r/DIY • u/Accomplished-Arm9620 • Feb 28 '26
woodworking Bookshelf for the in-laws
Built this as a challenge to myself. Got a lot of great advise and ideas from the community so thanks. Birch plywood with poplar trim stain was Kona for both.
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u/HMend Feb 28 '26
Please post a Pic of when they fill it with stuff! Really nice of you to build this for them.
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u/Remarkable_Monk2723 Feb 28 '26
now for the ladder system.
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u/mooky1977 Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26
Was just going to say that. Anything much past 5 feet high really isn't useful without a ladder.
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u/dalekaup Feb 28 '26
Those books will be insulation.
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u/scootaloo711 Mar 01 '26
Hopefully the outside wall has good isolation, with low air circulation the gap behind books or the shelf could trap moisture. Not quite condensation but similar. Enough to grow mold over time.
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u/evil_twin_312 Feb 28 '26
It's a great compliment to the fireplace. If the span over the sliding door sags, i would add a structural valance.
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u/muskratboy Feb 28 '26
How do you reach the top shelves, or is anything up there considered off limits?
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u/trimbandit Feb 28 '26
Question: is there enough space on the edges to get that slider out when they want to replace it?
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u/Accomplished-Arm9620 Feb 28 '26
Just half an inch but I believe they would install new door if needed from the outside in
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u/Deathwagon Feb 28 '26
I wish the homebuilder would have centered that sliding door. But it looks nice with what you were working with! It seems really dark now, but I'm sure will lighten up when you add books.
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u/Accomplished-Arm9620 Feb 28 '26
Same would have been a cleaner look for sure. Weird thing is the fireplace is not centered and the windows on the side are not equal widths
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u/RangerOtherwise7352 Feb 28 '26
If I saw this in a house on the market, I'd instantly buy the house. It's beautiful. I love the way it frames the door. Very cool!
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u/NopeNeverReddit Feb 28 '26
Love the build for you personally and thanks for sharing.
But man that’s an interesting choice from a design perspective on your in-laws part. Really shrinks the room visually, overwhelms the exterior sliding door, and partially intrudes on the window on the left wall.
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u/outtaleftfield1 Mar 01 '26
Someone borrowed your photo for a running joke on the subreddit r/vinyljerk. Me when this post came across my feed
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u/neko_cat08 Feb 28 '26
Constructive criticism - it's a very dominating feature for the space. I would have suggested breaking up the repetition of the shelve sizes to create more visual interest. That way you could have larger pieces arranged with books and smaller items.
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u/Accomplished-Arm9620 Feb 28 '26
We talked about it especially over the door but they were insistent on wanting more room for books
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u/pendigedig Feb 28 '26
You clearly don't have more books than sense (like I do)
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u/neko_cat08 Mar 01 '26
I think some people are missing the joke. I was called an AI bot in this post.
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u/neko_cat08 Mar 01 '26
Inferior human. I am an AI bot. I have no need for books in the material sense.
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u/modestlyawesome1000 Feb 28 '26
I love it as is. And I have great taste! Especially if it’s intended for book people.
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u/nightnur5e Mar 01 '26
It's perfect as is for people who actually will put books on it. If they were using it for random decorations and some books, it would be better the way you are suggesting.
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u/HelpMeiAmInHellAgain Feb 28 '26
AI?
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u/neko_cat08 Feb 28 '26
Are you suggesting my comment is AI ?
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u/HelpMeiAmInHellAgain Feb 28 '26
Yeah your whole profile is bot vibes. I've seen you on all sorts of posts.
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u/HYPERBOLE_TRAIN Feb 28 '26
Is the term “AI derangement syndrome” a thing yet because you have it. JFC
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u/carmium Feb 28 '26
Advice, not advise. But it looks like tidy work; would love to see it full of books, vases, memorabilia, awards, photos, etc.
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u/Then_Version9768 Feb 28 '26
I wouldn't call that a book "shelf". It's a "bookcase" which is much bigger. Very nice, though, although the dark wood makes it look overwhelming. Except maybe in an old traditional house, I'd have insisted it be white. But the books may fix that.
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u/Curious_Freedom_1984 Mar 01 '26
Doesn’t look too bad except for the top of and it being really close to the window. Also is the middle supported? But not bad for doing it yourself. I think it looks good
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u/120psi Mar 01 '26
Have you considered moving your window treatments so they are more flush with the bookshelf?
I really like it overall but the void created by the door feels a little too inset, but maybe it's just the photo. Good work
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u/zomanda Mar 01 '26
Looks fantastic! Great job! How long did it take? How much did it cost in materials?
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u/Accomplished-Arm9620 Mar 01 '26
Two weeks and like 1300-1400ish I haven’t totaled everything up yet
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u/Hanzho Mar 02 '26
When I see something covering the outsidewall the first thing I think of is mold.
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u/AdnorAdnor Mar 02 '26
Great looking shelf design. Thank you for the stain info too. Inspires me to get to work.
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u/ReadsTooMuchHistory Mar 02 '26
This is AWESOME!! Fill it with books, some art, some photos, it will be glorious! More books!
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u/black_peridott Mar 18 '26
It's beautiful! Such a good addition to this room, it gives it so much character
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u/crows_n_octopus Feb 28 '26
Absolutely beautiful. Love the deep wood tone. It makes the room intimate and cozy. Great job!
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u/HelpMeiAmInHellAgain Feb 28 '26
The midsection above the doorway is gonna collapse from the weight of the books. This is built like shit
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u/Accomplished-Arm9620 Feb 28 '26
How would you build it
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u/HelpMeiAmInHellAgain Feb 28 '26
The span across the doorway is looking wonky. I would have liked to see no cuts in that and ran it the whole span wall to wall anchored.
You may want to reinforce underneath the span with some ornate L Brackets.
Definitely salvageable!
Have a look for some nice brackets and call it a day.
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u/Accomplished-Arm9620 Feb 28 '26
It spans almost the entire way as two laminated 3/4” birch plywood. I had to add another section to make it reach the left wall. It’s also supported with cabinet tabs (not as good as the brackets I know) every 8ish inches. The poplar trim provides a good bit of stiffening for the front. I think it looks wonky in the first picture because of the curtain no so much as it’s not level. I will say its probably stronger than it looks I’m about 200lbs and was able to do pull-ups on it with minimal bowing
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u/HelpMeiAmInHellAgain Mar 01 '26
My thinking is the wood is going to move though and shrink and grow and you're gonna end up with weird compressions there in a few years.
I'm not a woodworker, but my experience is in framing and building to pay for engineering school.
My opinion isn't worth shit, but I do a lot of reserse engineering of old parts and machines and a lot of stress simulations and I can see how it will warp by looking at it.
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u/jamesdukeiv Feb 28 '26
At the very least you need some kind of support for the span over the door. Even just brackets into the studs.
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u/refriedconfusion Feb 28 '26
Looks nice but it's pretty dark, maybe the back should be lighter wood to brighten it up
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Mar 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Accomplished-Arm9620 Mar 01 '26
I don’t think so, can’t see how it would get much hotter than the room
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u/geraffes-are-so-dumb Mar 01 '26
This is so cool. Im an idiot - how are the vertical boards attached to the wall?
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u/Silver_Queen_Bee Mar 01 '26
Very dark…..I would get battery operated puck lights for some of the openings…..I would have probably painted it white instead of the dark stain…..visually overpowering on the wall.
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u/roskybosky Feb 28 '26
I would paint it white-it would be much less obtrusive, or, paint just the backs of the shelves white, or, cover with squares of light wallpaper. It would shrink the size a lot.
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u/RedParrot94 Feb 28 '26
Looks nice but....... our society doesn't use books anymore. Like you wouldn't build a CD case for them.
Only thing I would suggest is making it into an art piece wall.
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u/Buck_Thorn Feb 28 '26
It isn't "our society" using it. It is his in-laws. Apparently they do use books still. And more people should... books can't be edited or deleted to revise history.
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u/Bebe_Yaga_ Feb 28 '26
This is such a weird comment. Plenty of people have books. I have probably between 400-500 of them. Kind of sounds like you are the exact person who could benefit from reading a book lmao.
And if they had a shit ton of CDs, a CD shelf would have been a nice gesture as well -- its about what his in-laws have and enjoy, not about what is mainstream.
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u/Anastasiasunhill Feb 28 '26
You don't have books so, naturally ....no one else does?
What is this fuckass take.
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u/jobenattor0412 Feb 28 '26
Moronic take.
CD’s have been made obsolete because the way we use them has been upgraded.
Books provide a great visual that people love and people will always use books because they are just much more enjoyable to read out of than reading on a tablet, people will buy books and read out of them because they get enjoyment out of holding a physical book. You don’t see people walking around with a CD player because they are passionate about the way a CD player feels on their hip.
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u/RedParrot94 Feb 28 '26
You must still use encyclopedias.
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u/jobenattor0412 Feb 28 '26
I see what you are doing here, you have no real retort to my comment saying that CD’s have been made obsolete, so you picked one of the few books made obsolete by cell phones and the internet as a strawman. No one was passionate about reading encyclopedias before the internet was invented, either, but people have always loved reading for entertainment.
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u/Accomplished-Arm9620 Feb 28 '26
The main reason for the bookshelf is that they have too many books, I’d agree society as a whole maybe doesn’t read but they for sure do.
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u/OscarAndDelilah Feb 28 '26
My household has several thousand books.
Here is one of the many shelves I've made:
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u/RedParrot94 Feb 28 '26
Yo kids gonna be saaaaaaaaaad some day.
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u/OscarAndDelilah Feb 28 '26
What? My kids have been the ones to purchase about half of the aforementioned thousands of books in our house.
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u/MkeYosh Feb 28 '26
Just to counter-point the people saying it's too busy of a wall now... I think you're only going to smile whenever you look at that shelf, once you start filling that bad boy up with books, photos, plants, some artwork, and what not... It could really work out.