33 Bookcase Projects and Building Tips
A bookcase or shelf is an extremely useful home storage system. In this collection, you’ll discover 33 project plans and learn building tips to maximize your bookcase or shelf’s storing capacity.
Hanging Wall Bookcase: Suspended Bookshelves
Get the project plans here.
Floating Bookshelves
These shelves are handsome, easy to build and inexpensive. And they’re strong even though they have no visible supports. They appear to float on the wall, no clunky hardware or brackets. We made them from only two parts—half of a hollow core door and a 2×4.
Get the project plans here.
DIY Bed Built-in Shelves
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Build a Built-in Bookcase
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Built-in Mission Oak bookcase
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Simple Bookshelf: Cottage Shelf with Branches
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Plus: How to hang shelves.
Bookcase Built by Two
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Leaning Tower of Shelves
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Stylish Shelves
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Wall Cabinet for Books
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DIY Box Shelves
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Saturday Morning Shelf
Build it before lunch—spray on the finish after dinner.
Get the project plans here.
Install a Wall-Bed-Bookcase Combo
Get the full project instructions here.
Classic Simple Bookcase
Get the project plans here.
Build a Showcase Wall!
Have you ever heard of ombre wallpaper? Learn why you should consider it for your interior walls.
Over the Door Bookshelf
Build a Traditional Bookshelf
Get the project plans here.
Small Room Ideas: Floor-to-Ceiling Bookcase
Custom Box Shelves
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Bifold Bookcase Hides a Secret Room
Each bookcase door has a fixed middle shelf and four adjustable shelves. The doors are available in hardwood veneers, MDF or vinyl-lam. Bookcase sizes range from 36in. to 66in.wide and up to 96in. high. Order them directly from the manufacturer. The system, weighing 400 lbs., will show up on a single pallet. Prices start at $2,200 (plus shipping) for the entire system.
Hidden Bookcase Storage
Make Your Own Built-In Shelves
Get the project plans here.
Simple Low-Tech Wall Shelf
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Modular Masterpiece
Back when I was just starting out in my first apartment, I piled up milk crates to store all my worldly goods. It was a simple idea, and it worked like a charm. Fast-forward many years: Faced with a need to store and display lots more stuff, I made plywood boxes in two sizes and mixed them up, adding doors to some and painting the inside backs of others the same color as my wall. The result was a stunning showcase that’s adaptable to any situation and includes useful storage space.
Get the project plans here.
Stackable Bookshelves plus a Desk
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Cover plywood edges fast
Perfect cuts every time with a sled
If you already have a miter saw, you’re probably wondering, “Why bother?” Because no miter saw can match the reliable accuracy of a sled. A sled gives you consistent, clean and exact cuts and it crosscuts stock up to 19 in. wide—perfect for shelves and other wide parts.
Adjustable shelves simplify building
Wall Unit Bookshelves: Dress Up Your Bookcase with Trim
Stadium-Seating Bookshelf
For more handy hints click here.
Optimize Your Bookshelves
Protect Against Tipovers
Any bookcase you build should be anchored to the wall so it can’t tip over and injure someone. Simply screwing it to wall studs is one good solution. If you choose that method, load up the bookcase with books so it fully compresses the carpet before you drive the screws. If you want to be able to move the bookcase without removing screws, pick up a couple of chain latches. Fasten the chains to studs with 2-1/2-in. coarse-thread screws. Position the tracks so there will be just enough slack in the chains for you to detach them.
How to Fix a Wobbly Bookcase
A freestanding bookcase set on carpeting often wobbles and can even tip over. The problem usually occurs because carpet is held in place by tack strips placed along the perimeter of the room. You have a couple of options to solve this problem.
- The first is to pull the carpet free of the tack strip, cut out a strip of padding where the front corners of the bookcase will sit, and replace the padding with a strip of wood that’s the same thickness as the tack strip, usually 1/4 to 3/8 in.
- A second option is to install adjustable feet (called gliders: at home centers) on the corners of the bookcase. They’re simple to install—just drill a hole and insert the feet. You won’t have to mess with the carpet, but the feet may be noticeable, which you might not like.
Learn more about fixing wobbly bookcases here.