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About Project
Beautiful tower bookshelf plans inspired by Pottery Barn Benchwright Towers. DIY and save money and get what you want!
Dimensions
Materials and Tools
1 - Sheet 3/4" Plywood cut into strips 15 3/4" wide, 8 feet long, referred to as 1x16 boards throughtout this plan. Plan shows PureBond Rustic Alder Plywood
Cut List
2 - 1x16 @ 56 1/4" (Sides)
4 - 1x2 @ 15 3/4" (Side Trim)
4 - 2x2 @ 59 1/4" (Legs)
6 - 2x2 @ 17" (Front/Back Trim)
5 - 1x16 @ 17" (Shelves)
1 - 1x16 @ 22" (Top)
1 - 1x3 @ 22" (Top)
1 - 1x2 @ 22" (Top)
1 - 1/4" plywood @ 20" x 55 1/4" (Back)
2 - 1x3 @ 11 3/4" (Door)
2 - 1x3 @ 23 3/4" (Door)
General Instructions
Please read through the entire plan and all comments before beginning this project. It is also advisable to review the Getting Started Section. Take all necessary precautions to build safely and smartly. Work on a clean level surface, free of imperfections or debris. Always use straight boards. Check for square after each step. Always predrill holes before attaching with screws. Use glue with finish nails for a stronger hold. Wipe excess glue off bare wood for stained projects, as dried glue will not take stain. Be safe, have fun, and ask for help if you need it. Good luck!
Step 1
Before any assembly, go through the plan and diagrams and mark and drill all pocket holes.
On each side, on the outsides where no pocket holes are drilled, attach side trim to top and bottom with 1 1/4" finish nails and wood glue. Outside edges are flush.
You will need to build two.
Step 2
With top edges flush, attach legs using 1 1/4" pocket hole screws and glue. Do this on both sides.
Step 3
Measure and mark the placement of front/back trim boards as shown in diagram. Then attach with 2 1/2" pocket hole screws and wood glue.
Step 4
For the fixed shelves, drill 3/4" pocket holes on all sides. Place inside trim and sides and attach with 1 1/4" pocket holes and glue. Tops are flush.
Step 5
You have some options here ... you can make shelves fixed at any height, or you can use shelf pins to make the shelves adjustable or optional. Keep shelves lined up with side 1x16 - this will give you some room to run cords through the backs and/or ventilation if you are using the tower for media controller storage.
Step 6
Build the top first with 3/4" pocket holes and 1 1/4" pocket hole screws. Then screw on from the underside with 2" screws and glue.
Step 7
Back is easy step - cut your plywood and attach with glue and 1 1/4" finish nails. Just make sure you hit all fixed shelves.
It would be a good idea to cut holes for cords at this stage.
Step 8
Drill 3/4" pocket holes on each end of the shorter door pieces and build your doors with glue and 1 1/4" pocket hole screws.
Step 9
Predrill holes in the acrylic glass and attach to back side of door frames. This acrylic glass should significantly strengthen your door.
NOTE: You may wish to mark the location of your hinges (next step) and notch out a spot for the hinges so you have a nice flat spot to attach hinges - or you could just cut your acrylic glass shorter on the hinge side. This will depend on what type of hinge you use.
Step 10
The hinge I recommend are these ones:
Finishing Instructions
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So exciting!
Can't wait for the console plans, I'm ready to build! Thanks, Ana!!!
Beautiful shelf! Is it
Beautiful shelf! Is it possible to build it without using a Kreg Jig or would it be structurally unsound? Looking forward to the rest of the collection!
Definitely possible, but I
Definitely possible, but I highly recommend the pocket hole jig - it really makes your projects easier to build, stronger, squarer, and less holes to hide.
The two areas that really require a pocket hole jig are joining the legs to the sides, though certainly predrilled holes and screws could work, and building the doors. You could purchase metal 90 brackets to hold the doors together on the back side, coupled with the acrylic glass to make your doors.
I'm excited to share the media console plans! Thanks everyone!
Pocket holes for the win
It's not especially hard to build this entire cabinet without pocket holes. Mortise and tenon joinery would be strong and look very nice. A dowel joint would actually be pretty easy to do, and before pocket hole jigs became commonly available, would be the recommended route for beginners.
But the pocket hole joint is fast, easy, and strong enough for the task at hand.
You don't need to buy the most expensive Kreg jig on the market. There are less expensive kits available from Kreg, like this one: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5985
You can pick up pocket hole screws from Lowes, they don't need to be special ones from Kreg. You'd also want a quick-release clamp, which is generally useful anyway.
Love it!
I've been playing around & designing a media centre similar to this one ... love this plan and so happy to see I've been on the right track with my design!! Thanks for all your amazing plans ... love using them and love gaining the confidence to start designing myself!!
I didn't know PureBond
I didn't know PureBond plywood came in other species than oak and birch. Good to know!
Thank you, really excited
Thank you, really excited about these plans!
The PureBond Plywood comes in many different species! You can get walnut, bamboo, and much more - just ask for it at the Pro Desk at Home Depot. I have swatches, the grains are just beautiful - like kitchen cabinet samples!
Wow--I am going to check that
Wow--I am going to check that out next visit! My store didn't even know what I was talking about when I requested PureBond the first time. A guy took my number to look into it and when he called, he said they had it on the shelf :) I'm excited to see the other choices.
Looking forward to the coming plans!
Just What I Have Been Waiting For
This is definitely moving to the top of my to build list. I have been wanting something to put on both sides of the fireplace and then wall mount the tv. I think this will be perfect. Thank you so much!
Awesome Job
Ana what type of wood should be used? Unsure if pine or something else would be better
Same question here . . what woods to use?
Have you found good plywood/hardwood combinations? I'm just starting out and am having a hard time finding plywood and lumber that will match. I don't want to always paint the wood (though if I do it would be nice to know which ones go together). But someday I'd like to try my hand at staining. I got a hold of a lot of birch for cheap but have nothing to go with it. Some lumber stores sell birch but not in all the sizes I need. So then I stained a piece of poplar to see if that'll work but I still can't find it in the lengths required here. :(.
Thanks! Love your site.
I built a set of coffee and
I built a set of coffee and end tables for my living room using birch plywood and poplar edging with a mahogany stain, and you can't tell the difference. Not sure if you could tell with a lighter stain.
Materials
In general you can build a project from whatever woods strike your fancy. This project would look good made from any close grained hardwood like maple or walnut.
The deciding factor would be can you get the materials, and are you capable of working with them? Hardwoods aren't sold as dimensional number, so you don't buy 2x2s. You'd buy 8/4 stock, mill it, and rip it to size.
None of that stuff is very hard. There are a few books that will tell you how to do it. Hand Tool Essentials is one that I really like, and Tage Frid Teached Woodworking, Volumn 1, is another. Both are well written and heavy with pictures, which does a lot to make it easier to learn. Both are great books to read if you want to advance your woodworking skills.
Materials
I was hoping I could just walk into a place and just pick out what I needed like a grocery store and easily match up plywoods with hardwoods :) I guess I'm overly anxious to start and have a huge list of todo items.
I got some nice birch plywood and I'll start calling around to find birch hardwoods. Though it's not too easy. I thought saving up for the tools was going to be the hard part . . silly me :) I suppose if I don't want this stained but painted instead I can be less picky with the types of woods I mix/match so long as the grains are close. Though I'd prefer staining. I'd love to do this as a linen cabinet and a farmhouse vanity next to it so getting all that lumber to match is being a pain.
Buying materials
There's no reason you can't use dimensional lumber from the lumber yard, which will be pine, hemlock, spruce or fir. Those woods take stain well, and they aren't too shabby even with a clear finish. White pine looks especially nice under a gloss polyurethane.
Most projects here are intended to be built with the dimensional lumber you can pick up at the lumber yard, and that's a great place to start because when you make mistakes (and you will), it's a lot cheaper to replace material and correct the problem.
As for where to get the materials, I strongly recommend finding a local lumber yard with good customer service. They'll have better materials and your projects will go better. You can pick up wood at a home center, but you'll have to dig through a lot of scrap wood to find decent. Definitely read Ana's article about selecting a straight board and be very fussy. Theoretically you can also buy plywood there, but Ive never seen a Lowes or Home Depot store their sheet goods correctly, so it tends to be crazy warped.
Came out great!
No photos yet since it's in the ugly "being primed" state but I just wanted to drop a note and say building this went very smoothly. The directions were spot on! Thanks so much. I am however leaving off the back and attaching the doors until I have everything painted. That way it's easier to get to all the little corners. I need to make two more! One to match this one since they will be matching linen cabinets and one that I'll modify for a media/dvd cabinet. I used a combination of birch plywood and thanks to the suggestions here I found a great lumber company nearby where they helped me pick out the best poplar for the job.
Glad to hear your success
Hopefully you'll have a very good relationship with them for years to come. Getting the right materials for the job can really make a difference in how you feel about it.
Materials Question
Great project! I am in planning mode and getting ready to start this. Are you doing anything to hide the plywood edges for things like the front edge of the shelves (step 5) and the side edges of the 1x16 top piece that are not covered by the 1 x pieces (step 6)? Thanks!
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