How to Build an Interlocking Bookcase

Modern furniture employs sharp corners and flat surfaces.

Modern decorating calls for inventive designs for furniture and household accessories. An example of a modern take on bookshelves and wall shelves is the interlocking square bookcase hung on the wall like shelves or set against the wall like a bookcase. This type of bookcase holds many books between the top squares and inside all three squares, while adding style to your home. The interlocking bookcase has three squares: one in the middle and two connected to the middle at the top corners.

Things You'll Need

• 16-by-6-by-1-inch pine board
• 2-by-6-by-1-inch pine boards (2)
• 3-by-6-by-1-inch pine boards (2)
• 10-by-6-by-1-inch pine boards (6)
• 12-by-6-by-1-inch pine boards (5)
• 2-inch wood screws
• Cordless drill
• Philips head bit
• 1/2 inch diameter boring bit
• 2-inch wood dowels
• Wood glue

Instructions

1. Attach two 10-by-6-by-1-inch pine boards flush to the edges of a 16-by-6-by-1-inch pine board using 2-inch wood screws, a Philips head bit and a cordless drill. This makes the bottom section of the main square.

2. Attach two 10-by-6-by-1-inch pine boards flush with the edges of two 12-by-6-by-1-inch pine boards using 2-inch wood screws and a cordless drill. This will make a 10-by-10-inch side square. Repeat the process to make a second 10-by-10-inch side square.

3. Lay the three squares on the floor with the opening of the main square facing away from you and the two side squares on the upper corners of the main square.

4. Attach the free ends of the main square to the bottoms of the side squares where the free ends are 2 inches from the sides squares inner corners. Secure the main square to the side squares using 2-inch wood screws and a cordless drill.

5. Connect the two side squares using a 12-by-6-by-1-inch pine board and 2-inch wood screws. Set the 12-inch board between the two side squares 2 inches up from the bottom corners.

6. Drill two 1-inch-deep, 1/2-inch-diameter dowel holes into one end of two 2-by-6-by-1-inch pine boards and two 3-by-6-by-1-inch pine boards using a 1/2-inch-diameter boring bit and a cordless drill. Make the holes 2 inches apart centered in the ends of the boards.

7. Drill two 1-inch-deep, 1/2-inch-diameter dowel holes into the inside of the side squares in each spot where the main square and the connecting 12-inch board meet the side squares. Make the dowel holes 2 inches apart centered in the boards.

8. Drip wood glue into each hole on the inside of the side squares and on each small pine board. Insert a 2-inch wood dowel into each hole inside the side squares.

9. Attach a 2-inch pine board to the vertical dowels and a 3-inch pine board to the horizontal dowels.

10. Secure the 3-inch boards to the 2-inch boards with 2-inch wood screws and a cordless drill.

Tips & Warnings

• Paint or stain your three square interlocking bookcase to match your decor.

• You can stand your bookcase on the floor with the main square on the bottom or the two squares on the bottom.

• You can hang your bookcase on the wall by attaching 2-by-2-inch pine blocks to the inside of the squares as cleats for drilling into the wall.

References

• Mother Earth News; Woodworking Basics