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Build a curious bookshelf
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Styled after European row houses, this bookcase is a playful way to organize your kids' room
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By Art Mulder, photos by Roger Yip, illustration by Len Churchill
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Child's Play: The project was designed not only for storage but as a playhouse for kids. Lid hinges turn the simple roofline into a hidden compartment.
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Painting: Round One
It's a good idea to stop construction now and do some painting. Starting to paint now, while parts are separate, is a lot easier than waiting until the whole bookcase is assembled.
Sand all the pieces with a belt or random-orbit sander, then apply primer. Don't paint the edges or the dados. Water-based primers raise the woodgrain, so once the primer is dry, use 220-grit paper to sand the surface lightly to a nice smooth state. Follow any painting pattern you like-I used primary colours for each house, then white for the top and bottom of the shelves, and grey for the roof, outer edges of the shelves and the skirt. You don't need to make a clean edge where the different house colours meet. This seam will be covered later, either by the dividers or by a grey stripe that you'll paint on afterward. You can leave the rear-facing side of the back white if your bookcase will always be against a wall, or paint it the three colours of the three houses.
Take the time now to mark the positions of the hinges that will hold the front skirt over the hidden bottom shelf. Predrill the screw holes now, while the area is still easily accessible; you can even go as far as installing the hinge mounts.
Assembly: Round One
Once the paint has dried, assemble the carcass again. The coats of paint you've applied will probably have tightened the fit of some of the dados. Sand along the joint edges to re-establish a good fit.
Glue the shelves into the sides, then glue the dividers into the shelves. Since the bookcase is prepainted, any glue squeeze-out will wipe off easily with a damp rag. Lay the bookcase face-down on a flat surface and check for square by measuring diagonally from corner to corner. Make any necessary adjustments, then clamp and let dry.
Run a bead of glue along the back of the shelves and dividers, and in the rabbets at the backs of the two sides. Secure the back panel with nails or #4 x 3/4" screws.
Sand the front edges of the bookcase, as well as the insides of the window openings, taking care to remove any paint drips. Apply iron-on wood banding to cover the front edges of the plywood, the inside edges of the window openings and also along the top of the sides. The banding offers a much smoother surface for painting than the edges of raw plywood. Use a flush-trim straight bit in a router to trim the banding flush where you can. A block plane would work as well, but you will need to use a chisel to get into the corners.
From the Rooftop
With the basic carcass complete, you're ready to tackle the roof. It's really composed of three separate sub-assemblies. Build the two side sections first, and then tackle the peaked middle portion of the roof.
Pattern routing is a good way to make the four identical gable end pieces. First cut out a 10" x 10" piece of plywood and draw the pattern for a gable end. (See the plans for details.) Carefully cut out the shape with a bandsaw and sand it smooth. Take extra care with this piece, as the other pieces will reflect every bump or flaw you leave behind. Now, trace out three more gable end pieces, and cut them slightly oversize. Don't bother being neat, just cut 1/16" to 1/8" beyond the pencil lines. Finally, affix the master pattern to one of the pieces with double-sided tape and lay it down on your router table. Chuck a flush-trimming bit into your router, adjust the height of the bit so the bearing rides only on the pattern, then switch on the router and rout the remaining waste from around the master pattern. Repeat the process with the other gable end pieces.
Next, cut the two inside roof base pieces, ripping two edges at 17º from square to match the angle of the gable ends. Glue and nail the bases to the gable ends.
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