Book shelving ideas

ewal

Sorry - a boring DIY question. I'm currently re-decorating the back room and I need to put up a significant amount of shelving on walls for books - I'm struggling to find anything that fits the bill.

First I thought I'd go for a rustic/industrial look and get some reclaimed scaffold boards and finish them with an oil or wax. However it was working out quite expensive (about £200) just for the scaffold boards once they had been planed and sanded. So I then thought about using cheaper laminated pine board, but not sure... Might look like mutton dressed as lamb if I go for a wax or oil finish. 

I'm currently thinking about wall-mounted Ikea Kallax, because I'm using it for record and general storage on the other side of the room. At least it would match, but again not sure how it would look.

Anyone got a successful shelving project they'd like to share?

WiresDreamDisasters

I was looking into this today, I wanna put some shelves up for my amps in an alcove in my room, and so needs to be heavy duty.

Best as I can tell... super chunky battens across the sides and back where I want the shelf, fix them to the walls with rawlbolts. Then a chunky board on top of those screwed down to the battens. Similar rustic/industrial vibes wanted here too.

Stuckfast

We have a ton of the Ikea Kallax shelves. I've never bothered fixing them to the wall. They're not bad for the money, but they aren't super robust.

Kittyfrisk

As a long time sustainable heavy duty industrial shelver, I'm a fan of Ikea STEN.
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue fans can shut the fuck up right now 
Shock horror, it was discontinued about 10 years ago but it is bloody marvellous, so I strongly suggest copying the dimensions & doing your own thing  https://sg.carousell.com/p/ikea-shelf-gorm-sten-hejne-wood-wooden-201874893/
Gorm, my arse, as many Marvel universe villains might have said.

WiresDreamDisasters

Kittyfrisk said:

As a long time sustainable heavy duty industrial shelver, I'm a fan of Ikea STEN.
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue fans can shut the fuck up right now 
Shock horror, it was discontinued about 10 years ago but it is bloody marvellous, so I strongly suggest copying the dimensions & doing your own thing  https://sg.carousell.com/p/ikea-shelf-gorm-sten-hejne-wood-wooden-201874893/
Gorm, my arse, as many Marvel universe villains might have said.

Looks like it'd fall down if I put my left bollock on it!

Jason

I'm in the process of decorating my office and I've built a pretty large desk and shelving unit out of scaffolding. I thought it was pretty cheap for what I wanted. I just bought a sander (£40) to tidy up the boards and wax (£12).

I got it all from The Metal Store, might be worth getting a quote from them

https://i.imgur.com/C7lYOR2.jpg

WiresDreamDisasters

Nice work Jason!

Jason

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Nice work Jason!

Ta, should be finished tomorrow, then I have to wait to see when I can actually start working again... :-)

Kittyfrisk

Gravitationally anomalous objects like yer bollocks aside, the original STEN is seriously bloody robust stuff.
Currently supporting all the bits (apart from the frame & wheels) of a 1962 BSA 10 on one short section of it & apart from serious permanent dents in the carpet, it's all good.
The uprights also made for great ramps for loading very heavy items into the back of cars.
As Leo knew, pine is tough stuff.

ewal

Yeah - I like that a lot @Jason. I was thinking along same lines initially, and half thought about making a scaffold board desk to go with the shelves. Where did you get the scaffold boards? Did you get them unfinished then sand? How did you make the desk-top? And what wax did you use? Sorry for all the questions! 

WiresDreamDisasters

Kittyfrisk said:

Gravitationally anomalous objects like yer bollocks 

I mean.... ya not wrong!  

WiresDreamDisasters

ewal said:

Yeah - I like that a lot @Jason. I was thinking along same lines initially, and half thought about making a scaffold board desk to go with the shelves. Where did you get the scaffold boards? Did you get them unfinished then sand? How did you make the desk-top? And what wax did you use? Sorry for all the questions! 

I'm sure I've seen scaffold boards on Gumtree for pittence. 
https://www.gumtree.com/p/wood-timber/reclaimed-used-scaffold-boards-£0.90p-ft.-the-cheapest-the-best-quality-free-cutting.-deliveries/1377749863

Jason

ewal said:

Yeah - I like that a lot @Jason. I was thinking along same lines initially, and half thought about making a scaffold board desk to go with the shelves. Where did you get the scaffold boards? Did you get them unfinished then sand? How did you make the desk-top? And what wax did you use? Sorry for all the questions! 

No worries, all from The Metal Store, boards too. They were a little rough, fine for shelves but not smooth enough for a desk, so I bought an orbital sander from Homebase (Royobi) and two different sandpaper grades, the shelves had the coarser one only, the desk both, then waxed them with Briwax (jacobean).

The Metal Store worked out all the bits I needed inc the brackets underneath the desk to hold it all in place, it took me about 2 hours to put it all together, the shelves are 2m long and the desk is 1m x 2m, I did make a mistake in the height of the legs as I hadn't factored in the pipework and board thickness, but I spoke to them and replacement parts were out within 24 hrs at a massive cost of about £1.50 per leg. I can't recommend them enough, great service.

Kittyfrisk

WiresDreamDisasters said:

ewal said:

Yeah - I like that a lot @Jason. I was thinking along same lines initially, and half thought about making a scaffold board desk to go with the shelves. Where did you get the scaffold boards? Did you get them unfinished then sand? How did you make the desk-top? And what wax did you use? Sorry for all the questions! 

I'm sure I've seen scaffold boards on Gumtree for pittence. 
https://www.gumtree.com/p/wood-timber/reclaimed-used-scaffold-boards-£0.90p-ft.-the-cheapest-the-best-quality-free-cutting.-deliveries/1377749863

Even cheaper for pittance pedants, although it's lonely in here...

WiresDreamDisasters

Oops!

Kittyfrisk

Never show weakness, you enemy can smell it.












Said someone somewhere? Maybe about feet or somebody's other bollocks....

WezV

I'm doing scaffold board shelves again soon.  Even the really rough looking ones clean up fairly well with a bit if sanding and a rub down with an antique pine wax

Kittyfrisk

Judge me not, lest I be tempted to not give a shite.
But... this is a rather robust set of budget vintage planks.

WiresDreamDisasters

Kittyfrisk said:

you enemy can smell it.

Make Pedantry Great Again

Kittyfrisk

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Kittyfrisk said:

you enemy can smell it.

Make Pedantry Great Again

Dammit, I thought I was being subtle & so-fisticated...

Philly_Q

About 20 years ago I wanted some shelving units to house my CD and book collections.  The only place to put them was the hallway, so I wanted them as shallow as possible, so there was still room to walk past.

I bought a load of pine planks and built three units, each about 1m wide and 2m tall.  I cut them all to size, trimmed the ends with a router so everything was exactly 90 degrees, sanded and varnished them.  The shelves are all different heights, for CDs, normal-sized paperbacks and bigger books, and I put in vertical spacers to keep the whole thing rigid and to stop the books and CDs toppling sideways.  It took me months and months - if I was doing it now it would take about 10 years - but I have to say it still looks really good.  

At the time it perfectly housed all my books and about 1,000 CDs.  Unfortunately I then went and bought more books and CDs, and an awful lot of DVDs and Blu-rays.  Sadly I haven't really got space for more shelves....