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You are here: Home / Renovations / Office Renovation / Office 2: Built-in Bookshelves

Office 2: Built-in Bookshelves

December 22, 2013 by SmartGirl 2 Comments

I am trying to finish my office project before Christmas.  It will be an awesome gift to myself to be able to organize my workspace and store all my junk.  I still haven’t finished the window seat day bed, but it’s mostly just trim pieces left.  I’ll trim that out when I trim out the wall unit.  They’re all really one big built-in piece anyway. This was one of my original sketches for the day bed/bookshelf combo.Office_Sketch 1

But then I started looking on Craigslist to see if there was anything I could modify and save myself some time and money.  I found this wall unit for $20.  $20 Wall Unit Best Offer

Interestingly, the same night, there were two identical units on Craigslist being offered for $60 and $200.  Lucky for me, the one for $20 was in my town!$200 Entertainment Center$60 Large Oak Sauder Wall Unit Bookcase - 2

So I modified my design to include the wall unit and hubby went to pick up the wall unit for me.Office_Sketch3But I was not impressed with the condition the shelf was in when he got it home.  It had been in a garage and had water damage.  It sat in the middle of my office for about 2 weeks and I thought of ways to work around its shortcomings (the bottom was deteriorating, I wished it were taller, and the trim along the top would have to be extended all the way to the wall).  Craigstlist wall unitThe plan was to build one additional unit in the corner that would attach to the day bed, and that is what I worked on today.  In the end, I scrapped the Craigslist unit, but I did use it as a guide to build my own unit.  I also salvaged all the shelves.  So I’m trying to tell myself I got my $20 worth.

I started by attaching supports to the wall. 1st step is wall supportsThen I built out the base.  Sorry the pictures are so dark.  It was nighttime.  I work while everyone else sleeps.Build out frameThen I added the MDF.  Don’t worry, there will be a front.  You can see in this shot that I demolished the Craigslist bookshelf.  Those are its remains on the floor.After destroying old cabinetThen I moved on to the upper portion, which is not as deep as the bottom, but still pretty darn deep at 15.5″.  I added the supports to one side, then transferred the measurements to the other side so they’d match up perfectly. Transferring shelf measurements Gluing and nailing shelf supportsMatching shelf sidesI screwed the right side piece into the wall studs.  First side in placeThis is one of those common sense tips that is a no brainer once you think of it…  Use two drills (or drivers) whenever you’re pre-drilling holes.  Keep the drill bit on one and the screwdriver bit on the other.  That way you won’t have to keep switching back and forth.  Such a time saver!Tip for predrilling holesThen I added the back supports.  These shelves will obviously not be adjustable.  They’re just too darn long at 38.25″ and need to be supported all the way along the back.Adding back supports

All four wall supportsShelf supports finishedI used the sides of the Craigslist unit, and cut them to length, to make them into shelves.Using scrap for shelvesHere are the shelves resting in place, but I still need to attach them and paint everything.First section of wall unit Wall unit attached to daybed

I’m starting part 3 right away, so stay tuned!

Catch up on the other posts in this series:

  • Part 1: Building a Window Seat Day Bed
  • Part 2: Getting Started on Built-in Bookshelves
  • Part 3: Progress on the Built-in Bookshelves
  • Part 4: Office Built-ins Still NOT Finished

Office Door Redo

Office 1: Window Seat Day Bed

Office 4: Progress on the Built-in

Office 5: Built-ins Are Almost Finished

 

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Filed Under: Office Renovation, Renovations, Woodworking Tagged With: built-ins, office

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pat says

    January 3, 2014 at 6:26 pm

    I like the way you work. Waiting for next post

    Reply
    • SmartGirl says

      January 3, 2014 at 7:01 pm

      Thanks Pat. And I’m waiting too… I’ve been meaning to get the trim pieces up for days now. Definitely this week!!

      Reply

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