This Maple wall unit serves double duty as stowage for 4 boys’ toys, books, and two adults. To get it through the doors, this was made in nine pieces. The pedestal is one piece, the bottom is in three pieces, each individual shelf unit is one piece, and the the countertop is one piece (twelve feet long!).

This shows how the top, the boxes, and the shelves meet. It also shows the detail in the edge of the counter piece, with rounded over edges and ergonomic corners (remember, this is a house with four young boys!) This piece is the real focal point of the room, and it took some careful figuring to get everything through the doors and into place.

These built-ins are made of poplar, with fixed shelf heights to accommodate a blu-ray disk collection. I made three of these, they’re open-backed, meant to be fixed to a wall via the cleats in the top shelf. Because they’re fixed to the wall, the cleat is meant to prevent racking.

These are made of Poplar, and painted a neutral grey with toe kick bases custom sized to just clear the mouldings in the room. Because of the cleat, the top shelf is a little taller, which you can see, accommodated some board games.

This Oak bookshelf is in a semi-built-in state, as there needed to be airspace above to accommodate the lighting, and to the right, to accommodate the doorway. It is ten feet high, fourteen feet long, with a 6″ toe kick to match the customer’s existing trim.

The bookshelf features adjustable shelf standards, and the lower drawers are actually hanging files, and the custom wrought-iron hardware on the outside provide a finger-pull feel while being prominent for easy accessibility. The reveals along the sides and bottom are adjusted to minimize the gaps along the edges.

This oak built-in was delivered in five pieces, all custom designed to fit the space perfectly. The shelving is two units, as well as the base, all on top of a base pedestal. The shelving is done in almond melamine faced in oak, with color-matched steel shelf standards. The shelves are anchored to the wall with oak cleats top and bottom.

The bookmatched drawer faces are a consistent feature of my cabinetry, and the units are all measured to fit in exactly the space provided – leaving just enough room for the door. The pedestal is recessed in the back and sides, so that the shoe mouldings don’t have to be removed for installation.

This 9 foot bookshelf is done in Alder with a dark stain. The shelves are adjustable from bottom to top on metal running shelf standards. The entire top is a single slab, in 5/4 thick planks, to make a continuous span over the entire top.

These two bookshelves are made of Red Oak. They feature my standard shelf uprights, which run the full length of the sides in a dado routed so that the shelves are flush with the sides. These particular shelving units feature a hidden cleat behind the crown, to allow the customer to attach the unit to the wall.

Another set of Red Oak shelves from the same project, these are used to display baseball collectibles. These also feature the hidden cleat, which is a great safety feature for households with children who might upset several hundred pounds of hardwood if they climb on it.

This white maple bookshelf lives in a wide hallway, This customer preferred shelf pins as opposed to vertical metal shelf standards. The choice between the two is largely customer preference, but shelf standards stand up to heavier loads. This was built as two units, and they are anchored together for a consistent reveal.

The two upper drawers in this unit, also in the wide hallway adjacent to the above unit, are sized for CD storage. The glass handles reflect the light coming into the hallway, for a dash of color on the white maple construction. This also was constructed as two units, but are anchored together for a consistent reveal despite the floor’s unevenness.

These modular shelving units allows this customer to change the configuration at will. The faces are done in hickory, and the sides are done with sheet goods. The corner diagonal bracing helps distribute the load so that the shape doesn’t distort under load.

Where usually customers will stack these as close as possible (think “Tetris”), these needed the extra strength provided by the corner bracing as he intended to use the outsides for storage as well as the top. These feature a natural finish to show off the close grain patterns in the hickory.

This customer liked the option of randomly rearranging her wall unit. Remember the game Tetris©? These six “L” shaped Oak cubicles have Padauk trim. They can be laid flat or turned vertical to create a different form and function. Light to lift and easy to change.

This law firm needed 150 linear feet of bookshelf in compliance with the fire code. The pieces were built from poplar, stained to match existing mahogany pieces already in the office.

Unlike prefabricated bookshelves for this purpose, these shelves feature added depth to accommodate the large banker boxes that the customer uses for long-term storage.

A bookshelf/banco/file drawer catch-all unit built into a 9 foot wall span. Done in hickory, it features a natural, water-based finish. The bottom unit features letter-sized file drawers flanking two large, deep bancos sitting above two shallow drawers. The bookshelves are not the same width, owing to the oddities of the house, but they help draw the eye towards the windows and the overarching bookshelf, making an inviting place to sit and read in the sun.

Done in Pine with a clear coat finish, this free standing, complete wall-length bookcase offers adjustable shelving. I used a recessed metal track system for the shelving to support the weight of books.

I also made the complementary built-in wall cabinet, accommodating the adobe bricks. Behind the herring-bone design doors are adjustable shelves. Combined with the full extension drawers below, this cabinet allows for maximum storage.

The customer wanted functional shelf space built on either side of the fireplace. With open shelves, sliding doors and full extension drawers, this bookcase doubles as an entertainment center with incredible storage. Behind the sliding doors are albums while the drawers are filled with CDs and cassettes. The stereo equipment is behind smoked glass doors on the right, to balance the dark screen television on the left.

This customer wanted a built-in look to go on either side of his fireplace. I made this in Poplar, with paint-grade Maple backing. When I do painted projects, I deal with the Benjamin Moore Advanced line of paint. Despite the extended cure time, the end durability is a good tradeoff, because the finish flattens and hides the brushstrokes in the end.

Because of the river stone fascia on the fireplace, the measurements were critical, and as you can see, these were spot on. The customer had actually gone to get his hammer and chisel to chip away the stone, but it ultimately proved unnecessary. Also notice the recessed base – this was supremely easy for the customer to install, as the baseboard moulding were left untouched.

For those homes with unusable niche openings, consider a recessed book shelf. The outer flange/frame conceals any irregularities in the wall. This customer used a unique color scheme, with burgundy red background and a white frame.

The Oak with fruitwood stain bookshelf is built in and around a pair of French doors. I matched the stain with the doors to make a seamless connection between doors and cabinetry. As always, each shelf is adjustable.

The customer had a small, modern Scandinavian desk made in Teak. What they needed was a wall unit to match. Although expensive, Mahogany became our wood of choice.

With the right stain and styling, the original desk was matched to this 12-foot wall credenza and top hutch with adjustable shelves. In this case, even the use of Mahogany was economical to the prohibitive cost of Teak in achieving the customer’s goals.

This bookshelf is done in red Oak, and features a detail in the face, a 1/4″ groove, that matches pre-existing furniture that the customer had in the same room. It’s often the little details that make the aesthetic work.

This shows the three bookshelf units lined up after installation. By making multiple half-height bookshelves, the customer gained a small display area for his Nambé bowls.

Normally, bookshelves have a backing to add structural rigidity, and keep it from leaning to the left or right. This customer requested a cabinet with no back. To accommodate this requirement, I simply added face frames on the front and back, and some discreet diagonal bracing in the upper corners.

Originally, this fireplace was two-dimensional, flat tile into sheetrock left it appearing unfinished for the customer. I designed two side pillars to hold a healthy, wide mantel. The back splash frames the mantel and artwork on top. The customer used the left side for wood storage – the side panel of Oak protects the wall from logs damaging the sheetrock.

Anchoring fireplaces to the wall is a big challenge. In working with flagstone as my backdrop, I used a custom made template to seam the Oak mantel with the irregular surface of flagstone.

A simpler design of fireplace mantel uses corbels – not pillars – to suspend the mantel over the fireplace. To address heat flow and fire codes, a bronze mirror was placed between the Mahogany mantel and fireplace opening as a spacer – an alternative to completing an unfinished look.