Anyone built their own 'fixed wall' bookcase? advice please
Discussion
Had some homemade shelves in an alcove years ago, fixed baton all the way along the back and along both end walls, then screwed shelves to that.
In my last house I wanted something similar in a corner, so used shelf brackets in the center with little plastic corner blocks to attach one end to the wall, and the other end to a vertical panel. Used veneered MDF for the shelves I think.
In my last house I wanted something similar in a corner, so used shelf brackets in the center with little plastic corner blocks to attach one end to the wall, and the other end to a vertical panel. Used veneered MDF for the shelves I think.
FunkyNige said:
Bebee said:
are you pleased with yours Nige?
Yep - being 'boxes' means the shelves don't have to all be the same height all the way across so it does look a bit of a mess but that was the look we were going for. I'll try and remember to post a picture up tonight.Not the best photo, but you can see two of the three boxes, I couldn't get an angle to get floor to ceiling plus all the wall in one photo without the table getting in the way...
Excuse the mess, I'm still in the process of moving stuff in so a lot of bits get dumped on there before they find a permanent home.
Excuse the mess, I'm still in the process of moving stuff in so a lot of bits get dumped on there before they find a permanent home.
Examples of what you can get: https://www.slhardwoods.co.uk/products/sheet-mater... (they'll also do the cutting and edging for you).
I did a big wall of storage for our dining room but as it was white I went with IKEA Besta, on kitchen cabinet feet and attached to the wall (they come with nice adjustable mounts to compensate for walls being out of plumb). Cut down the end cabinet and doors so it fitted in the space, then made a plinth for underneath and fill-in panels for the small bit on either side so it looks built in. Saved a lot of time on making cabinets, doors, shelves, etc.
I did a big wall of storage for our dining room but as it was white I went with IKEA Besta, on kitchen cabinet feet and attached to the wall (they come with nice adjustable mounts to compensate for walls being out of plumb). Cut down the end cabinet and doors so it fitted in the space, then made a plinth for underneath and fill-in panels for the small bit on either side so it looks built in. Saved a lot of time on making cabinets, doors, shelves, etc.
Built similar a few years ago. Started with oak door kitchen units as a base then built the worktop and shelves using 18mm oak veneered MDF and satin varnished it. Photos show my study's in a bit of a mess but you get the idea. Only thing I'd do different if I were to do it again is to use some better base units from the likes of Oak Furniture Land etc. I'd suggest to OP to be sure touse good quality board, don't try to scrimp on that since it's what you'll see every time you go into the room and thin/cheap chipboard looks exactly that - cheap.
I second the IKEA suggestion - cheaper, easier and far less messy than installing custom shelving.
In my previous house I built all the shelving. It was a victorian house so had plenty of recess either side of the chimney breasts - used veneered MDF.
More recently I've kitted out my music room/library and used Billy units from IKEA. Took me hours rather than days, fits reasonably well (I needed to take about 10mm off the height of the top units and the ceiling slopes anyway).
I think it looks fine, no regrets at all about not making my own this time.
This photo shows half of the shelving but gives you an idea:
In my previous house I built all the shelving. It was a victorian house so had plenty of recess either side of the chimney breasts - used veneered MDF.
More recently I've kitted out my music room/library and used Billy units from IKEA. Took me hours rather than days, fits reasonably well (I needed to take about 10mm off the height of the top units and the ceiling slopes anyway).
I think it looks fine, no regrets at all about not making my own this time.
This photo shows half of the shelving but gives you an idea:
Cheers all
There is free standing ikea bookcases then there is built in.
I plan to go built in floor plinth to ceiling and over the door way, it will hold books (mostly motoring) as well as the odd ordainment.
I will go for 25mm thick MDF veneer.
The thing I notice about bookcases screwed together is there is one side wasted and not required.
sjg, I was looking at that website last night, think I be getting it from there, they sound good.
Thing is, I need a 007 room:
There is free standing ikea bookcases then there is built in.
I plan to go built in floor plinth to ceiling and over the door way, it will hold books (mostly motoring) as well as the odd ordainment.
I will go for 25mm thick MDF veneer.
The thing I notice about bookcases screwed together is there is one side wasted and not required.
sjg, I was looking at that website last night, think I be getting it from there, they sound good.
Thing is, I need a 007 room:
I can get some better photos of it in it's current state, but I went through something similar last year. Wanted bookcases for a study, got quotes from a couple of sources (one was a joiner advertising at the Scottish Home Building and Renovation Show - he quoted £13k!! The other was a local carpenter who quoted us a couple of thousand for some MDF bookcases).
In the end, we decided to go IKEA-hack. We got 4no Billy Bookcases and doors, plus some over lights. We built a timber plinth to sit it all on and some architrave and came up with this...
In the end, we decided to go IKEA-hack. We got 4no Billy Bookcases and doors, plus some over lights. We built a timber plinth to sit it all on and some architrave and came up with this...
I wanted to do the same thing late last year so got a couple of professional quotes that were simply eye-watering.
In the end I picked the brains of a local timber merchant who also supplied the pine for me and after taking a fair amount of time (measure twice, cut once and all that) I ended up with this:
Total cost of about 40% of the professional quote and the satisfaction of creating something myself.
In the end I picked the brains of a local timber merchant who also supplied the pine for me and after taking a fair amount of time (measure twice, cut once and all that) I ended up with this:
Total cost of about 40% of the professional quote and the satisfaction of creating something myself.
Anyone got any plans for simple ones? I want to make some shelves that can be moved if required using Oak veneer MDF. Some of the plans I've seen involve making a groove for the shelves with a router. I don't have a router and it's another expense. I'm worried if I don't the unit will be wobbly from side to side? How do I get it rigid enough to stop that without making something too complicated? It won't be fixed to the wall.
I like the trim on some of the photos here.
I like the trim on some of the photos here.
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