A Great Big Bookshelf Project

A month ago, our friend Randall and I got some boards from his sawmill and started constructing a pair of bookshelves for the study in our house.

Since our move to the new homestead, we’ve had most of our books boxed up in a closet, with lots of more the kids’ schoolbooks piled up on the floor of the study.

Randall offered to help us, and volunteered some local pine boards from his backyard sawmill. We got those cut to size, planed and stained, and then had to stop for various reasons.

Yesterday, CJ and I attacked the bookshelves together, along with one of my daughters, and we got one of the two shelves completed at long last.

Here it is before we put on the backing:

That puppy is 8′ tall and 6.5′ wide. It’s an absolute beast.

We test fit it into the corner, then added on the back. Here you can see the height better.

I am just over 6′ tall. This is a LARGE bookcase. Heaven forbid anyone ever needs to move it out of this room.

It took a lot of effort to finish, but we got it done before dark. It really helps to have good help.

The bookshelf has a bracket on it, securing it to the wall, as well as shims to keep it tilted slightly backwards. When you’re dealing with a shelf this heavy, you have to be careful. We also added all the spacers between the shelves for extra support, as shelves will sag across longer lengths. Staggering them, Mid-Century Modern style, was just a bonus.

After finishing the first bookshelf, we got most of the kids’ schoolbooks on it yesterday evening and partially emptied the closet of books. Unfortunately, it’s going to be full before we get the final boxes out.

This means we’re going to need to build its mate, which will be exactly the same size, but on the other side of the window. The study is a big room with tall ceilings and is going to be an excellent library.

We really do have a problem with book hoarding, though. We even have another smaller bookshelf we built as a stopgap, which we moved to the hall.

It’s also full.

There is yet another bookcase in the hall with a glass front on it, and that’s full as well. Plus my daughter Daisy has two full bookcases in her room.

Whew. Maybe we just need to cover all the walls with shelves.

Finally, I finished reading the last volume of Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire today. It was well-worth the investment of time.

And speaking of time, we need to build a desk for Daisy’s seed-saving business.

It’s been one of those busy weeks. And it’s 1.5 million degrees outside, so indoor projects are the way to go.