Custom Bookcase Wall With Benchseat and Hidden Bar
Introduction: Custom Bookcase Wall With Benchseat and Hidden Bar
I've been renovating my house since moving into a bit of a fixer upper about 18 months ago. The living room was long and rectangular and so the far wall away from the seating away was crying out to be made into a feature. I decided to build my own bookcase wall after seeing some ridiculous quotes online and was able to customise it as a result - including a hidden drinks bar, a seating area and integrated sockets.
Supplies
Supplies
Two 2x4s
Scrap 2x3s
6-8 full sheets of 18mm construction plywood
White Primer and Furniture Paint
Wood glue
Screws
TV lift mechanism
LED light strip
Faux copper leaf
Scrap copper pipe
Tools
Track saw
Router
Drill and Impact driver
Jigsaw
Painting equipment
Step 1: Building the Base
The first thing to do was to build a solid base that the bookcase could sit on. I attached 2x4 battens to the walls to screw into later, and built a simple base to run the length of the floor, using some 2x4 and 2x3 scraps. I attached small battens in the centre of the frame, connecting the long running pieces - this wasn't really for strength, but to make sure I had plenty of places I could screw in to when the book cases were in place.
You can also see the grey cables on the left, which are a spur being run from the pre-existing socket. I knew I was going to be covering that socket, so I wanted to be able to integrate some new ones into the bookcase itself. I drilled holes through the smaller battens of the frame to pull the wire through, so the weight of the bookcase wouldn't be sat on it!
Step 2: Building the Bookcase Frames
I don't know why I was so set on having no back on the bookcase - I think I wanted to show off the mustard colour of the feature wall, and it never crossed my mind I could paint the backs of the bookcase.... Needless to say, I probably made things overly difficult for myself!
I originally thought about building one large unit and then getting it into position, but it was obvious pretty quickly that the huge carcass would be pretty unwieldy. Instead, I decided to break it down into three sections that could be built independent and installed side by side.
I planned each section out simply by drawing it to rough scale on graph paper. 787
I wanted an irregular pattern of shelf shapes and sizes, so I sort of just freehanded the design, making sure that there weren't going to be too many areas without the support of a vertical wall under them. For example, the bench seat was going to support a lot of weight, so I made sure that there were three cubby holes underneath it, which gave me two vertical support pieces. These cubby holes were also where the sockets ended up being integrated.
Once I had all my measurements, I cut my pieces to size using a track saw - I used 18mm construction grade ply, simply because it was affordable and I knew I would be filling and painting the wood anyway. Anywhere a shelf and a wall met, I would be cutting a 9mm rabbet that the plywood could sit in. I built a router jig, which you can just see sat on the bookcase carcass in the third photo, which meant I could run my router back and forth in a line that I knew was square to the edge of the piece I was routing.
Once this was all done, it was a case of simply slotting the panels into the right place (and occasionally whacking them in with a rubber mallet). I applied wood glue into each of the rabbet slots to be sure the shelves etc. would stay firmly attached.
Step 3: Painting the Bookcase
Once each section was built, I used wood filler along the edges of the ply that would be the face of the bookcase, which let me fill any voids and generally smooth out the surface (you can see this in the first picture - the wood filler I was using was yellow).
Then, I did two coats of primer followed by two coats of white furniture paints. The poor quality plywood practically drank the paint, so there were quite a few sections that needed some extra coats. The irregular shelf sizes and shapes meant painting this was a nightmare - I tried a paint sprayer, a roller and a brush. I think you just have to choose the one that seems like the least amount of torture for you and stick with it!
The final section I built, with the bench seat, I actually painted the panels before assembly, which worked quite well and might have been a good idea to start with... 787