CORNER SHELVES - DRY BUILD

In an ideal world, you’d cut your timber as per build plan then assemble your unit in situ, fettling as you go to arrive at a perfect fit thus reducing the tears and tantrums that form part of these projects. (Mostly mine!)

But we don’t live in an ideal world. It’s double the challenge making a bookcase for a room that’s over 90 miles away with no way of checking you’re on track as you go along. Hey, that’s the fun of it – right.

To help get heads round the design plan particularly as there’s the issue of the unused ‘dead zone’ that forms part of the corner then we’re going to dry build the first bookcase, dismantle it for painting then re-assemble it when back on site. Bit of a faff but easier to transport without a van.

The 'dead' zone where the two units meet

What's this dead zone?  Well the dead zone is the spot right in the corner where the two bookcases meet.  Rather like a zombie date night but with less carnage.  If you were to just put two units together at a right angle there would be books tucked into the far corner which would be hard to get at.

To get round this issue, we've inserted a third long upright piece approx 20 cms from the edge on this wider unit.  This third leg can then be used to block off the dead zone so that all books can be accessed from front of the shelf.  That's the theory, now let's hope it works in practice.

Clear down the dining table – here we come! It’s the only thing long enough to support the tall side panels which are over 2 metres long so its TV dinners whilst we huff, puff and blow the house down in a bid to create our own Frankenstein bookshelf monster. God, it’s a heavy bugger!

Dry building the first unit

Now let's take it apart again