Having a functional and special purpose, determined by the name of bookshelves, these structures have long become elements of stylish room design.
Designers in the field of furniture manufacturing offer a huge variety of non-standard solutions and original ideas suitable for decorating a room.
By looking at all the different photos of book shelves collected in this article with your own hands, you can choose the best option for making them yourself.
The creative process, which is not complicated and simply implemented, requires some preparation and selection of ideas, selection of the necessary consumables, accessories, and tools.
Shelves in interior design: possibilities of use
Even the simplest and not difficult to implement instructions on how to make a book shelf with your own hands presupposes some preparation for its use.
Shelf structures have their own application advantages, which is due to their design features and the ability to complement the interior solution:
- practical organization of a storage system for small items and souvenirs, books, and even arrangement of a mini library in a room or its separate functional area;
- emphasizing the chosen style of room decoration and placing accents in the design of the room to make it decorative and aesthetically pleasing;
- visual or subject zoning of space, without the use of bulky structures and heavy furniture that takes up a lot of free space.
The formation of a harmonious composition for the arrangement of a room begins with the layout and selection of furniture designs.
It is important to understand that shelves and shelves of different configurations can be made with your own hands using inexpensive materials and high-quality fittings, implementing a pre-selected idea.
Requirements for homemade furniture
Any shelf, regardless of its model, is important in interior design. Thanks to the sufficient depth of the horizontal panels, you can place not only books on the shelves, but also souvenirs, toys, and other stationery.
Good furniture with sufficient storage space will be appreciated by both students and zealous parents.
Requirements for a homemade design that the master must follow when carrying out work:
Construction material should be carefully inspected before assembly for defects. This criterion is especially relevant for wooden panels, chipboard, MDF, and plywood sheets. A defect should be considered the presence of cracks, chips, insect passages, traces of rotting and deterioration.
Even the highest quality material needs pre-treatment, which includes grinding sharp cuts, removing gaps, knots, and treating with moisture-resistant compounds. Today, impregnation oil is most often used, which penetrates deep into the wood, protecting parts from moisture.
Before starting work, you should decide on the design model, the type of its assembly, the dimensions of the shelf as a whole and the dimensions of the horizontal slats. It is better to prepare a drawing in advance or use ready-made assembly diagrams, which will also show all the fasteners and fittings.
Particular attention is paid to the reliability of fastenings for hanging shelves that are attached to walls. A fallen shelf of books can cause injury, fractures or bruises.
Design features: what types of shelves can be made
When choosing drawings and sizes of shelves for books, you need to take into account the layout of the room and focus on the design concept already chosen for the room.
It should be taken into account that among the huge variety of types and types of shelf structures you will have to choose one that will be ideal for the room.
Technological map for manufacturing a turned shelf stand
| Name | Material | |
| rack | Wood | |
| No. P/P | Contents of operation | Equipment, tools |
| 1 | Select a workpiece taking into account allowances (50*50*400mm) | Workbench, ruler |
| 2 | Mark the centers of the ends and saw them off | Workbench, ruler, hacksaw |
| 3 | Fix the workpiece on the lathe and sharpen the workpiece to d-45mm (rough turning) | Lathe, semicircular chisel, caliper |
| 4 | Sharpen the workpiece along the entire length (finish turning) along the entire length d-40mm | Lathe, oblique chisel, ruler, caliper |
| 5 | Sharpen the cylindrical surface making the lower and upper fillet | Lathe, miter chisel, half-round chisel, caliper |
| 6 | Reinstall the tool rest, trim the end | Lathe, oblique chisel, ruler, caliper |
| 7 | Grind the surface | Lathe, sanding paper |
| 8 | Remove the workpiece and saw off the allowances | Workbench, hacksaw |
| 9 | Clean the bases | Workbench, file, sanding paper |
Wall mounted
Such shelves are mounted directly on the wall, and can be supplemented with a rear wall, or do without it, representing a rather elegant design.
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Wall shelves can be of different shapes and sizes, they can be a simple bookcase or embody bright design ideas with complex geometric shapes.
Technological map for manufacturing the shelf limiter cylinder
| Name | Material | |
| Shelf stop cylinder | Wood | |
| No. P/P | Contents of operation | Equipment, tools |
| 1 | Select a workpiece taking into account allowances (300*30*30mm) | Workbench, ruler |
| 2 | Mark the centers of the ends and saw them off | Workbench, ruler, hacksaw |
| 3 | Fix the workpiece on the lathe and sharpen the workpiece to d-25mm (rough turning) | Lathe, semicircular chisel, caliper |
| 4 | Sharpen the workpiece along the entire length (finish turning) d-20mm | Lathe, bevel chisel, caliper |
| 5 | Make notches 40mm apart | Lathe, oblique chisel, ruler |
| 7 | Grind the surface | Lathe, sanding paper |
| 8 | Remove the workpiece and saw into parts, saw off allowances | Workbench, hacksaw |
| 9 | Clean the ends | Workbench, file, sanding paper, |
Floor-standing
Floor-standing or wall-mounted structures should not be confused with open chests of drawers or cabinets, and such shelves are often used in modern design.
Their use is due to the need to distribute a large number of books or printed publications, and the simplicity of the forms only emphasizes the importance of their internal content.
Curly plywood shelves: fantasy on the theme of mountains
Curly shelves provide maximum scope for creativity. You can cut out a cloud, a truck, or even an entire landscape from plywood or chipboard. Shelves in the shape of animals or flowers - any child’s fantasy will come true. You can start experimenting with simple designs, for example, making a product with the silhouette of mountains.
A creative figured plywood shelf will help you decorate the interior of a children's room a little.
To work you will need:
- Sheets of plywood or several boards of soft wood;
- Holders made of untreated wood;
- Sandpaper;
- Screws, dowels;
- Drill;
- Level, ruler;
- Pencil and wood paint with brush.
First of all, a drawing of the mountains is drawn on one board, and markings are made for cutting on the other. The blanks are fixed on the table, and a schematic picture is cut out with a jigsaw. Before assembly, the parts are treated with sandpaper.
The structure is assembled using self-tapping screws or regular nails. The main thing is that the attachment points coincide with the location of the holders, which will then hide unattractive elements.
After assembly, the product is painted or varnished and left to dry completely. At this time, the holders are attached to the wall: a hole is drilled, dowels are inserted and screws are screwed. The mountain-shaped blank is placed on top and screwed.
Hanging
The most elegant and original hanging shelves are used to complement a modern interior design.
By hanging from the ceiling using reliable fasteners, the illusion of a visual installation is created, which looks great in addition to the modern style of room decoration.
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Creative and non-standard solutions for making shelves
Popular ideas on how to make a shelf for books allow you to implement the most non-standard solutions and stylishly decorate a living space or functional area:
- complex geometric shapes, such schemes will help to decorate the room in an unusual way, emphasizing its stylistic design;
- the use of non-standard and waste materials, which helps reduce the cost of purchasing consumables to create a structure;
- the use of decorative elements and unusual fittings, this provides the opportunity to create a composition from different furniture.
Wood
This can be either solid timber or wooden pallets. A very unusual shelf can be cut from a log frame. Before starting work, it is important to assess the condition of the consumable material and carry out high-quality pre-treatment with moisture-resistant compounds. Wood is a universal material for construction, delighting with its environmental performance and natural composition.
What materials can be used for the creative process
Both floor and hanging book shelves can be made using all kinds of materials that must meet certain requirements:
- functionality and reliability, long service life of the finished structure;
- attractive appearance and increased aesthetics with a certain aesthetics;
- combination and practical combination with other materials, decor and finishing;
- ease of processing and the ability to use for self-manufacturing shelves;
- affordable cost or the possibility of reuse in creating crafts.
Creating the simplest wall shelf with your own hands and a step-by-step description of how to make a shelf for beginners will allow you to do all the work yourself.
Plastic panels
Do-it-yourself plastic panels can be found in furniture and accessories stores, such as IKEA. The surface of the plastic is resistant to moisture, detergents, and tolerates temperature changes in the room.
You can easily remove dust and random stains from the surface of the shelf with a damp cloth. And the structure itself is low weight, thanks to the properties of PVC panels.
Fancy book shelves can be made from a combination of metal and tempered glass panels. The surface of the shelves has sufficient strength, and metal supports ensure reliable fastening and stability of the structure.
