How to Build a Window Seat With Bookshelves

Building a window seat complete with bookshelves may sound like a daunting task—something best left to a professional. But if you think outside the box for a moment and utilize recycled kitchen cabinets and premade bookshelves, the task becomes a lot simpler. Many kitchen outfitters have large supplies of kitchen cabinets that have been pulled out of kitchens that are being remodeled, and they sell them cheaply or give them away. Bookshelves also are easy to pick up at thrift stores, but make sure everything you buy is structurally sound.

Things You'll Need

• 18 two-by-four planks, 16 inches long
• Wood glue
• 3 kitchen cabinets, 30 by 30 by 20 inches
• Band clamp
• Drill
• Screws
• 1 plywood slab, 60 by 30 by 1 inch
• Wood putty
• Sandpaper
• Varnish
• 2 bookshelves, 30 by 60 inches

Instructions

1. Glue the two-by-four planks onto the inside walls of the cabinets to act as screw anchors. Each cabinet should have one anchor along the top and bottom edges of all sides, except the door. Let dry.

2. Line up the cabinets so they are flush and the doors are all facing in the same direction. Place wood glue on the outer sides of the middle cabinet. Press the cabinets together and apply the band clamp. Let dry.

3. Drill holes through the side anchors of the middle cabinet into the anchors of the side cabinets; one on each end of the anchor. Screw them together, forming a very secure base for your window seat.

4. Place the seat top on top of all three cabinets, flush with the sides. Drill a hole through the top of the plywood, on center, into the top anchors of the cabinets. Screw the plywood down. Fill the screw holes with wood putty; let dry. Sand and varnish your plywood seat top; let dry.

5. Position the window seat under the window, then screw the seat into the walls through the anchors inside the cabinets—you may have to remove some siding to make the seat sit flush with the wall, depending on your house design.

6. Position the two bookshelves on either end of the window seat so that the backs of the bookshelves face each other and create a nook for the window seat. Drill two holes through the back of the bookshelf into the anchors on the side cabinets. Screw in place. Drill a hole every 10 inches through the side of the bookshelf that touches the wall, then screw the bookshelf into the wall.

Tips & Warnings

• Give the entire structure a layer of paint to tie all the elements together.

• The backs of the bookshelves can be made into backrests by adding cushions.

• Alter the dimensions of your bookshelf window seat depending on the cabinets and bookshelves you find.

References

• Mother Earth News: Build This Book Nook and Window Seat