I Did It Again - Flat Book Shelf #2

If by chance, anyone was wondering what happened to me in the past few months, being laid off on maternity leave should explain it all.  While I didn't stop being crafty, it sure put a kibosh on the time I could devote to my blog.  While THE job is still elusive, I am currently working a relatively steady contract job that pays well.  (Prayers and good vibes from any willing to give them, are greatly appreciated.)

My daughter's room is the smallest of our 3 bedrooms, and with a single bed, crib and dresser/change table, there just wasn't any space for a bookshelf.  Well before my daughter joined our family, I had decided that I wanted to build a flat bookshelf like the one I had already built for my boys' room.

While similar in many ways, the space behind the door in my daughter's room was a bit larger, so I made the bookshelf deeper by using 1x4's by the side rails instead of 1x3's.  I also changed up my materials list a bit to save a little cash, and I had learned a few things while building my first bookshelf that I put to good use on this project.

Let's start with my revised materials and cuts list.

Materials

• 3 1x4x8s poplar
• 5 1x2x8s poplar
• 1 1/4inch screws
• 1 5/8inch screws
• Tape measure
• Miter saw
• Wood glue

Cuts

• 2 1x 4s at 6 feet
• 6 1x4s at 23 inches
• 3 1x2s at 23 inches
• 12 1x2s at 24.5 inches

Since I love the rustic look that I achieved in the first version, most of my screws are visible, however I added pocket holes to the bottom of each shelf to connect to the bottom bars.

Once everything was cut, sanded and pocket holes added to the bottom of the shelves, I started to put this sucker together.  I started marking where I wanted my shelves to be placed and started gluing and clamping them to the side 1x4s. I used 1 5/8 inch screws to attach the shelves.

NOTE:  All non-pocket hole screw attachments were predrilled and counter.

Since I only have 2 of each size clamps, I started adding the front bars to the shelves that I had already attached, while attaching other shelves further towards the top.  Each pocket hole required a 1 1/4 inch screw, while the visible, front screws were 1 5/8 inch.

With one of these guys already under my belt, one of the most important things that I had learned (among others) was that the top attachment bar that I had use in my first go forced the books forward and stole valuable space.  As a result, I put the top attachment bar under the top most shelf.  I added 3 attachment bars after the shelves where in place, making sure to leave enough space at the bottom shelf for the bottom most attachment bar.  I placed one under the shelf that I considered the middle most shelf, and one under the top shelf.

More step by step pictures are available with my first Flat Book Shelf post.

I finished her off with 2 coats of Polycrylic clear coat, sanding between the coats.  This beauty was installed (with Grandpa's help, again!) by using the attachment bars with a screw into the studs as I did before.  

Uh oh!  Where are the books?

Oh, there they are!

It sure looks good!  And my big man did me a favor by making it look like he was interested in the books in his baby sister's room.  :)

Let me know if you have any questions about the build.  I would love to answer them.

Until next time.  Hopefully sooner than this time.  :)

Kelley

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