Bookcase Plans & Designs for Making Your Own DIY Bookcase

I could always use a little more storage around the house - but I'm quick to talk myself out of spending money on cheap bookcases. So when I saw some bookcase plans the other day titled "EZ Bookcase Planner" I was definitely interested. It's a simple approach that provides a set of downloadable templates and guides for essentially creating your own bookcase designs.

The planner starts with you sketching out a 3-D rendition of what you have in mind. Note that this is not drawing software, but a printable PDF template that requires only a pencil (and maybe an eraser). The idea is that for most of us who couldn't draw a bookcase in perspective if our life depended on it, the "magic drawing cube" comes to the rescue with a faint cross-hatching of lines that curiously stretch out to an imaginary vanishing point (remember perspective drawing in school?).

After you're comfortable with the basic look and feel of your bookcase design up to this point - it's on the other pages to plot out your bookcase height, shelf span, and a few other considerations you should be aware of before tackling the wood project, including:

JOINERY. Regardless of the particular bookcase plans you choose, simple tongue and groove joints work really well for securing the shelves to the sides. And if you keep each bookshelf reletively short, you'll never need to worry about the shelves sagging in the middle. This is by no means the only way to construct shelves - the planner shows several options that work well in just about any design - like supporting cleats, rabbets, or simple butt joints. Adding the top and bottom trim to the bookcase  is simply a matter of attaching pre-cut moldings to the case with glue or a pin nailer.

WOOD. Plenty of choices here for bookcase designs. Some use finished plywood for the sides and shelves (like 3/4" cherry plywood), and the back of the bookcase is typically made from a half sheet of 1/4" plywood. Most plans make use of solid wood edging along the front of shelves to hide the joinery. For the more simple DIY bookcase, many prefer to use MDF or construction plywood to help save money on materials.

FINISH. A deep cherry stain will really bring to life the natural grain in your plywood -especially if you've bought cherry plywood for the project. Once the stain is dry, you can top it off with two coats of satin polyurethane.

See Bookcase Plans and DIY Bookcase Designs

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