How to Make a Homemade Bookcase With Adjustable Shelves

Jazz up a homemade bookcase with molding around the frame.

Making your own bookcase with adjustable shelving is a good project for a first-time woodworker because it uses basic skills and joinery with an attractive and practical result. While the basic plan can be adjusted to suit different height or width needs, a tall slim bookcase is ideal for storing books or all sizes, as well as a few decoration pieces.

Things You'll Need

• 2 planks of 2-by-12 lumber, 84 inches
• Measuring tape
• Drill
• Shelf pegs
• 2 planks of 2-by-12 lumber, 24 inches
• 6 planks of 1-by-12 lumber, 24 inches
• Wood glue
• Carpenter’s square
• Drill
• 2 ½-inch screws
• 1 sheet ½-inch plywood, 28-by-84 inches
• 1-inch screws
• Paint
• Paintbrush

Instructions

1. Lay two planks of 84-inch 2-by-12 lumber flat on your work surface. Measure in 1 ½ inches from each of the long sides of the planks, and draw a line that parallels the long sides of each plank. On each line, mark a point every inch. The marked points are the positions for shelf peg holes.

2. Attach a drill bit the same size as the end of your shelf pegs, and drill a hole as deep as the end of your shelf pegs are long at each of the marked points along the lines on the two planks. For example, if your shelf peg ends are ⅛ inch thick and ¼ inch long, drill ⅛-inch-wide and ¼-inch-deep holes.

3. Turn the planks up on a 2-inch edge, still lengthwise on the work surface, with the peg holes facing each other. Space the planks 24-inches apart.

4. Insert a 24-inch 2-by-12 plank between the ends of the 84-inch planks so that a long rectangle is formed. Insert a piece of 24-inch 1-by-12 lumber between the two 84-inch planks in the middle, which will be the stationary middle shelf.

5. Glue the ends of the middle shelf and the two end 2-by-12 planks to the sides of the 84-inch planks and square off the corners with a carpenter’s square before letting the bookcase dry.

6. Drill four pilot holes, evenly-spaced and sized for use with 2 ½-inch screws, through the outside of the 84-inch planks into the ends of the top, bottom and middle 24-inch planks. Secure the bookcase together with 2 ½-inch screws through the pilot holes.

7. Paint the bookcase frame, as well as a piece of 28-by-84-inch ½-inch plywood for the back of the bookcase, and five more 1-by-12, 24-inch shelves. Let dry.

8. Position the back panel over the back of the bookcase and secure it there with 1-inch screws driven every 8 to 10 inches around the perimeter of the back, as well as through the back into the stationary middle shelf.

9. Stand the bookcase upright and position it as desired. Insert a shelf peg into the holes on the inside of the bookcase sides at the desired height for your five adjustable shelves, and sit the shelves on top of the shelf pegs to finish the bookcase.