Easy DIY Book Storage

5 Materials
$10
2 Hours
Easy
I built this book storage unit entirely out of scrap wood using plans I created! Usually, I follow woodworking plans that already exist or go off a picture I find, but this time I just went for it. Working off my own plans was intimidating for me at first because I had no idea if it would turn out good but y ’all I am glad I womaned up & did it because it’s perfect!
Supplies


Supplies:
  • 1×3 Scrap Wood Pieces
  • 1-1/4″ Pocket Screws or 1″ Regular Screws
  • Kreg Jig (if you want to use pocket holes)
  • Drill or Hammer
  • Miter Saw or Hand Saw
  • Paint/Stain
Cutting the wood


Start by cutting your wood pieces to size. I wanted my unit to be about 23in wide so I cut all my wood to that length. 8 pieces total cut at 23in. Now cut two more scrap wood pieces at 12 1/2in.

Next, use your Kreg Jig to make pocket holes on each side of 6 of the 23in boards. I only did one pocket hole per side but you can definitely do two for extra support. If you are not doing pocket holes skip this step
Cutting the leg pieces


Now we will work on the leg pieces. Using your miter saw or hand saw cut one side of each of the leg pieces at 45 degrees. If you are using a hand saw here is a miter box to help you cut your angle.After you have your two long legs cut we will work on the short legs. These will be your two 12 1/2" pieces. (If you are not using pocket holes skip cutting these boards into two smaller pieces & just cut the 45-degree angle) Cut one half of the board at 6" that will make your other side 6 1/2". Take your 6 1/2" piece & cut one side 45 degrees. The photo above should help to make more sense of these cuts!
Add Pocket Holes


After you have your small legs cut its time to add pocket holes to the middle section. This is where we will attach the small legs to the big legs.
Pocket Holes


This is how the small legs should look
Attach the legs together


 Attach your smaller legs to your larger legs using 1 1/4" pocket hole screws. To know where to attach the legs you can use a square. If you don't have square you could stand the large leg up & small bottom leg & just mark the spot where both legs are flat & even. (Obviously, a square is easier but sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do😉.)
Making the other set of legs


Copy those steps to make your other set of legs. If you didn't use pocket holes you will need to attach your legs from the outside using your 1" screws.
Attching legs to slats


Finally, its time to attach your slats to the legs. Attach them using your pocket screws starting at the top of the long leg. I attached all 6 slats to the first leg before moving onto the second. There is 3 3/4" in-between the back of the book storage slats & 3/4 in-between the bottom slats.
Attach second side


Once you have all the slats attached to the first leg, attach the second leg the same way. Now that our book storage unit is built we can move onto the finishing touches!
Sanding the unit


 Next up is sanding! I use my Ryobi sander for all my sanding projects because it goes a lot quicker but you can definitely use a sanding block instead.
Ta-Da


Finally, you can paint or stain your book storage unit any color you want. I ended up painting mine white to match the bookshelves that are already in Eli's nursery!
Resources for this project:
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Lia with Southern Yankee DIY
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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