Bookcase

Directions

• Cut wood

  Cut the wood down to size according to the cut list in the woodworking plans.
  

• Build base and top

  Assemble the base and top according to the woodworking plans. Attach glue and 1 ½” brad nails.
  

• Make dowel holes

  Mark the locations for the dowel holes. Using the Kreg dowel jig, drill the holes for the dowels. The locations of the dowel holes are approximate in the woodworking plans. We strongly recommend verifying each individual dowel hole as you go to make sure everything gets lined up.
  

• Assemble shelves

  Using the predrilled dowel holes, assemble the side panels, shelves, and back panel. Use wood glue on all joints and gently tap into place with rubber mallet.
  

• Attach base and top to shelves

  Attach the top with a brad nailer and 1 1/4” brad nails and wood glue. Attach the base with predrilled dowel holes and wood glue.
  

• Attach side face trim

  Using wood glue and pin nailer, attach the side face trim pieces to the front of the shelves with 1 ¼” pin nails.
  

• Attach side trim

  Using a pin nailer, attach ¼” side trim to sides of bookshelves with ¾” pin nails.
  

• Cover 2 bottom shelves with edge banding

  We added doors to the bottom shelf, so those ones do not get shelf face trim. Instead, use edge banding to cover the plywood ends.
  

• Attach shelf face trim

  Cut each piece to fit perfectly on the shelf front. Mark dowel hole locations and drill dowel holes on the trim piece using dowel jig. Attach with wood glue and dowel joinery.
  

• Sand

  Sand everything smooth with 80-grit and 120-grit sandpaper and an orbital sander.
  

• Make and attach decorative corbels (optional)

  We couldn’t find corbels that we liked, so we made our own from scrap oak to attach to the front of the bookshelf. Attach with wood glue and 1 ¼” brad nails. This is totally optional.
  

• Make and attach baseboard

  Using the Kreg router table and decorative router bits, make the baseboard for the shelves. Attach with 1 ¼” pin nails. You can also buy premade baseboard.
  

• Attach top crown

  Using ¾” pin nails, attach decorative trim as crown to the top edge of the bookshelves. Wrap around corbels if you used them.

  Woodworking plan note

  In the woodworking plans and cut list, we do not include the corbels, so if you add them, you will need to edit those dimensions. If you decide not to include the corbels, just trim across the top of the shelves instead of wrapping them around the corbels (as shown in the plans).

  

• Assemble doors

  Assemble doors as shown.
  

• Sand and fill

  Sand everything with 120-grit sandpaper and an orbital sander, and by hand for nooks and crannies. Fill noticeable gaps or blemishes with wood putty. We opted not to fill the nail holes because it makes it more noticeable. Sand everything again with 120-grit and 220-grit sandpaper. Remove all sanding dust.

• Stain and seal

  Stain everything with the stain color of your choice. We opted for 2 colors layered together. We used Minwax Classic Gray followed by Minwax Jacobean. Starting with the gray stain helped tone down the dark stain and give a more muted color. Finish it off by sealing with spray lacquer.

• Attach doors

  Attach doors to the bookshelf.

• Attach legs (optional)

  Using mounting plates, attach furniture legs to the bottom of the shelves. This is optional, but it adds a lot of character.