting or some other plywood

- Use: backing for bookcase

- Cost: $18.67 for one sheet

* Note: we bought 3/4 inch sheets the first two times. That made the bookcases immensely more heavy than when we switched to 1/2 inch. Also, this is one place where you could spend more for it to look better, maybe with panels or something? The sheeting is not the prettiest, but it is also mostly covered by books in our bookcase.

Optional: 4 pre-made legs

- Use: legs so your bookcase doesn't just sit on the floor

- Cost: the "Portsmouth Bun Foot" I bought costs $6.98 per foot ($27.92 total) and is almost the most expensive part of the bookcase. It would be way less costly to build legs ourselves ... but I like how they look and don't want to go to that extra work. Since the rest of the bookcase is pretty inexpensive, I feel okay splurging on those legs. It is kind of ridiculous that they cost THAT much. 

32oz of Stain (we got Red Mahogany Minwax)

- Use: for color and to hide imperfections. Dark stain is good if you are using plywood for backing since it hides a lot of the not-pretty-parts of the plywood.

- Cost: $7.77

32oz Polyurethane (we got Minwax Semi-Gloss)

- Use: to seal the bookcase

- Cost: $10.77

A KREG JIG and screws for it! This design uses primarily Kreg screws plus about 20 regular wood screws for attaching the backing. 

Adjustable Shelf Supports (4 per adjustable shelf)

Total Cost:

Wood: $73.81

Stain/Sealer: $18.54

Legs: (optional) $27.92

Minimal cost for screws and shelf supports

Grand Total: $92.35 - $120.27

All right, now to the instructions! I just wanted to prove to you that it was worth it with the cost analysis.

Steps Overview:

1. Cut and Assemble the Bookcase Frame

2. Cut and Attach the Backing/Legs

3. Cut and Assemble the Shelves

4. Drill the Adjustable Shelf Holes

5. Stain and Seal

Steps 1-4 can easily be done in one day if you have all your materials and you start early. You can even stain at the end of the day if you get that far. If your drying conditions are ideal, putting on the polyurethane on day 2 makes this a quick weekend project. After that, you just need to wait a couple of days for the polyurethane to completely dry and out-gas before bringing the bookcase into your home to fill with books!

 

STEP 1: Cut and Assemble the Bookcase Frame

Sides: Cut two of the 1x12x6 boards to 71" for the sides of the bookcase. (Ok, I don't really know why I did that in the first place ... I think to shorten it since I'd be adding legs. But really, if the ends are not damaged at all, you could just leave it at 6'.  Or, if you want the bookcase to be no higher than 6', then you could cut down the sides so that once you add the legs, the bookcase is 6' tall from the ground.

Top and Bottom: Cut the remaining 1x12x6 board into two 35" pieces. Make sure to look over the boards thoroughly to decide which sides will be the inside and outside faces. Remember that the top and bottom outside faces won't really show.

Use the Kreg jig to attach the top and bottom INSIDE the sides. I use three Kreg holes on both ends of one side of the top and bottom pieces. The ones on the bottom piece end up being covered by books and the ones on the top hardly show. You could also fill them with Kreg hole fillers. I assemble the bookcase with the back side up so that when I go to attach the backing, it is already in the right position.

STEP 2: Cut and Attach the Backing and Legs

Even though you know the measurements of the outside edges, MEASURE AGAIN ANYWAY. Sometimes the cheaper boards are a little warped in the middle along the side edges, so measure corner to corner mainly. 

Cut the backing board to fit. For my bookcases, my measurements are always 71" for the sides and 36.5" across the top/bottom (my 35" cut plus 1.5" for the thickness of the side boards). I use a chalk line to mark the plywood then cut it with a jigsaw. That part is not fun since the piece is so big and you don't want wobbly edges since it will show when you are looking at the back edge of the bookcase.

Lay the backing over the frame. Align the corners and attach one of them first using regular wood screws. After one or two corners are attached, you may have to push straight any bowed sides to align them. Once, when we had a side piece bow inward, we had to cut a piece of wood and lay it inside the bookcase before putting the backing on to push out the side so it would align to the backing. 

We usually use 7 screws along each side (counting the corners) and 5 along the top and bottom (counting the corners), or about 20 screws total.
 

To attach the pre-made legs I bought, which have a screw already attached to the top, I measure in 2" square on the bottom piece at each corner. Drill a hole to fit the screw (I think they are 1/4" thick). Be careful not to drill all the way through the bottom board! Then screw in the pre-made leg. Now you can stand up your bookcase. 

  

STEP 3: Cut and Assemble the Shelves

Cut as many shelves as you would like from the 1x10x6 boards. You could just buy two of these boards if you want just the bottom shelf and 4 other shelves. To get 6 or 7 shelves, you'll need three of these boards. 

Basically you need to cut the shelves to fit inside the case frame, so for my bookcase they need to be 35", the same length as the top and bottom (since those fit inside the sides). HOWEVER, depending on what kind of shelf supports you buy, you will probably need to cut the shelves slightly shorter, except for the stationary shelf.

For the stationary shelf, cut the shelf the same length as the top and bottom. For each shelf, you will cut a piece of the 1x2x6 board to the same length as the shelf and attach it with Kreg screws. This adds support to the shelf so it won't sag, and it also looks nice in the bookcase. For the stationary shelf, you'll also make Kreg holes on the short sides of the shelf to attach it to the inside of the bookcase for support.

Decide where you want the stationary shelf to go, mark it, and make sure it will be level. I put mine around 42" from the inside bottom of the case frame. Attach it to the sides with Kreg screws. If the back of the bookcase isn't perfectly flush with the back of the stationary shelf, you may want to use regular wood screws to attach it from the back as well. Measuring that is a little tricky, but I have done it on all the bookcases and it helped. I suppose you could also use the Kreg jig for that too, if you think ahead about that and remember to adjust your Kreg jig for the thinner plywood backing.
 

 

For adjustable shelves, cut the shelves slightly less than the inside width of the bookcase. My shelf pegs look like this: 

So I have to account for a decent amount of space for the shelf to slip over the edge of the peg (like, maybe 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch total). I always have trouble cutting the shelves slightly too long and it is really frustrating to have to go cut them again later. Make sure to test the shelves before staining!

Add front trim to the adjustable shelves just like the stationary one.

 

STEP 4: Drill the Adjustable Shelf Holes

This part gets its own step because I dislike it so much. When it is over I feel like I am "home free" on the project. 

I have made a measuring "jig" for these holes but somehow they still always come out slightly off, or the drill slips a little and the hole isn't exactly level ... they are a pain. But, so far the worst ones were fixable by putting padding on my shelf pegs to level the shelf. Not ideal, but an okay fix. I drill holes every two inches starting 8 inches from the bottom of the case and 8 inches from the top of the adjustable shelf. I drill the holes at about 2 inches and 8 inches from the back of the case. My holes are 1/4" to match the pegs, and I use a peg to test the depth of each hole after I've cut them all, deepening any that need it. Again, be careful not to cut all the way through the side!
 

STEP 5: Stain and Seal

Whew, by now, you are probably tired of this project and ready to be done if you are anything like me. I just want it finished so I can put my books on it! 

Stain the bookcase. I use a rag to wipe on the stain. I stain everything except the bottom since the bookcase is upright and too heavy for me to want to lay it over just for that. The legs can be tricky if you buy pre-made fancy ones like mine that have grooves. Also, the backing sucks up a lot of stain, but 32oz is always more than enough. I think you could maybe do two bookcases with that much, actually.

The  trickiest part here is staining the adjustable shelves. I use these little pyramid-shaped stands to sit the shelves on. I stain the backside, wait an hour or so, then flip it and stain the top. Since the pyramids only touch at a few points, it doesn't mess up the stain too much even if it is still damp.

Wait at least overnight until the stain is dry, then brush on your preferred polyurethane. Again, you'll have to do the adjustable shelves in two stages. Be careful not to overdo it on the polyurethane here .... when I did some of my shelves, the poly made my stain run a bit and make "drips" on the front edge of the shelves. 

Now, all you have to do is wait for the bookcase to dry and out-gas.

Here are all four of our bookcases in action:

 

Captain Ahab and Sea Soccer

Several weeks ago my husband and I went to watch his younger brother's soccer game. At one point my husband told me that one of the coaches reminded him of Captain Ahab. I looked up to see what he was talking about.
     Across the field was a tall, sturdy guy with a mid-length, thick white beard and a beanie cap. The most striking similarity, though, was his voice. Imagine the best gruff, pirate-esque, whaling vessel captain imitation you've ever heard. That was his voice. Before the kick, when it was the opposite team's turn to kick: "Get the ball, red team!" As the kids were running after the ball: "GET THE BAAALLL! [argh, mateys!]" I can't really remember anything else he said, but with the looks and voice paired with the umbrella he held beside him that called to mind either a cane or a peg leg, I could totally see the resemblance.
     "He must have retired from whaling and decided to do this instead," I joked.
     "Argh, mateys, when I was at sea, we played soccer on the deck! And when the ball was kicked out of bounds, ye had to walk the plank to get it!" my husband whispered in a pretty good imitation of the Captain. "There was no throwing it in, you had to swim it in!"
     I laughed. He went on throughout the rest of the game. "Ol' Johnny had a peg leg, so he had to be the goalie. We gouged out a little hole for his peg so he could stay in one spot and pivot to block the ball, argh! And when he'd get to whirling, there was no way to get the ball through, argh!"
     We went to another game the next week and he actually said "Argh" when he was calling out to a player who had missed the ball.

Summer Project: Holo the Wisewolf Pink Blouse

Part 2 of my Holo costume is complete: the pink blouse, as seen here:



I used this pattern, which I got for ONE DOLLAR at that Jo-Ann's sale I mentioned. 




I picked this because although I found a cosplay site online with basic pattern sketches, I work better off of actual patterns most of the time. I saw that this "easy-to-sew" pattern had a 3/4 sleeve version that would be close to the style of Holo's shirt. Holo's shirt technically just has one front piece instead of the several pieces sewn together that this pattern has, but since I made them all the same pink, I think they don't stick out too much.

The only thing I don't like about these "simple" patterns is that sometimes they don't include directions for lining and they leave some inside seams raw. I don't like that because they can fray, but for now I just followed the directions. Maybe I'll get some iron-on tape or something and cover them later. A serger would probably also be helpful to fix those.

Here is the finished shirt:

The neck part is not exactly like the real shirt, but I think the rest is pretty darn close!


 Materials Used:

Wuji Very Berry Amaretto fabric. I bought 3 yards on sale at $5.99 a yard, but I probably only used about 1.5 yards. I wasn't sure when I bought it how much it would really take. So, I probably spent about $8 conservatively on the pink fabric that I actually used for the shirt.

I used a little of the Wood Potent Purple Solid fabric which I mentioned in the previous post about the cloak. I bought 2 yards and have probably used 1 or less so far in trimming. It was also on sale at $5.99 a yard, so we'll say I have spent about $6 so far using that between the cloak and shirt.

I already had the golden ribbon for the sleeve detail.

Total: about $15 or less for the shirt

Now I just have to make pants, the pouch, the belt, a tail, and ears, and the costume will be done. I will get back to you when I'm done with the next step!

The Cat Who Came Back

Once upon a time, there was a small family who lived on a street in town. There was a woman, a man, and a cat named Llyr who lived with them. The couple really loved cats, but their house was very small, so they couldn't get another inside cat to be friends with Llyr.

One day, a few friendly neighborhood cats started showing up on the couple's porch. There were only a few at first. The couple really loved cats, and the cats looked very hungry, so they gave the cats some food on the back porch to encourage them to stay in the backyard, away from the dangerous road where cars drove too fast and away from other neighbors who did not like cats so much.

Eventually, five cats were eating in the couple's backyard! There were the girl kitties -- Snubs, Gray Calico, Chinstrap, and Littles -- and one boy kitty -- Dan. Snubs and Dan were very, very friendly and wanted to move inside with the couple, but there was not enough room, so they had to live outside. However, they came up to get pets every morning when the couple put out food for them. The other girl kitties were shy. They ate a little food, but didn't like to be pet as much. Llyr was happy because he could watch his friends play outside and, sometimes, he could go out and sniff them before playing in the grass. Snubs and Dan always rubbed up against Llyr to show that they liked him, too.

One day, the couple noticed that the girl kitties looked like they were going to have kitties of their own! The couple was worried about how many kitties there would be on the street. So, they took Dan to the clinic to have an operation so that there would be fewer kitties in the future. The couple decided they'd take some of the other cats after their kitties were born and old enough to take care of themselves. When Dan went to the clinic, the vet said that Dan had a slight problem with his heartbeat, and it could cause problems during his operation. The couple was really scared for Dan, but they told the vet to go ahead.

Dan made it through the operation perfectly fine! The couple was so happy because Dan was such a nice, loving outdoor cat and now he could protect his cat family without making a lot more kitties. Dan was really brave and nice throughout the whole process. He was a trooper.

Over the next month, kitties started to be born! Snubs had two gray kitties that she eventually brought out on the back porch. Some of the other cats had kitties, too, but they were born in other places, so the couple did not see them for a while. There were getting to be too many cats on the back porch. Then, the couple found a new home in the country! They planned to move to their new home in a month and they were very happy because they knew Llyr would love the new home, and now all the outside kitties could come live in their barn and be safe from the road and not bother anyone.

Then, one night a few weeks before the couple was going to move, three new kittens appeared on their back porch! They were Chinstrap's calico and orange kittens. The couple said hello to them and put out some food for their mama, then went to bed. There were now 10 cats outside! That was a lot of cats ... but the couple was sure they could move them all to their new barn, where they'd be happy and safe and they could hunt for mice.

The next morning, Dan and Gray Calico were nowhere to be found. They didn't come for breakfast and did not show up all day. The couple was really worried about them. They called the shelter and talked to some neighbors, but no one had seen them. The couple was so sad. They were afraid the cats might have been hurt or taken away just before they got to move them to a new, safe home.

The next day, there was a different big male cat that scared the mama cats on the back porch. Snubs hissed and hissed to keep it away from her babies. The couple shooed it away, but they were extra sad that Dan had disappeared and now his kitty family had no one to protect them.

Then, the next day, Snubs disappeared, too. Three big kitties were gone suddenly and the couple didn't know why. Luckily, Chinstrap took care of not only her three kitties, but also Snubs's two bigger kittens as well.  Now there were 5 kittens and only two mama cats: Chinstrap and Littles (who did not have kittens yet).

The couple became more and more sad. Their kittens and mamas were safe, but they were sad about the three big kitties that had disappeared, especially Snubs, who was a mama, and Dan, who was so, so friendly.

Then, one morning, a few days after the cats had first disappeared, the woman went out to feed the remaining cats. After Chinstrap and Littles and some of the bigger kittens started to eat, another cat jumped over the fence and ran up alongside them.

It was Dan!

The woman was so happy, she ran in to get her husband and show him that their beloved Dan was back. Dan seemed healthy and fine, and he started to eat like he'd never left. The couple was overjoyed and showered Dan with love. Now the big daddy cat of the cat family was back to protect his kitties! The couple still did not know what had happened, but they were so happy that Dan had found his way back. They still missed Snubs and Gray Cali, but they hoped that maybe they'd return, too.

The couple was so excited that one of their missing cats had come back.

Summer Project: Holo the Wisewolf Cloak

Matt and I started watching "Spice and Wolf" earlier this year and we are hooked. We've now watched all the episodes of the anime and I've read up to book 8 of the light novels. They are so great! For Halloween this year, I think we are going to try to dress up as Holo and Lawrence, which calls for some costume making this summer!

I will be making Holo's "pink blouse and brown cloak" outfit:

So far, I have made the cloak:

 

Here is the pattern I followed, with some adjustments to the hood to make it look like Holo's which is connected in the front to form a sort of cowl. This is a really, really easy and fast pattern for a cloak, especially if you get a material that does not need a lining and won't unravel at the edges. My cloak could probably have a lining, but since the front edges happened to end on the selvage edge, I think it will be ok for a while without anything else, just one layer.

 
My attempted cowl was make by using the hood pattern piece but cutting it out with an extra piece toward the front to sew together and form a connected hood. It does not exactly stand up like Holo's cowl does, and also, it just BARELY fits over my head since it cannot dis-attach and open up like a normal cloak. I may have to do some cutting and adjusting in the future. But, a benefit of this is that there is no need for a clasp or tie. Slip it on and it just stays!

 
I trimmed the cloak with some maroon material, but the rest of the cloak is made from a heather brown "suiting" material, so it's fairly thin and light.

Materials Used:

Wuji Brown Heather Solid, 4 yards at $4.19 a yard: $16.76 plus a little extra for the hood. They only had 4 yards whole, and I was worried this would not cover it since the cloak technically calls for about 6 ... but I'm small and it turned out ok. I bought some "end of bolt" pieces, one of which I used for the hood, just in case. They were very cheap.

I also used a teeny bit of Wood Potent Purple Solid. I bought 2 yards at $5.99 a yard, but it was basically negligible for this project, and I'll use the rest for other parts of the costume and add it in there.

Total Cost: about $18

Fabric prices are high, especially suiting, to which I have recently been drawn. But luckily, during my stop at JoAnn's on the way to State Track to watch a friend run, they were having a Memorial Day 40% off sale! I saved over $10 on the brown suiting. It was going to be a fairly expensive cloak anyway unless I got really cheap fabric, since it calls for so much, but I felt like I was able to get a fabric that I liked and though it was definitely a splurge day buying fabric (I spent $75), I felt a little justified since I have this great costume in store and I also did save a lot ($99 overall!!). They were having a sale on patterns, too: up to 5 for $1 each. SERIOUSLY! I bought three. That's where I saved the most money, and was able to finally get the awesome Elizabethan dress costume I've wanted but refrained from buying since it is normally $17 just for the pattern (yipes).

Anyway, got off on a tangent there, but I will keep you updated on how the rest of the costume turns out for anyone who might be interested! 

Kitties at our House

I just want to share some lovely kitty pictures for your enjoyment. As well as our lovely Llyr, some other cats have been hanging around our house this summer.

This is Dan. He is the main guy who hangs out - mostly in this flower pot or crying at the back door for attention. Really, he is a sweetie. He lays down and actually likes it when I pet his belly, which he shows off by curling around my hand and forcefully pushing his head against my hand for more pets. We had him fixed a month or so ago even though he is an outside cat to try to prevent too many more kittens from appearing, and man, he was a trooper during the whole thing.

 This is Littles. She is pretty skittish, but so pretty! I finally got to pet her a little recently.

This is Snubs (because of her squinty-eyed look that makes her nose look snubby) and her little kittens! They are adorable. The mostly hiss at me when I try to touch them, but if I pet them, they don't protest too much more than that. Snubs is so sweet and little. 

Dan and Littles thought this mat I set out while cleaning the garage was for them to nap on.

 

"Upcycled" Whiteboard

Well, after months and months of busy times, I'm back. I plan to write at least a few posts this summer to keep track of the projects I am working on. They will probably not be way too in depth, but perhaps they might provide inspiration for a project of your own!

The first real project I did this summer was "upcycling" an old Smartboard/Whiteboard to two smaller ones to use at home and in my classroom.

When Matt moved out of his old work office to a new one, they got rid of a lot of old things. One of those was a beaten-up, non-working, Smartboard-like whiteboard. Basically, it was a really large sheet of thin foam encased in two even thinner sheets of metal. On one side, there is also a thin layer of whiteboard material. So basically, it is a really early version of a Smartboard. I believe it could be used with a projector and the user could click on the screen, but instead of using the pointers to "write" on the screen digitally as Smartboards now do, the user could just use an Expo marker to write on the whiteboard part.

Matt rescued this board, which originally had thick metal and plastic edging and a tray for markers at the bottom. It was huge. He had to have his parents take it home for us in their truck. I do not have a picture of it before, but trust me, it was huge. Also one corner was bent.

We decided to recycle the perfectly usable (and free) whiteboard material and make two smaller boards. First, Matt had to get rid of all the edges, which was a little tricky. Once he did that, I had to cut down the gigantic sheet. I cut it in half using a jigsaw and a metal blade. It actually wasn't that hard to cut.

Once it was cut, I bought trim pieces that had an L-shaped back to make a frame for the boards. I painted the trim pieces a metallic color.

When they had dried, I "measured" them to fit around the board. By measured, I do not mean I used an sort of measuring tool. I hate measuring and it always comes out wrong. What I did was this: I cut one end of the trim to a 45 degree angle. I lined that up with a corner of the board and then marked a line where the other end should line up with the board. Then I'd use that mark to cut the other end. So, I was basically trying to custom cut each piece for the board, since I knew my cutting-in-half job was not perfect plus the board was slightly warped on one end. It did not come out perfect, but it worked pretty well and I was able to make all the edges line up and it was much quicker than using the tape measure.

When all the trim was cut, I laid the whiteboards upside down, positioned the trim upside down around them, and used Loctite caulk to secure them to the edges as a frame. I used tape as my "clamps."

Finally, when the caulk had dried, I had two new, very cheaply recycled whiteboards for my classroom or at home! Right now, they are stored in my classroom since we don't have any room for them here. Here's a picture of them standing up, mostly dry, with Matt for comparison.

 

Materials Used:

One giant whiteboard (free)
4 pieces trim @ $5.44 each ($21.76)
Metallic spray paint (already had)
Loctite caulk (leftover from earlier project)
Jigsaw and metal blade (I did have to buy the blade, but it will be used again)
Tape (already had)

So really I only "spent" about $20 to create two whiteboards! Not bad, plus I used some leftover project materials that had been laying around. I am fairly certain that buying two whiteboards of that size would cost more than $20, plus I felt good about recycling instead of the board going to waste.