Arch enemies

Arches aren’t really my enemies.  They used to be but I think I’ve finally gotten the better of them and now I’ll take on a more charitable attitude towards them.         Oh those cute little darlings.

I’m SUPER DUPER excited about how my bookshelves are coming along!   I know some of you want a tutorial.  I’ve been working on this room for about 3 weeks and it is way too involved for me to write a quick tutorial on how to slap up  custom built-ins in one post.  I can share the steps that went into building my library bookshelves.  Maybe it will help guide your project.

Steps to building custom Built-In bookshelves.

1.  Stare at your empty room.  (If your room is full of junk, empty it — then stare at it.)

2.  Visualize your room as you want it to be.  You might imagine 6 different possibilities.  Pick the one that you like the best.  (If you are having trouble visualizing, go to Pinterst or Google and search for images that inspire you.)

 

Build a base.

 

Get all your bookshelves spaced evenly according to your vision and secure them to the wall.

Attach face frames.

 

Attach more face frames — maybe even arched ones.
And then keep adding more and more details until you achieve your vision.Did that help?

Building built-ins whether they are bookshelves or closet wardrobes — is the same as building a simple cabinet.  It’s just on a bigger scale.  You can refer to my 3 part cabinet building tutorial if you want help starting at the beginning.  Then keep building from there.

These faceframes are completely made out of MDF, arches included.  I’m planning to post a tutorial on how to create those later this week.  Refer to this post to learn how to get smooth edges when painting MDF.

If you have specific questions regarding any of these steps, or built ins in general, leave them in the comments and I’ll see if I know the answer.  If I do, I’ll share.

Cheers