Three Amazing Do-It-Yourself Bookshelves

Actually building bookshelves for your house or apartment is a wonderfully creative, and sometimes painful, experience. You can adjust the size and design to fit your particular needs, all while discovering the upper limits of your pain tolerance every time you miss a nail.

But when you finally finish lathering on that final coat of lacquer, stand back, and admire your wonderful new home for stories, that euphoria of creation will sweep over you. That beast of a bookshelf was built by you and the sweat off your brow. It is a place for you to proudly display not only your books, but also your craftsmanship.

Note: If you experience too much euphoria after applying the lacquer, open a window.

After exploring some of the deepest recesses of DIY sites, we’ve found you three of the best build-it-yourself bookshelf instructions.

Maybe you’re one of those folks that hate bookshelves. You hate the sight of struts, latticework, supports, and bookends. You say to yourself, “I wish my fantasy books would float up against my wall only using the magic held within their pages. I bet Gandalf, Belgarion, and Sparrowhawk all have floating books, so why shouldn’t I?!” Well, if you have an “L” bracket and some 3M velcro, your wish is yours to grant.

If you’re looking to bend the laws of gravity, confound visitors, and add a bit of the irrational to your bookshelves, you should consider building these inverted bookshelves. The execution is quite similar to mounting your boring old wall shelves, but a bit topsy-turvy. With the supports facing skyward, the books are held in a death-defying hold to the upside down shelf by little strips of elastic. Just for kicks when you’re finished, stand on your head and pretend everything else is upside down.

For your more EXTREME books, you’ll be happy to know that you can repurpose those old skateboard decks that you abandoned after breaking both of your wrists and your interests turned from flipping tricks to flipping pages. A couple of metal rods and shelf hangers complete the setup and hoist your monument to extreme literature off the floor to where it belongs: up on your wall.