The bookcase of your dreams?
July 20, 2021 12:20 PM Subscribe
I'm in the market for a new bookcase and think I want to work with a carpenter to have one made. After decades of living with shitty disposable furniture, I finally have the $ to buy things that will last longer than 5 years. (And I have this goal of honestly my furniture sticking around the rest of my life. I've had lots of luck buying awesome vintage pieces this year.)
My question: if you were going to have a bookcase custom made, what would it look like? What is the bookcase of your dreams? What wood would you use? What are weird specific things to know about custom-made wood furniture? Pics, links, etc all very much appreciated.
Other things to note: I rent, probably won't own for at least the next 5 years (I live in one of the stupidly HCOL places, but if owning, I would go for built-in bookshelves.) And my style is ... Mexico City meets the Middle East in the mid-century? (or is that what people mean by "eclectic"? I have no idea.)
Thank you!!
My question: if you were going to have a bookcase custom made, what would it look like? What is the bookcase of your dreams? What wood would you use? What are weird specific things to know about custom-made wood furniture? Pics, links, etc all very much appreciated.
Other things to note: I rent, probably won't own for at least the next 5 years (I live in one of the stupidly HCOL places, but if owning, I would go for built-in bookshelves.) And my style is ... Mexico City meets the Middle East in the mid-century? (or is that what people mean by "eclectic"? I have no idea.)
Thank you!!
What a fun question.
The bookcase of my dreams is a barrister bookcase because they have glass doors and it would cut dusting down to almost nothing. Levenger has some that you can customize. The Levenger ones are cool if you're moving a lot because you're not stuck with one configuration.
I'm thinking of glass fronts for the barrister bookcases, but it looks like doors are an option with the ones from Levenger. Bookcases with doors would be my second choice. I have some, and I love them. For me, avoiding dusting would be the main thing, and glass fronts or wooden doors would both take care of that.
posted by FencingGal at 12:29 PM on July 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
The bookcase of my dreams is a barrister bookcase because they have glass doors and it would cut dusting down to almost nothing. Levenger has some that you can customize. The Levenger ones are cool if you're moving a lot because you're not stuck with one configuration.
I'm thinking of glass fronts for the barrister bookcases, but it looks like doors are an option with the ones from Levenger. Bookcases with doors would be my second choice. I have some, and I love them. For me, avoiding dusting would be the main thing, and glass fronts or wooden doors would both take care of that.
posted by FencingGal at 12:29 PM on July 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
I would want one with no nails or glue. Just cool joinery.
posted by aniola at 12:45 PM on July 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by aniola at 12:45 PM on July 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
I would want some shelves sized properly for a row of mass market paperbacks, such that there's not a bunch of space behind that row for books to get pushed back into and lost.
posted by 4th number at 1:09 PM on July 20, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by 4th number at 1:09 PM on July 20, 2021 [8 favorites]
I had a bookcase made about 40 years ago by a local cabinetmaker. It is 18 inches deep and the shelves are spaced to hold a stereo receiver, a turntable, and LP records as well as books.
posted by leaper at 1:14 PM on July 20, 2021
posted by leaper at 1:14 PM on July 20, 2021
Personally:
No adjustable shelves: I hate how it looks to have all the adjustable holes in the sides. If you think about the sizes of the books you own and are likely to buy, you're probably going to be able to figure out the shelf heights you need such that you have no need to adjust later. YMMV. I'd love shelves made by dado joints rather than brackets, with some decorative molding on the face to cover up the join: not only are they very sturdy, but they just are so clean-looking and elegant.
Like 4th number, a pet peeve of mine is shelves that are too deep. Paperbacks get pushed back and lost. I'd consider having a bookshelf with shelves of different depths. And even if I didn't do that, I would likely design a bookshelf with a shallower depth than most commercially available. At one point I measured all my books and I think I determined that something like a 7" or 8" deep bookshelf would fit 90% of my books. The rest can be stored on a different bookshelf.
Possibly cost prohibitive, but I am also partial to quarter-sawn oak and bookcases with glass fronts (basically, barrister bookcases). I bought some old barrister bookcases at one point and found them a bit rickety, such that I avoided opening the doors, which rather defeated the purpose. But if they were well constructed and solid, it would be ace.
posted by ClaireBear at 1:26 PM on July 20, 2021
No adjustable shelves: I hate how it looks to have all the adjustable holes in the sides. If you think about the sizes of the books you own and are likely to buy, you're probably going to be able to figure out the shelf heights you need such that you have no need to adjust later. YMMV. I'd love shelves made by dado joints rather than brackets, with some decorative molding on the face to cover up the join: not only are they very sturdy, but they just are so clean-looking and elegant.
Like 4th number, a pet peeve of mine is shelves that are too deep. Paperbacks get pushed back and lost. I'd consider having a bookshelf with shelves of different depths. And even if I didn't do that, I would likely design a bookshelf with a shallower depth than most commercially available. At one point I measured all my books and I think I determined that something like a 7" or 8" deep bookshelf would fit 90% of my books. The rest can be stored on a different bookshelf.
Possibly cost prohibitive, but I am also partial to quarter-sawn oak and bookcases with glass fronts (basically, barrister bookcases). I bought some old barrister bookcases at one point and found them a bit rickety, such that I avoided opening the doors, which rather defeated the purpose. But if they were well constructed and solid, it would be ace.
posted by ClaireBear at 1:26 PM on July 20, 2021
No adjustable shelves: I hate how it looks to have all the adjustable holes in the sides. If you think about the sizes of the books you own and are likely to buy, you're probably going to be able to figure out the shelf heights you need such that you have no need to adjust later.
I agree about the look, but it's very optimistic to think that you can accurately predict how many oversized books you've going to acquire over the decade-plus that we seem to be talking about here. Get into one hobby that generates coffee table type books and you're screwed.
posted by praemunire at 1:29 PM on July 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
I agree about the look, but it's very optimistic to think that you can accurately predict how many oversized books you've going to acquire over the decade-plus that we seem to be talking about here. Get into one hobby that generates coffee table type books and you're screwed.
posted by praemunire at 1:29 PM on July 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
I would want large, soft close drawers on the bottom, and then a series of shelves that get thinner as they go up - so the top shelves accommodate the mass market books without wasting space but then there are wider shelves for a lot of our other books. Or maybe the deeper ones on top, I'd be open to suggestions from the designer. I would want it to have plugs built in, whether for lights or my sonos or whatever.
If I were building it into a home, I would want it to touch the ceiling. Probably not helpful for a renter, but consider height. I woudl also perhaps consider however wide I wanted it to be, to be split in half and make two, so that later I could separate them and put a desk in between.
posted by dpx.mfx at 1:32 PM on July 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
If I were building it into a home, I would want it to touch the ceiling. Probably not helpful for a renter, but consider height. I woudl also perhaps consider however wide I wanted it to be, to be split in half and make two, so that later I could separate them and put a desk in between.
posted by dpx.mfx at 1:32 PM on July 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
I have books. When my eldest was twelve, I offered him $10 to count them. He laughed at me. His mother was on his side. He's thirty now, and they're still piling up..
Most of my bookcases are plywood with a masonite or thin plywood back, free-standing. I have one beautiful wall of hardwood ones, built in and stained red, to hold about a thousand paperbacks.
Solid wood gets beat up and still looks nice. it has character. Plywood looks like beat-up plywood. It's strong and usually doesn't twist or warp, but it's still not hardwood. (But if it's a choice between plywood and nothing, use plywood. I've got several shelves made from 3'4 plywood, unfinished but nicely sanded, and I'm very fond of them. If I ever make something built-in to replace them I'm sure there will be people lined up to take them. We've reached the point where even high-end furniture is not made from solid wood, unless it's custom made, and now plywood is coming to be seen as a luxury. I don't know how the future will look at my bookcases, but I'm sure they'll still be holding together, and someone will have them crammed full of books.)
There are a few rules I've come across or figured out. None of this is Earth-shaking.
Don't try to span more than two feet. I've got 36" shelves (someone else made them) and they sag. I prefer eighteen inches or less. If it's too long your books will always be falling over, until there are too many crammed in. Also I don't like the way it looks.
Don't ever use mdf or particleboard. I like nice plywood with edging, but solid hardwood takes it from just storage to something people will admire a hundred years from now. I've thrown away about a dozen particleboard bookcases. They just don't hold up.
Don't put anything on the shelves that sticks down in front of the books, even a little. It'll tear up the fronts as you try to get them out, and it's a pain. Your shelves should be rigid without edging. For paperbacks I used 16" wide, 1/2" thick poplar, which is cheap around here, with 1" uprights.
I dado all my shelves into the uprights. (A dado is a slot the shelf fits into, if you're not a woodworker.) Usually I go 1/4" deep, and I glue them in place. When I was thirteen I jammed my books into a shelf that used the door trim as one side. Eventually it tore the trim off. Books exert a lot of force when you run out of space and jam them in. Glue and dados make a big difference.
I've seen people put little slats to rest shelves on. That's cheap, and not very strong. Bookcases get moved and leaned on, people jam too many books in and they carry a lot of weight. They need to be strong. I've seen people nail through the uprights into the edges of the shelves, even on particleboard. That's idiotic.
I've made adjustable shelves. They never get adjusted. Pick a layout and dado them in. When you move the bookcase the shelves won't fall out on your toes.
Before my last move I came into a quantity of very old, cool plywood. I made eight bookcases, all similar but with different spacings and depths. They were all 4' high and 22" wide. When it was time to move they were small enough to be trivial to carry, and they went in the truck among other things. They stack neatly, two high. I still have them. Giant bookcases are hard to move. (Admittedly they're nice.)
Sizes: you'll be tempted to make them too deep and all your books will vanish backwards as though they were in a cave. I usually start my design at 6" front to back and 9" or 9 1/2" tall, and then agonize over it. I leave one shelf at the bottom a foot tall for oversized stuff. I usually measure books for a couple of hours and realize there's no perfect solution. It's better to have a few books sticking off the front of the shelf a little bit than to have them all disappear in the back. (If this is a problem you can get your cabinetmaker to cut you a few 2" wide chunks of shelf material, the same width as the bookcase, to go behind narrow books and keep them a bit forwards.
I have a cad program and I draw the bookcase before I cut it. A bookcase is so simple that you don't need to do that, but it really helps, especially with dividing your vertical space up into shelf heights. Don't forget to allow for shelf thickness.
Don't make all your shelves the same height, unless it's a design thing. You'll probably end up sorting books by which shelf they'll fit on. I made a set recently, a 3x4 grid of identical squares, and I like it a lot, but it limits what they'll hold.)
Lots of people nail a sheet of light plywood to the back to make them rigid. Rabbet the back - like a step cut into the wood - and inset it, and glue it. It looks more professional and is stronger.
Lots of shops use air nails for assembly. I don't, though I have nothing against them' providing they're just an assembly aid. Glue is strong. Mechanical fasteners work loose. None of my bookcases have any metal in them, unless it's to hold on trim.
Trim. A bit of nice trim around the top changes it from a wooden box to something beautiful. You can look this up on the web. Bigger trim is nicer than a thin line of cheap crap.
That's all that comes to mind at the present time. Make it practical and it'll be beautiful. I haven't said anything about stain or varnish, because that's your choice. A light stain and satin varnish will go with almost anything, which helps when you move. Let it dry well so the books don't stick to it if they're sitting there for a few years.
I usually screw tall bookcases to a wall, because it's kind of catastrophic if they fall over. A single screw into a stud is enough - you're not trying to support it, you're stopping it from starting to lean until it does fall. The ones in my children's room are solid wood, built in, and strong enough that if a child was to climb them, they'd be okay. Because sooner or later someone's going to want a book off the top shelf while they're supposed to be asleep.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 2:52 PM on July 20, 2021 [17 favorites]
Most of my bookcases are plywood with a masonite or thin plywood back, free-standing. I have one beautiful wall of hardwood ones, built in and stained red, to hold about a thousand paperbacks.
Solid wood gets beat up and still looks nice. it has character. Plywood looks like beat-up plywood. It's strong and usually doesn't twist or warp, but it's still not hardwood. (But if it's a choice between plywood and nothing, use plywood. I've got several shelves made from 3'4 plywood, unfinished but nicely sanded, and I'm very fond of them. If I ever make something built-in to replace them I'm sure there will be people lined up to take them. We've reached the point where even high-end furniture is not made from solid wood, unless it's custom made, and now plywood is coming to be seen as a luxury. I don't know how the future will look at my bookcases, but I'm sure they'll still be holding together, and someone will have them crammed full of books.)
There are a few rules I've come across or figured out. None of this is Earth-shaking.
Don't try to span more than two feet. I've got 36" shelves (someone else made them) and they sag. I prefer eighteen inches or less. If it's too long your books will always be falling over, until there are too many crammed in. Also I don't like the way it looks.
Don't ever use mdf or particleboard. I like nice plywood with edging, but solid hardwood takes it from just storage to something people will admire a hundred years from now. I've thrown away about a dozen particleboard bookcases. They just don't hold up.
Don't put anything on the shelves that sticks down in front of the books, even a little. It'll tear up the fronts as you try to get them out, and it's a pain. Your shelves should be rigid without edging. For paperbacks I used 16" wide, 1/2" thick poplar, which is cheap around here, with 1" uprights.
I dado all my shelves into the uprights. (A dado is a slot the shelf fits into, if you're not a woodworker.) Usually I go 1/4" deep, and I glue them in place. When I was thirteen I jammed my books into a shelf that used the door trim as one side. Eventually it tore the trim off. Books exert a lot of force when you run out of space and jam them in. Glue and dados make a big difference.
I've seen people put little slats to rest shelves on. That's cheap, and not very strong. Bookcases get moved and leaned on, people jam too many books in and they carry a lot of weight. They need to be strong. I've seen people nail through the uprights into the edges of the shelves, even on particleboard. That's idiotic.
I've made adjustable shelves. They never get adjusted. Pick a layout and dado them in. When you move the bookcase the shelves won't fall out on your toes.
Before my last move I came into a quantity of very old, cool plywood. I made eight bookcases, all similar but with different spacings and depths. They were all 4' high and 22" wide. When it was time to move they were small enough to be trivial to carry, and they went in the truck among other things. They stack neatly, two high. I still have them. Giant bookcases are hard to move. (Admittedly they're nice.)
Sizes: you'll be tempted to make them too deep and all your books will vanish backwards as though they were in a cave. I usually start my design at 6" front to back and 9" or 9 1/2" tall, and then agonize over it. I leave one shelf at the bottom a foot tall for oversized stuff. I usually measure books for a couple of hours and realize there's no perfect solution. It's better to have a few books sticking off the front of the shelf a little bit than to have them all disappear in the back. (If this is a problem you can get your cabinetmaker to cut you a few 2" wide chunks of shelf material, the same width as the bookcase, to go behind narrow books and keep them a bit forwards.
I have a cad program and I draw the bookcase before I cut it. A bookcase is so simple that you don't need to do that, but it really helps, especially with dividing your vertical space up into shelf heights. Don't forget to allow for shelf thickness.
Don't make all your shelves the same height, unless it's a design thing. You'll probably end up sorting books by which shelf they'll fit on. I made a set recently, a 3x4 grid of identical squares, and I like it a lot, but it limits what they'll hold.)
Lots of people nail a sheet of light plywood to the back to make them rigid. Rabbet the back - like a step cut into the wood - and inset it, and glue it. It looks more professional and is stronger.
Lots of shops use air nails for assembly. I don't, though I have nothing against them' providing they're just an assembly aid. Glue is strong. Mechanical fasteners work loose. None of my bookcases have any metal in them, unless it's to hold on trim.
Trim. A bit of nice trim around the top changes it from a wooden box to something beautiful. You can look this up on the web. Bigger trim is nicer than a thin line of cheap crap.
That's all that comes to mind at the present time. Make it practical and it'll be beautiful. I haven't said anything about stain or varnish, because that's your choice. A light stain and satin varnish will go with almost anything, which helps when you move. Let it dry well so the books don't stick to it if they're sitting there for a few years.
I usually screw tall bookcases to a wall, because it's kind of catastrophic if they fall over. A single screw into a stud is enough - you're not trying to support it, you're stopping it from starting to lean until it does fall. The ones in my children's room are solid wood, built in, and strong enough that if a child was to climb them, they'd be okay. Because sooner or later someone's going to want a book off the top shelf while they're supposed to be asleep.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 2:52 PM on July 20, 2021 [17 favorites]
A few years ago I was able to buy the bookcase of my dreams, and it looks like this. The designer is Omer Arbel and it's not in production anymore, but I love it beyond reason.
posted by Mchelly at 2:56 PM on July 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 2:56 PM on July 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
Barristers all the way!!! Or at least glass doors.
I have two four-stack oak sets from the 1900s, and they keep the dust out really well.
I also have a two-stack walnut set that is somewhere between vintage and contemporary vintage. Dust gets in, so that's something to consider. A door is no guarantee of dust abatement.
posted by jgirl at 3:27 PM on July 20, 2021
I have two four-stack oak sets from the 1900s, and they keep the dust out really well.
I also have a two-stack walnut set that is somewhere between vintage and contemporary vintage. Dust gets in, so that's something to consider. A door is no guarantee of dust abatement.
posted by jgirl at 3:27 PM on July 20, 2021
The book case of my dreams has no barrier between me and the books, not even glass doors.
posted by aniola at 4:06 PM on July 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by aniola at 4:06 PM on July 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
We did have a bookcase built a while back. My favorite feature is that we asked the guy to make the headroom of the bottom shelf higher to accommodate tall books, and we had him make the top shelf shorter to store smaller books/paperbacks.
posted by gudrun at 4:15 PM on July 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by gudrun at 4:15 PM on July 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
A friend has a wall of matching, glass door book/display cases. There are four of them, about 7 feet high, and each one about three feet wide. She has lights in them, and glass shelves. I wouldn't want the glass shelves, but otherwise I just love them. She has her books, and it's deep enough that she has items on display (she collects museum quality fossils). I am endlessly fascinated and envious of her set up, and hope to replicate it at some point in my future.
posted by annieb at 4:33 PM on July 20, 2021
posted by annieb at 4:33 PM on July 20, 2021
Oh hey, I just did the custom bookcases thing in May (after years of crappy sub-Ikea particle board).
I 100% recommend Sawdust City if you can ride with their plain style (obviously you can customize but it's important to be realistic with where they're starting from). Happy to Me/email pics if you'd like to see my final results. I have a super cute teal medium-height bookshelf in my bedroom and two 36" wide oversized short bookshelves in my living room.
Notes from my experience customizing a bookshelf that will be relevant regardless of who you work with:
-they'll want measurements, so really think about what matters to you in terms of depth and height (covered above by other folks).
-they asked me about overhang, kick plates, back paneling, door style, and shelf spacing in addition to the dimensions of the item itself.
-they also asked whether I wanted the two 36" bookshelves to be flush or not.
-they asked what kind of wood I wanted (oak or pine; I think I picked pine)
-finally they asked about paint and finish.
Shipping was free but via a freight service so I had to get it up the stairs to my apartment. If I'd used a local to me company that I'd eyed, I would have had to get the furniture from their warehouse to my apartment. Either way, there were some last last mile issues.
posted by librarylis at 7:16 PM on July 20, 2021
I 100% recommend Sawdust City if you can ride with their plain style (obviously you can customize but it's important to be realistic with where they're starting from). Happy to Me/email pics if you'd like to see my final results. I have a super cute teal medium-height bookshelf in my bedroom and two 36" wide oversized short bookshelves in my living room.
Notes from my experience customizing a bookshelf that will be relevant regardless of who you work with:
-they'll want measurements, so really think about what matters to you in terms of depth and height (covered above by other folks).
-they asked me about overhang, kick plates, back paneling, door style, and shelf spacing in addition to the dimensions of the item itself.
-they also asked whether I wanted the two 36" bookshelves to be flush or not.
-they asked what kind of wood I wanted (oak or pine; I think I picked pine)
-finally they asked about paint and finish.
Shipping was free but via a freight service so I had to get it up the stairs to my apartment. If I'd used a local to me company that I'd eyed, I would have had to get the furniture from their warehouse to my apartment. Either way, there were some last last mile issues.
posted by librarylis at 7:16 PM on July 20, 2021
Consider a secret compartment or two if you are making a shallow shelf for paperbacks in a case that also has deeper shelves.
Also plan popouts for electrical passthroughs where you will want them, e.g.,for lights or if you will have charging items inside the case. Mouse holes with covers - or equivalent - is much nicer to look at than a holesaw-wound staring at you when it is empty.
posted by janell at 7:46 PM on July 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
Also plan popouts for electrical passthroughs where you will want them, e.g.,for lights or if you will have charging items inside the case. Mouse holes with covers - or equivalent - is much nicer to look at than a holesaw-wound staring at you when it is empty.
posted by janell at 7:46 PM on July 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
I’d go for something modular (https://www.kollektivevintage.com/listing/647602720/3-bay-cado-wall-unit-danish-mid-century), but whatever you decide, bravo for deciding to go with something made by a local craftsperson!
posted by notyou at 9:12 PM on July 20, 2021
posted by notyou at 9:12 PM on July 20, 2021
I had this made to be the largest bookshelf that would fit in the space I have available. It's a little overloaded now.
It doesn't have any special features, but it's made of real wood and it's solid. I'll never go back to flimsy IKEA junk which goes off-square and just gets creakier and more tilted the longer you own it.
posted by sindark at 1:53 AM on July 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
It doesn't have any special features, but it's made of real wood and it's solid. I'll never go back to flimsy IKEA junk which goes off-square and just gets creakier and more tilted the longer you own it.
posted by sindark at 1:53 AM on July 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kevinbelt at 12:25 PM on July 20, 2021 [2 favorites]