Growlight Bookshelf

No more hauling in your lights every spring, setting them up for a few weeks of seed-starting and then storing them the rest of the year. With the Mother Earth News Growlight Bookcase, your lights are ready whenever you need them. Then when you don't need all the shelves and lights for growing plants, you can use the unit as a bookcase. How-to books, healthy house plants and your favorite hot peppers will live happily together on the Mother Earth News Growlight Bookcase.

For more information on the Mother Earth News Growlight Bookcase, visit our website.

Step 1 Materials and Tools

You can make this shelf as tall and wide as you like, so measurements can vary, but here are the main components of the shelf:

2 4-foot, 2-tube fluorescent light fixtures

4 cool-white or warm-white fluorescent tubes

2 1-by-10-inch shelves

2 1-by-10-inch sides

3 1-by-4-inch valences

2 1-by-6-inch backboards

Screws or nails
 

I like to keep my carpentry projects as simple as possible, and you could build this one with just a handsaw and a hammer, if those were the only tools you had. Or just ask someone to cut the pieces for you.

The cuts will be cleaner if they're made with a power saw, and using screws and an electric drill will be easier and stronger than a hammer and nails. The curved cuts along the top trim and the bottom sides of the bookcase are optional. If you want to include them and have access to a saber saw or other way to cut them, they provide an attractive, ornamental touch.