First bookcase

[dazart]

So I'm about to do my first attempt at something more than a box. Going to try to make a small bookcase for our tv room. I did my best to do it up in SketchUp and felt like I had it all figured out and though - "I wonder if I should see if NCWW have any thoughts or comments before I cut any plywood".

So I'm going to attempt to attach the SketchUp file and see if anyone feels like taking a look at it. I think it's fairly simple - just dado's and rabbets for joining the plywood. Then I was going to use some type of wood on the front to hide the plywood sides, and some type of molding for the top. For the bottom I was just going to put a kick plate and then cover that with the same molding that goes around the walls so it looks continuous.

I read somewhere that 3" is the normal height of the first piece from the floor, so I have a hidden shelf at 3" and then another at 5 1/2". I'm not sure if that's needed or not.

Also not in the file is the 1/4" beadboard that I will put at the back.

The first piece is the whole bookcase, the second is just the plywood, the third the wood front (I'm not sure what the technical name is for this part), and the last is my attempt at putting the plywood pieces onto a sheet.

 

[JohnnyR]

Hi Steve, improving on your plans and skill is what we're here for. Couple of comments. I'd rearrange your cutting diagram so that the grain on the sides is vertical. If you want to save some ply, you could dado the top for the sides to "insert" into. With solid wood edge banding around it you've got both the top and molding. I personally don't think a toe kick on a book case is necessary but that's the user's choice. I don't understand the hidden shelf unless you have a use for it. Typically the bottom shelf is 3-4" off the floor. If you do use it, the solid wood (yellow) should cover both purple "shelves". You could also make the middle shelves adjustable. If so, instead of the face frame rails, glue on the rails only to the shelves to prevent them bending. If you build a face frame as shown, you should also glue the front of the shelves to the rails for the same reason.
If this is to be a built in, permanently fixed to the wall, scribe the back to the wall and base board before assembly. If not built in, and you have kids, you should anchor it to the wall to prevent it falling on them when they play spider-man.
You're off to a good start, post some work in progress pic's.

 

[dazart]

I hadn't thought about the grain for aligning the pices for cutting - I'll make that change.

The existing floor molding is 4 1/2" high. I thought in the future I will want to put doors on it, so I imagined a 1/2" from the molding to the future door bottom, then for some reason I can't think of anymore, another 1/2" from that before the bottom shelf.

I only put the hidden shelf there because I thought if I put the bottom shelf higher than that it might affect the structure of the bookcase? But to be honest I don't know - I was just doing it to be safe.

Wife wanted permanent shelves.

It will be a built in - but at the moment there are no little kids (maybe grandkids but that's not in the immediate future). Someone had suggested putting a shim in the front and then using an anchor or two at the top to attach it to the wall. I've never scribed something before - just watched Norm do it to the side of a bookcase.

 

[JohnnyR]

Hard to critique it without seeing how it fits in the room. I would design it in SU with the doors so you know how it looks and fits together and then just build the cabinet and you'll have the doors already designed. It"s a bunch of work but you can draw a sketch up of the room to see how it fits in. If the bookcase is proud of a flat wall i.e. not against a side wall or another cabinet I think it would look better built as a stand alone with a different base than the baseboard. If it looks like something added rather than really originally built in you're better off making it distinct. But I could be way off base depending on the room. As to scribing, if you have to shave a lot off for a really bad wall or for the baseboard, make sure the back is far enough forward of the scribe line. Better to cut out the existing base board if it"s permanent. You might also consider putting in some LED light strips behind the face frame if this is a display cabinet w/o doors. Good luck.

 

[dazart]

Funny you mention that. I found something in sketch up that let me put an image in the drawing. I'll attach that tomorrow. I thought it looked pretty funny.

 

[dazart]

So here are 2 pictures. One is the bookcases with our wall as a watermark. We plan on getting rid of the existing one on the right of the fireplace and replacing it with one of these, and we plan on removing the top molding that is currently going around the tv.

The other picture is one my wife found on pintrest with the idea she had in mind.

 

[JohnnyR]

Can't be sure from the photo but is the current bookshelf in an alcove? If so, you're not going to replicate the other picture if the new bookshelf on the left is proud of the fireplace. Again, I'd make the left one at least distinct, or maybe a hall table with a wall cabinet above. At any rate, if either is proud of the fireplace I don't think making them abutting and built in will look good, crowding that beautiful fireplace. Copy the file to a new one and color the bookshelves (I assume you were going to paint them) to give a better idea of what they will look like. If distinct, you could then show off some nice, un-painted wood.

 

[dazart]

No - it's not an alcove. It's just only 12" deep (same as what I made the new bookcases) - not as deep as the fireplace. It was like this when we bought the house last year. it was only on the right side with nothing on the left because the left used to be an external window. This room was an addition and they left the external door and windows on the left side of the room. We guess they ran out of budget.

When we bought it we removed the windows and door, but now we have this. I think the tall case and molding that surrounds the tv makes the wall look small. We're hoping if we remove them it'll look better.

I won't be able to update the Sketchup with white versions until tomorrow.

 

[Jeff]

Is the fireplace open on the opposite side of the wall (looks like it from your pic with wood floors on the other side)?

I don't understand where all of the doors and windows come from. Looking at your pics I see 1 door and zero windows on the right as I'm looking at the fireplace. On the left there's an entrance doorway going to another room.

JohnnyR has given you some good advice but I'd recommend making both cabinets free standing and not as built-ins fastened to the wall (Pinterest pic). You may want to move each cabinet somewhere else or sell it.

Time to think about how to finish these cabinets before cutting any wood. Plywood for the shelves and boxes, hardwood for the face frames and doors, painted or whatever you folks choose?

 

[dazart]

Yes - there's another room on the other side of the fireplace.

When I was talking about windows and doors I was trying to explain how the wall and cabinet got to how it looks today. Just ignore all that.

Here's a picture of the other side of the fireplace when we first bought the house. You'll notice the outdoor window they left when they build the addition.

We removed that window and it's just a wall now.

Anyhow - we were planning on painting the cabinets white, but yes - plywood for the shelves and boxes, hardwood for the face frames.

 

[Jeff]

Trying to get my bearings on the layout. So the walk thru entrance to the new room where the new cabinets will be (aka, addition) is to the right of the counter top and slightly to my left?

How in the heck did the original plan have a window whose sill was sitting on the floor at about the same level as the fireplace hearth? None of my business but the former owners seem a bit weird about how the place was chopped up before you bought it!

Anyhow - we were planning on painting the cabinets white, but yes - plywood for the shelves and boxes, hardwood for the face frames.​

Consider using poplar for the face frames and doors. No sense painting good hardwood (but poplar is a hardwood too). I'd still make the cabinets free standing.

 

[dazart]

That addition was pretty FUBAR. That's why we think it was on the market as long as it was for that neighborhood - I don't think anyone else wanted to take on fixing that up. Maybe if I get time after work I'll play with sketchup again (my new hobby) and try to make a layout of the floor. That would be fun. It won't be to scale b/c I won't be home until Saturday, but it'll be fun anyhow.

 

[Jeff]

That addition was pretty FUBAR.

Agreed, whatever FUBAR means! What is FUBAR?

 

[dazart]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_slang_terms

 

[Jeff]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_slang_terms

Gotcha! That's an understatement as well!