Building Custom Shelving Units for Your Home

When I moved into my new home it had many small problems that were just plain irritating. One of the biggest issues was lack of space. There was no garage and since the basement is a finished one, no true basement storage. The attic is a mere crawlspace full to the rafters with mice and insulation. The answer to our problem came by solving yet another problem with the house. Between the dining room and the basement staircase was a flimsy and ugly metal railing. It resembled a wrought iron rail you expect to see on the outside steps of a very distastefully decorated home. Lean on this rail and you would find yourself in the basement!! It just had to go and we just needed someplace to put all of our stuff. So I got to work designing a wall made up of bookshelves.

We began our project by purchasing some 2x12s of the best quality we could find at the lumber yard. After sanding these we used our own discretion to cut the side pieces to a height that pleased us and fit our low ceilings. We then used some of our books and knick knacks to determine where we wanted the shelves placed. After determining the shelf heights we used a scrap piece of the 1×6 to determine the depth of the notches we were going to cut into the side pieces. After we had all of our shelf notches drawn onto the side pieces we set our circular saw’s blade to a depth that wouldn’t penetrate the wood too deeply. We then followed our pre drawn lines, creating cut after cut into the wood. Once these cuts were finished we used a wood chisel to clean out the notch. After this we cut our shelves to the size needed to fill our space. We then used a polyurethane laced stain to get the mahogany look we desired. Once the polyurethane stain was dry we put the unit together, slipping each shelf into the notch and then nailing them into place. I would like to note here that you can glue it as well for a stronger application or you can leave it without glue or nails to allow for an adjustable shelving unit. If you opt for an adjustable unit just make sure you have the top shelf, a middle shelf and the bottom shelf stationary so the unit will have some substance to it.

Now that the unit was built we purchased some unfinished wainscoting paneling and stained it with the same mahogany polyurethane stain used on the unit itself. After hoisting the unit into place we nailed it into the side walls, floor and ceiling to ensure it would be super sturdy. I would like to mention here that we built our shelf wall in three sections as the space we needed to fill was far too large to span without sacrificing strength of the shelves. Next we attached the wainscoting to the back of the unit creating a fun and classic backdrop for our books and knick knacks. This will ultimately make the book shelves stronger as well. We then added molding of our choice around the unit to cover the cracks between the wall, ceiling and floor. You can skip this for a more modern look but frankly I think it looks very unfinished without something to hide where the wall, ceiling and floor meet your new unit. I prefer that the unit look as seamless as possible so you have a look that is so built in no one will ever guess it wasn’t there when the house was built.

After we had our backing on we had a beautiful shelving wall in the dining room but an unfinished back of the wainscoting wall in the hallway. To remedy this we determined where the sides, top and bottom of the unit were by following the nail heads from the wainscoting application. We then placed wainscoting on the hall side to create what looked to be a solid wall. In the end we had ourselves an antique looking built in that screams Victorian. We also did this application in our old bedroom on either side of the windows but used 1x6s for that application due to space restrictions. Now we have storage everywhere in the old part of the house.

Once again, if you have any questions at all make sure to leave me a message. I am always willing to help in any way I can. Have fun and enjoy your new shelves, I know I enjoy mine!!