For this project, we needed built-in book cases for a long wall. By using pre-drilled melamine laminated boards and pre-built cabinets from the local home store, we were able to build them with a minimum of tools, and get a perfect fit to the room.

Step 1: Materials

The book cases are made from a series of frames - pre-drilled shelf hole melamine on the sides, and 3/4" plywood on the tops and bottoms. All the middle ones have a pre-made cabinet under them, and the leftover space was divided in half, to have a narrower bookshelf on each end to fit the room end-to-end.

The cabinets are pre-built and 36" wide and about 13" deep.

Melamine laminated sides - they are sold as 12" wide, but are actually 11.75" wide. These are pre-drilled with shelf pin holes.

Plywood top & bottom & shelf above cabinet - we used 3/4" hardwood laminated - Luan or Birch is fine.

Plinth blocks (5" high and 2.5" wide) and rosettes (2.5" square)

Fluted molding - 2.25" wide

front edge trim molding

bottom and top trim 1"x3"

shelves - 3/4" plywood with 1"x2" front edges

shelf pins and knobs for the cabinet doors

crown molding

Step 2: Section Frames

Each section of the book case is based on the width of the cabinets we used. The cabinets are wrapped in the frame, so the outside frame width will be the width of the cabinet plus 1.5" (3/4" for each side) plus a tiny bit for the melamine veneer. So, we measured the wall, divided it up into the number of frames that will fit. There was some left over, so we made narrower bookshelves on each end (with no cabinets). In our case, we could have done one more cabinet, but the sides would have been too narrow to look good, so we used one less cabinet box and the result looks pretty good.

The cabinet frames are pretty easy to make. We didn't use any fancy joinery, but you are welcome to! :-) The cabinets have three fixed shelves; one for the bottom of the cabinet, one for the top of the cabinet, and one at the top of the frame. The frames go from the floor to almost the ceiling, and the cabinets fit inside the frame.

The length of the fixed shelves is the same as the width of the cabinets - in our case, 36". The width of the top and bottom fixed shelves is the same as the melamine sides (11.75"). The width of the middle shelf on top of the cabinets is wider to get some overhang over the cabinets (noted below).

The top edge of the bottom shelf was set to the height of the baseboard + 1/4" for a reveal between the baseboard and the bottom shelf. Since we used 1x3 boards on the bottom, that's 2.5" + 1/4".

The top shelf height is set to allow room for a top face molding, and then crown molding to the ceiling above that. The height of each frame was a bit less than the ceiling height to allow for moving the frames in. For our shelves, the top edge of the top shelf was the ceiling height minus the crown molding height minus about an inch reveal to the shelf minus a 1/4" reveal from the face molding to the top shelf.

The shelf above the cabinets needs to be deeper than the melamine so it overhangs the cabinets a bit. We made it 13.5" deep. It's wider than the melamine (11.75" deep) to allow for the plinth block (3/4") + a 1" overhang over the cabinet fronts.

At the top back of the sides, we cutout a notch to allow the existing crown molding to stay in place. This seemed easier than removing the molding, and since we have an older house, that crown molding is probably nicer than current materials. Maybe some future owner will tear out these bookcases and thank us for leaving the molding :-)

We used drywall screws to hold the sides to the shelves, and they definitely need to be pre-drilled and counter-sunk since it's going into the edge of plywood and we don't want it to split.

Each frame is not very strong, but once the cabinets are in place and they are side-by side, the whole system gets a lot stronger. Attach the top and bottom shelves, but leave the cabinet top off for now - that can be added on top of the cabinets.

Step 3: Cabinets

Once you have the frames in the room, you can set the cabinets on the base. We set them flush with the front of the frames. Then we used a few drywall screws from the sides to connect the cabinets to the frames. Be careful on the placement so the screws don't go into the cabinets. Once the cabinets are in, the cabinet top shelf can be added, and screwed in.

Placing all the frames against the wall, and use shims to get the cabinet top shelves to line up and look straight. Once you have them lined up, use a few 1 1/4" drywall screws to connect the frames together on the sides so they don't shift. Pre-drill and counter-sink these holes too. We found white plugs to put in the counter-sunk holes. Wood putty and paint would probably work too - might not match the melamine finish exactly, but you really wouldn't notice once the shelves are in and filled with books.

Step 4: Details

The shelves on top of the cabinets should all be connected together to make the impression of one continuous surface. They could be cut with notches for the melamine sides, but we just used little blocks to fill in those gaps. Those were glued and screwed in since they were small, and we use wood putty to fill the gaps and sanded it smooth. After painting, it looks like one continuous piece. At the sides we added the plinth blocks at the bottom, the rosettes at the top, and fluted molding on the sides. Note that these do extend into the shelf space a bit, and this is by convention and design.

The baseboard is 1"x3" pine, and the top face molding is too. Each is attached with a 1/4" reveal from the bottom and top shelves. The baseboard does not need to touch the floor (but it can) since we add shoe molding on the face.

We added crown molding to match the existing room molding - some tricky cuts where they meet, but we used the coping method to match that.

On the front edge of the shelf above the cabinets, we added some trim molding - it's 3/4" thick, so matches the front of the shelf.

Step 5: Shelves

The movable shelves are simply made from plywood with a 1"x2" front edge glued and screwed on. The shelves need to be 3/4" narrower than the sides to allow for the front piece + 1/4" narrower so the shelves are not pressing right against the trim molding on the sides. So, make the plywood 1" less than the width of the sides.