SUMMARY
I wanted / needed a larger bookcase for my home office. The stand alone Mission Restoration Hardware bookcase that I had been using for years was getting too small for my needs. I received two gift cards one from Lowe’s and one from Home Depot in 2019 that I was itching to use for this project.
In addition to my growing book collection, my wife also needed room for her cookbooks. We kept the smaller bookcase below and this one we both use. The remainder of this article talks about the bookcase I built for my home office.
PLANS
Here are a few images of the plan I wrote up on paper. I like to draw up plans on physical paper for my initial concepts and ideas. From there I fine tune the pictures and or drawings.
BUILD
Once I had the plans written up I started the build. This involved cutting rabbet cuts for the sides and a dado cut for the top.
In addition to the router work I also needed to add the cutout at the bottom of the sides. This will allow me to fish a cable / plug should I need to use a power cord in the bookcase.
The stain I purchased was Red Oak, which is darker than I would have wanted, but it works for now.
COST – MATERIALS
I’ll be honest I failed to keep accurate accoutering for the cost but recently found a Home Depot receipt for the butcher block I used.
- $160.16 ($80.08) – 24-in W x 35-in H x 23.75-in D Unfinished Door and Drawer Base Stock Cabinet (2) Lowe’s, I don’t remember how much they were but, it was a good deal. The cabinet’s I purchased were last years model and on clearence.
- $105.60 – 50″ Birch Butcher Block (1) Home Depot. The price listed here was pulled on 7/20/20 as a reference. Not what I actually paid for the cabinets I used for this project.
- $17.04 ($8.52) – Hickory Hardware® Old Mission Collection Black Mist Antique 1-1/2″ (38mm) C/C Bail Pull with Plate. (2)
- $13.12 ($6.56) – Hickory Hardware® Old Mission Collection Black Mist Antique 1-1/4″ (32mm) C/C Ring Pull with Plate. (2)
- $104.64 ($52.32) – Mastercraft® 1 x 12 x 4′ Red Oak Board. (2)
- $104.16 – 1 in. x 12 in. x Random Length S4S Oak Board. (16ft)
- $10.66 – 24″ x 34-1/2″ Unfinished Oak Kitchen Base Cabinet Panel (1)
- $8.88 – 96″ x 4-1/2″ Unfinished Oak Toe Kick
- $7.08 – Minwax® Wood Finish™ Interior Stain – 1 qt
Total: $538.42
LESSON LEARNED
Keep better track of what you spent. I think because I was using OPM, (other people’s money) through gift cards I received, I failed to keep good track of this. In hindsight, it would have been nice to know exactly how much I spent. Alas, a rough estimate also works for the purpose of this article.
One of the challenges was deciding where to purchase the materials. The base cabinets were on clearance so it made sense to purchase these from Lowes. Since I had a gift card, I was able to take advantage of the clearance in addition to the gift card. Any time I don’t need to take money out of my pocket is a good thing.
I also had a gift card for Home Depot so I need to figure out what to purchase from Home Depot. Although the butcher block was cheaper at Menards, I had enough money on the Home Depot gift card, that it made sense to purchase the butcher block from Home Depot despite the higher cost.
I also had Menards rebates that I also added to the complexity of deciding where to purchase the materials. I also needed the veneer sides and kick plate. I ended up purchasing these from Menards and used some of my Menards rebates for that.
I worked on this project in January and February but didn’t actually stain the unit until the late spring. I’m happy with the results.
Thanks,
Dave
And if I had to just buy a bookcase, this one would probably work.
