Lee’s Horizontal Bookcase

This was my first big project that I designed start to finish, and I’m extremely happy with the results. I started woodworking only about two years ago, and watching The Wood Whisperer videos has really helped me with my progress as an amateur woodworker. I’ve been inspired to try projects I never thought I could do.

The bookcase shelves and backing are all maple 3/4″ plywood. I was lucky enough to get some sheets that had a lot of birds-eye grain which really popped once finished. I started by using my plunge-router to dado the backing to give the shelves some extra support and make leveling them easier. Once I had that together, I built the outside with 1 by 6 pine that I Kreg-jigged together to avoid showing any screws. I alternated the lengths of the boards on each side by 3/4″ to make the end-grain interlock for some extra character on the corners, and I’m really pleased with how that ended up looking! When that was all connected, I finished off the front with some 1 by 3 and 1 by 2 pine trim pieces, attached with brad nails and some counter-sunk screws for extra strength, and then capped with some wood plugs.

With a bit of wood filler for the brads, a lot of sanding, and some finishing with Minwax Jacobean stain, the bookcase was complete! The bookcase  is about 7 feet long and 3 feet tall and fits along our living room wall perfectly. Luckily, my wife is a great decorator, so she added the finishing touches to make the bookcase a part of our home.