I love a good bookshelf. My husband and I are both avid readers and our kids are growing quite a collection of their own.
Plus, over the years I have found that “bookshelves” are great for storing other things, apart from books, like …
- a Pantry Kitchen Bookshelf, which is actually what this particular bookshelf pictured was built for
- As vertical storage for office supplies
- Vertical display of photos and memorabilia
- House cookbooks and other kitchen gadgets
You can use a stand alone bookshelf in your bedroom, in the laundry corner, in the closet, or in your kitchen. Truly, the possibilities are endless.
Why Build Your Own?
Building your own bookshelf is a great way to create something that looks nice, fits well within your home space, and is affordable.
I love this particular Basic DIY Bookshelf because – well – it’s basic. It comes together simply, has a very traditional yet modern, sleek look that can really fit any situation I have in my home.
And best of all, this basic bookshelf frame is made from a single sheet of plywood.
Yep, you heard me right.
I built the entire frame and all the shelves from a single sheet of furniture grade plywood (in this case, 3/4” sanded maple). And it isn’t a small bookshelf either.
Total dimensions: 84-in X 29.5-in X 12-in
I have a Final Cut List later in the article, but for now – let’s jump right into how I built this Basic DIY Bookshelf!
What You Need
Supplies:
- (1) sheet ¾-in 4×8 sanded maple plywood
- (1) sheet 5mm 4×8 backing
- (1) 1x2x4 piece of poplar
- 3/4” edge banding
- 1-in finishing nails
- (4) 1 1/4-in course thread pocket screws
(I’ll include a price breakdown later on.)
Tools:
- Square
- Straight Edge (I often use a level or 1×4 board)
- Circular Saw
- Router
- Sander
- Iron (for ironing on the edge banding)
- Pipe Clamps (at least 48”)
- Pocket hole jig
Project Walk-Through
Step 1 – Mark and Cut Frame Pieces
As I mentioned earlier in the post, this Basic DIY Bookshelf is made from a single sheet of furniture grade plywood for the frame.
Begin by using a square to mark all cuts, the cut as marked. I used a circular saw to cut my sheet of plywood into boards for my frame and shelves.
Quick Tip: When cutting plywood, use masking tape over the area you plan to cut to prevent tear out. I always keep ¾” masking tape around my house. You can pick it up from any grocery or hardware store. I use it all the time for labeling all of my canning jars, putting dates on refrigerator items, labeling seasoning jars and all homemade dairy products like yogurt and kefir. And of course, I use it in the garage!
Painters tape can also work in this situation to prevent tear out; however, I find I like using standard masking tape in its natural light color because I can easily see my pencil marks through the tape.
Seeing those lines is not necessary, but I find comfort in seeing my saw blade line up with my cut marks. Wood costs money, and a single inadvertent lineup can ruin an entire piece of wood. The fact is, I scrimp and save up money to buy the wood for my projects, so every mistake in the cutting process is a huge loss.
Quick Tip (again): Always double check your measurements before you begin cutting, and don’t be afraid to pause and double check your measurements in-between cuts.
Once board pieces were all cut, it was time to join the frame.
Step 2 – Router Upright Frame Boards
I chose to use a router to inlay my shelf boards. By inlaying my shelves, I added some additional support to the shelving, which I thought was beneficial considering the weight these shelves would be carrying not if used for actual books, but specifically in holding some of my Bookshelf Pantry items (aka mason jars full of food).
I used a ¾ inch straight cut bit to form the grooves in my upright boards that my shelf boards would lay in.
For marking out my cuts, I always start with measuring the edge of the bit against the edge of the router base, and then set my level or straight edge to that same distance on my upright board from where I want my cut to be.
For example, if I know I want my shelf to sit 12” below the previous shelf, I would pencil mark that onto my board so I know where my bit should line up while cutting. If the edge of my router base is 3 ½ inches from the outside edge of my ¾ inch straight bit, then I would place my straight edge 3 ½ inches to the side of my marked line. This gives me a clean, straight cut, and the process is pretty simple to follow each time.
Lining up a cut is important for every project, but especially with a project like this where to separate boards rely on exactness for shelves to line up evenly.
I left a 1 1/2″ gap at the bottom of my boards for my 1×2 panel board, and I also left a 1/2″ space at the top which allowed my routered groove to be secure in the upright boards (as opposed to tearing out the top).
Step 3 – Sanding
After cutting all of my shelf pieces and routering their placement grooves into my upright boards, it was time for sanding.
Because I chose to use a pre-sanded maple plywood for this project, sanding was actually quite … smooth. I went over every board piece with a light sanding of 220 and 320 grit sandpaper. Dusted it off, and then it was ready for staining.
Step 4 – Edge Banding
This was my first experience using edge banding. I have since used it a few times, and – well – I’m not much of a fan to be honest (but we’ll get to why later on).
Below are pictures of how edge banding applies. These pictures were taken from a different project, but the process is exactly the same.
Looking at the edges of your plywood, simply layout your edge banding ribbon along that edge. Using an iron, gently heat the adhesive onto the plywood edge, and allow to dry. Once dry, trim the edges of the banding down with a special edge banding blade. And voila!
While adhesive was drying on my shelves and uprights faces, I cut, sanded, and got ready to stain the 1×2 poplar piece which would go on the bottom of shelf.
Step 5 – Staining
This might sound like a strange step to have in the middle of putting our bookshelf together, but here it is. You could certainly wait to stain until the frame was all put together, but in this instance, I chose to stain my boards before inserting the shelves and glueing them all together.
If I had planned to paint my bookshelf instead of stain, I probably would have waited until my bookshelf was fully assembled before painting.
For the stain, I chose to use a steel wool and vinegar stain. This has become my go-to stain in the last few years, especially for darker colors.
I also experimented with Danish Oil for this project. This was my first project ever using Danish Oil, and I loved it so much I actually chose to use it on my Free Standing Kitchen Cabinet build.
Step 6 – Putting It all Together
Because I inlayed all of my shelf boards in this bookshelf, it didn’t actually matter which boards I used for my top or bottom. All “shelves” were cut to the same length, and I was able to line them up in any order.
BUT, because all of my shelves were the same length and were going to be inlayed into the uprights, the entire shelf had to come together all at once, rather than building the box frame and then inserting the shelves later.
Putting everything together at once was a bit tricky. Definitely a moment where I wished I had more than two hands. As it was, my two hands were very busy trying to get everything lined up, and I wasn’t able to take any pictures of this process (so hopefully you get the gist with the step-by-step process).
First I laid out all of my board pieces along with 48” pipe clamps at both ends.
- I am always accumulating tools, and I actually bought my first sets of pipe clamps for this project. I was able to pick up these H Style Bessey Pipe clamps at our local Ace Hardware store. I bought them for right around $15 a set, and bought three sets (one for the top end of the bookshelf, one for the bottom end, and one for the middle). Of course, these are only the clamps. I had to buy the pipes separately.
- When buying pipe for pipe clamps, whether ½ inch or ¾ inch, it is much cheaper to buy a long-length pipe (8-foot or 10-foot) and cut it at home if you are able. Otherwise, pipes that I found were around $20 each for a 48 inch pipe. (I know, YIKES!!) Buying Buying these first three pipe clamps brand new from the store was a large upfront cost that still makes me cringe a bit. But they did the job, and are an asset to my tool collection.
- I do recommend checking your local online marketplace, maybe even posting an ad, to see if you can pick up some used pipe clamps before you head to your local hardware store and buy new, if you don’t already have some. Just a few months after buying the pipe and clamps for this project, I stumbled on someone selling used pipe clamps for $8 each. (If only I had known, right!?!)
Second I laid a light bead of glue down the center of each routered groove where my shelve would lay into.
Third Arranging all boards to set on their ends, front side down, I lined the shelves up to their designated grooves, and clamped the whole thing together.
Then I waited for glue to dry.
Fourth When glue was completely dry, I cut to size my 5mm backing board.
Because I was building this bookshelf to use as my Kitchen Pantry Shelf / Bookshelf Pantry, I wanted to blend the colors as well as possible with other wood tones in the room. I ended up using the wrong side of the 5mm sheet as my front, display side because it matched the cupboard shelf doors like the ones I found for my Free Standing Kitchen Cabinet.
I gently sanded the backing, cleaned, and then finished with a natural tone Danish Oil. When the Danish Oil finish was dry, I nailed the backing board to the backside of our bookshelf using 1″ finishing nails.
Fifth Once the backing was nailed in place, adding additional structural stability to the bookshelf, I flipped it over so face side was up.
I used pocket screws to add the 1×2 poplar base board piece to the front side of the bookshelf. And the bookshelf was basically done.
Note: Even though all shelves were securely glued in place and inlaid into my upright boards, I did add finishing nails (1″) on the outside of the upright boards into every shelf. Overkill, but that’s what I chose to do.
Now the bookshelf was finished and ready to be put to use.
Final Cut List
(2) 1′ X 7′ length 3/4-in plywood
(7) 12″ X 28″ length 3/4-in plywood
(1) 1″ X 2″ aspen board, cut to 28″
(1) 29″ X 82.5″ cut sheet of 5mm plywood
Project Reflections
What I Liked
I loved that I was able to make this bookshelf out of a single sheet of plywood for the frame and shelves. That made the project fairly easy to move through quickly.
I also loved how quick this build came together. I am a busy mom and homeschooling mom, so getting minutes in my garage to work on projects like these are slim. This build seemed to go fast which I so appreciated with my limited woodworking schedule.
Going Forward
I really think this bookshelf could be done so many different ways. And in the coming months, I hope to build a few more of these Basic Bookshelves using different methods, just to show that it can be done.
For example, not everyone owns a router (a router is not a basic tool that a beginner builder would use), but you could certainly use pocket holes to form your frame and on any permanent shelves. Especially if you plan to paint your bookshelf (as opposed to staining it, like I did), pocket holes would be a great way to do that.
Using peg joinery is also an option for the frame and any permanent shelves. Or a strip of shelf pin holes for removable shelves.
I would also love to build a different shelf using 3/4″ construction plywood and see how it looks in the end. The sanded maple looked nice, but it also cost quite a bit as well. Construction grade plywood often half the cost or less as furniture grade plywood, and for the price difference, I would love to see how a bookshelf made out of construction grade 3/4″ plywood turns out.
There really are so many options.
What I Didn’t Like
Though I initially loved the soft texture of the Danish Oil on the sanded maple plywood, over the last year of use, I have found that it tends to look really dull and doesn’t dust or clean well. AT ALL!
Again, I use this bookshelf as my Kitchen Pantry Shelf, where it gets plenty of flour and other food debris that finds its way on the shelves, and it doesn’t not wipe clean easily.
However, I actually used this same Danish Oil on my Free Standing Kitchen Cabinet, a surface that sees plenty of use and has seen its fair share of flour and food debris, and that cabinet looks beautiful and actually cleans up quite easily. Which lends me to think it may be a wood-type issue….?
If I could change one thing about this build, it would definitely be the finish. I have since used Danish Oil on fir lumber, and have liked the result. But for this maple plywood piece, I think a poly finish would have been the way to go. Even considering VOC levels of polyurethane compared to Danish Oil, I think the ease of cleaning makes using a poly finish the better choice. At least for this build.
Overall, I am super happy with how well this Basic DIY Bookshelf came together. This was an affordable to build a large bookshelf for my home, and it came together fairly smooth and quick.
If you find yourself building a Basic DIY Bookshelf, please drop pictures in the comments and tell us how you did it! Happy building!♥
