DIY Built-In Bookshelves

If you are like me, who tends to accumulate a lot of books, novels and magazines than you definitely need a bookcase or bookshelves. Unfortunately most bookshelves are huge and heavy, and take up a lot of precious space. One way to solve this is to install built-in bookshelves. These bookshelves are a great addition to your homes interior and they do not take up too much space. You can paint them to match the walls of your room, so that they look cohesive with the decor of your room. Built-in bookshelves are much more functional than wall mounted bookshelves. If your budget does not stretch to installing a built-in bookshelf, an easy way to do it is to make built-in bookshelves yourself. You might think that this project is overambitious, and you do not have enough carpentry skills to pull it off. But the project outlined below is not your conventional wood bookshelf that you have to create from scratch. It is in fact a very easy DIY built-in bookshelf made by using old, worn out pieces of furniture.

How to Make a Built-in Bookshelf

If you are wondering how to build a bookcase, then it is outlined below. To make this easy built-in bookshelf you will first need to decide where you want to install the bookshelf. Traditionally built-in bookshelves are installed in the living room next to the door. But you can come up with better placement of bookshelves. One great location to install a built-in bookshelf is in the space under the stairs, if you live in a double storied home. This space is usually an eyesore with lots of items stored here making it look cluttered. You can better utilize this space by installing a built-in bookcase here. Another great place would be to make a built-in bookshelf just adjacent to a window. Build a wooden bench beneath the window and you have a great reading nook for yourself, and you can enjoy looking out of the window too. You can come up with some other placement ideas like this to make your built-in bookshelf more functional for your home. There are may bookcase designs that you can take inspiration from too.

Once you have selected the place you want your DIY built-in bookshelf to be, the next step is to get your supplies. For this project you will require a few old wooden benches in graduated sizes, paint color of your choice, sandpaper, paint brush, strong glue, screws, battery operated drill, screw driver and nails. If you like, you can choose to stain the wood instead of painting it. First inspect your wooden benches and make sure that it is not rickety and does not have wobbly legs or splintered wood. Any repairs that need to be done, should be taken care of now. Next, stack one bench over the other arranging them from the longest bench to the shortest. Look carefully to make sure that the arrangement is visually appealing. You can align the benches one over the other on the left or right hand side, or even at the center. A left or right alignment looks more visually appealing and proportionate.

Now, sand down each bench with a coarse grit sandpaper so that all chipped paint and grime is removed. Next, give it a coat of paint in a color of your choice. It is best to choose a color that matches with that of the room. Allow the benches to dry before handling them. Once they are dry, you can attach the longest bench on the wall by using long nails or screws. First you need to drill two holes on the wall, as well as the bench and then use the screws to secure bench. When the first bench is secured, place the next smaller bench over it and repeat the same procedure of drilling holes and screwing them in place. Apply strong glue on the base of the legs of the second bench to secure. Repeat this procedure on the third wooden bench by stacking it over the second bench. Make sure that the benches are firmly secured to the wall and with each other. Your do-it-yourself bookshelf is ready!

You need not have good carpentry skills to make your very own bookshelf. With a bit of creativity and ingenuity you can fashion bookshelves out of household furniture that are not in use anymore. Now that you know how to build built-in bookshelves, you can make one at home.