My lovely wife wanted a wall unit similar to a modular one that she saw in a Pottery Barn catalogue. I looked over the pottery barn design, and decided it could use some improvement.Their unit consisted of stackable, H shaped pieces that could be set side-by-side to create a wider shelf.
It wasn't a bad design on the whole, but it had no base of any sort, and the pieces were just veneered particle board.
I hate particle board. It has no strength to speak of, absorbs any moisture it comes in contact with, and it weighs a lot more than an equal size piece of solid wood. You can't even safely compost it because of the glue and chemicals that hold it together. I suppose there must be some application that justifies the existence of particle board, but I don't know what that might be. Ballast, maybe.
The shelf unit pictured is made from 2x12 lumber that was edged and sanded for a cleaner look.
Instead of side by side and stacked units, I made each level a single unit. Side by side is never stable.
I built a separate base unit for the shelf units to stand on also. No part of the floors in this old house are completely flat. No part of the floors in 90% of new houses are flat either, but that's a different grumble.
Having a base unit gives better support for the upper units. It's much easier to shim and level a continuous foot, than it would be to do so for five floor touching uprights.
I set out the uprights to divide the shelf spaces in a pattern of four,four,three,two, one, from the floor to the ceiling. Visually, this puts the greatest mass of the piece lower to the ground and keeps it more open towards the ceiling. This looks nice, and it puts the maximum support on the bottom.
This is not a light weight piece of furniture. 2x12s are normally used for floor joists and such, but the idea was to make something with a feeling of solidity, and nothing can really simulate that impression. It takes mass. Mass survives.
This was my first attempt at a wall unit like this, and it's not quite as polished as I would have liked. I did learn a few things doing it though, and the next one will be sharper.
I put two coats of black satin on it, and then a poly finish, lightly sanding between coats. I didn't give it any contrasting high lights since it wasn't meant to appear like an old piece.
My to-do list includes building another similar unit for the other side of the chimney. I don't know when I'll have time to get to that. I've resigned myself to the fact that the to-do list will in fact, never be done. It grows like kudzu.
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