Twelve years ago I built my entertainment center, a couple of tables, and the bookcase you see above. All of them were created in the same style and finish and they were all I needed in my living room back then. When I moved into my new house I realized it would make more sense to have matching bookcases on the left and right side of my entertainment center.

Fortunately I saved my original illustration and lumber list for my first bookcase which was very helpful to when it came time to try and recreate it. Above you see the raw wood after I’ve already cut it to size and prepped it to the rough sizes needed.

Including routing the top with the same bevel I used on the previous furniture. I wish I had written down the depth the last time I did this. I have a few scrap peices that have my trial runs working to get it to the right plunge depth to match everything else.

Once I had everything ready to go then it was time to start the assembly process. Starting with the base.

Moving on to the sides and support frame. If I were doing things differently I may have designed things a little differently, but in this case I needed to make sure that I mirrored my original bookcase as closely as possible.

After making sure the frame was square and level then I added the shelves. Again making sure everything is square and level.

Then I added the top and the stabilizing supports on the back to truly make it look like a bookcase.

After this I added the decorative slats to finish out the design. Though the slats are somewhat deceptive because they do actually add to the over all support of the design and help to stabilize the whole bookcase.

While letting the glue dry I decided to test it to fit and make sure the layout works with the room. And as you can see above everything turned out just like I wanted it to. Amazingly even though I started building everything years ago, by adding this one piece it makes it look like the whole wall layout was designed specifically for this room. It truly was an accident that it worked out so well, and in no way had been planned for this layout. In fact originally the first bookcase was located on another wall than the entertainment center, and not the way you see it now. Sometimes happy accidents are for the best.

The next step in the process will be sanding and finishing it to macth the other items, and that will probably be my next posting.