In just about any room in the house, it's great to have some extra storage space to keep things organized and uncluttered.

If you want to create customized storage spaces for your home, Shelves, Cabinets & Bookcases offers everything you need to design and build sturdy, functional, attractive pieces.

Originally published in the pages of Fine Woodworking and Fine Homebuilding magazines, the articles in this book feature designs, construction details, and tips from some of the most accomplished carpenters and woodworkers in the country.

Whether you want to make a simple built-in or a high style bookcase, kitchen cabinets or a media center, you'll find every last detail is here -- with clear, step-by-step instructions and useful graphics.

Here are some of the topics you'll learn about:

• Supporting Shelves
• Six Ways to Edge Plywood
• Dressing Up a Basic Box
• Arts & Crafts Wall Shelf
• Bookshelves in a Day
• Outfitting a Closet
• Built-in Basics
• Building around Electronics
• Installing Kitchen Cabinets
• Re-facing Kitchen Cabinets
• Drawer Design Strategies

Introduction

Section 1 - Basics

Engineering a Bookcase
Jeff Miller

Biscuit Basics
Tony O'Malley

A User's Guide to Plywood
Roland Johnson

Six Ways to Edge Plywood
Mario Rodriguez

Section 2 - Shelves and Bookcases

Shelving, Plain and Simple
M. Felix Marti

Shaker Wall Shelf
Peter Turner

Arts and Crafts Wall Shelf
Nancy Hiller

Bookcase Made With Biscuit Joinery
Peter Turner

A Choice of Three Bookcases
Philip C. Lowe

A Bookcase That Breaks the Rules
Gary M. Katz

A Classic Bookcase in the Craftsman Style
Gary Rogowski

Knockdown Bookshelves in a Day
Steve Latta

Updated Arts and Crafts Bookcase
Gregory Paolini

Outfitting a Clothes Closet
Gary M. Katz

Section 3 - Entertainment Centers and Built-ins

Built-in Basics
Tony O'Malley

Engineering an Entertainment Center
Brooks Tanner

Entertainment Center in Quartersawn Maple
Peter Turner

Section 4 - Cabinets

An Inside Look at Kitchen Cabinets
Scott Gibson

Installing Kitchen Cabinets
Tom Law

Hanging Kitchen Cabinets Smooth and Solo
Mike Guertin

Dressing Up Plywood Cabinets With Face Frames
Joseph Beals

Refacing Kitchen Cabinets
Rex Alexander

Choosing Kitchen Countertops
Scott Gibson

Make Your Own Laminate Countertops
Steve Morris

Drawer Design Strategies
Gary Rogowski

Credits

Index

One hobby often leads to another. The hobby of reading is probably responsible for creating more woodworkers than any pastime I can think of -- most of the woodworkers I meet got started in the craft because they found themselves with a stack of books and nowhere to put them. Whether you build your own bookcases (or shelves, or kitchen cabinets) because you're too persnickety to accept the ones for sale at furniture stores or because you're too thrifty to pay for them is a decision I'll leave up to you.

Whether your tastes lean toward 18th century, Shaker, Arts and Crafts, or contemporary -- and whether you're looking for simple pine shelving or a kitchen full of cabinets -- one or more of this collection's wide array of designs is sure to suit your tastes. With a little attention to detail and armed with the guidance found in this book, you can create storage and display solutions that do the job with style.

If you're just getting started in woodworking, be careful. For some of us the woodworking bug takes on a life of its own. We might go on to build beds, chests of drawers, chairs and tables, but we never stop building shelves for our books. If we did, where would we put this one?

Customer Reviews from Amazon

I bought this book, mainly for the section on closets and bookshelves. I got a bonus though, because the section on cabinets was also one of my favorites. It will probably be a while before I tackle that, but the photos, steps and instructions are clear enough to not feel quite so intimidating. I've taken some woodworking classes like building cabinet doors, basic woodworking where we made shelves and simple drawers, but I have always been a little nervous about jumping right in. This book makes it appear so "doable". Even the front cover made me think, ummm I could do that. I have all the tools and have made some smaller project items, but it's time I think this lady will need to jump in with both feet.

What's really helpful, because I am a planner, is the helpful tips contained in this book. For instance, in the section on shelves on page 6, it shows shelf weight limits for different woods and wood thickness and lengths. Just the kind of information I need when planning a shelf to build. I loved the section on closets (even though a little short -but I guess it IS basically boxes! LOL) because it discussed the heights and widths shelves should be, how much space a hanging clothes need and tips on planning the layout. It discusses the differences and steps when using MDF vs Prefinished vs Wire shelving for closets.

Absolutely loved the details, instructions, tips, photos in this book. Highly recommend.

Especially helpful if you want to build simple bookcases from 3/4" birch plywood using drywall screws, glue, brads, circular saw (with jig), and hardwood trim. No dados! Keep the shelves 32" long and 9" wide.

This is an excellent book with great pictures. It does a good job of explaining some techniques and what tools are used. I bought it in order to get some ideas on how to build some nice built in cabinets. I am excited about how the project will come out!

A very helpful book for those who are starting out in cabinet design and building. I found this book an excellent source of information.

The book gives complete instructions and very clear photos. It should be easy to follow the instructions to complete each project.

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