DIY Bookcase Built-in With Sawdust Girl

This should really be titled “The Most Embarrassingly Overdue Post.  Ever.”  But for SEO purposes, I’ll stick with DIY Bookcase Built-in With Sawdust Girl.

A really long time ago, I won an amazing prize package and the opportunity to work with Sandra of Sawdust Girl fame.  That was in May of 2013.

Sandra and I exchanged some e-mails, had a couple of video conferences, and we arrived at this double daybed plan for the built-in.  Arden’s bedroom had this angled portion from the false gable on our house, so we were mimicking that and taking advantage of the little nook there.  Arden was very keen on being able to host several friends for a sleepover, so the bed on the left was going to have a trundle under it, and the one on the right with rolling storage boxes.

I had some logistical issues getting started on the build because our table saw couldn’t make the necessary width cuts and neither could the Kreg Jig I won.  After a little chat with my brother, I was able to use an industrial table saw with a sled to make über precise cuts.  I got this box built by September and then I went and cut part of my fingertip off.

But there’s nothing like preparing your house for sale to give you a good ol’ kick in the pants.  I HAD to finish what I started, or at least the portion I had started.  The bookshelf and angled case were at long last built, painted and installed.

The two center shelves on the bookcase are adjustable, using Sandra’s tip to use pegboard to create a jig for perfectly spaced shelf pin holes.  The angled portion is perfect for displaying a collection of soft toys.

My brother came up with using quarter round to finish the edge where the angled case meets the face frame of the tall bookcase.  Not too shabby, right?

I found cork tiles to place on the underside of the built-in.  Perfect for mementos of trips and events.  It will hold some other person’s treasures now, as we have rented our home in Michigan.

My Dad and I built the trundle part of the intended daybeds, and that has come to New Jersey with us.  It is now under Arden’s new Queen sized bed to be used when her bed becomes the guest bed, or for those giggle-filled slumber parties she dreamed of from the beginning.

Better late than never, right?