When friends offer me free stuff, I rarely say no. As in the case of this set of armoir doors that I turned into a book shelf! Yes! I made an armoire door book shelf.
These are the armoire doors I got from my neighbor Rodney. They apparently had glass on the large inset pieces.
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Attach Armoire Doors
The first step to building the door book shelf was to attach the doors to each other with shelf supports. I used scrap ripped pieces of 1x material. Pocket holes were drilled into the end of each support using a Kreg Jig.
I started by adding two supports at the top and two at the bottom.
These small scrap pieces of plywood are a steal at a local Peddler’s Mall. I picked up a stack of them a couple of months ago just for this project. You can see they were about a buck apiece.
Add shelves to door book shelf
It took a little more than one board per shelf. First, I ripped the boards on the table saw.
Afterwards each board was run through to make a small groove every 4-5 inches to make the plywood look more like planks.
Then pocket holes were drilled on each shelf to get a secure hold on the book case.
Need more details on using a Kreg Jig? See my article How to use a Kreg Jig Pocket Hole System
Pocket hole screws were used to secure the lower two shelves onto the book shelf.
At this point I had to make a decision about what material I would be using for the large insets on either side. I considered chicken wire, or hardware cloth, but actually went with thin plywood known as underlayment.
Attach panels to armoire doors
The plywood was ripped on the table saw, then put in place with my nail gun.
Install removable shelf
For the upper shelf, I had to use a cleat instead of pocket holes. The thin plywood will not support the pocket hole screws.
Finally it’s coming together. I ended up stapling the original curved armoire doors to the lower sections in their original places.
Attach top boards to finish DIY bookcase
The boards were cut to fit the top and attached using the brad nail gun. Do you see why I wanted the plywood to look like planks? I think it looks a lot better like this.
As in most projects, I mixed up DIY Chalky Paint Primer for the base coat of this armoire door book shelf.
Painting this monster by hand would take forever, so I broke out the Super Finish Max Extra to get this job done quickly.
Laying the diy bookcase on it’s back makes it easier to get the underneath side of the shelves painted.
Oops, I forgot to mention that I also put the thin plywood on the back. To make my smaller sheets go further, I patched the sheets where the lower shelf is. This allows me to use two smaller sheets instead of one long sheet of plywood. The upper shelf is removable, so I painted it outside the book shelf.
After the primer coat was on the book shelf, I liked the color enough to use it as the topcoat. As I was building this huge bookshelf I got the news that Vendors’ Village is closing at the end of the month. So, that may change some of my building projects. It’s difficult to transport large projects like this to my craft show in the Fall.
DIY Armoire door book shelf
It’s not the fanciest project, but it will make someone a nice display cabinet or book shelf. I really love the color. It’s difficult to guess what color someone else will prefer.
Here’s a close up of the plank looking plywood. I’m really happy with how it looks. I don’t think I’ve ever done this before. This option was better than 1x boards as far as cost.
What color would you have painted the oversized book shelf?
gail
You may enjoy these other Door Project Ideas.
Danielle
Hi Gail, you say your door-bookshelf is not fancy? The doors have beautiful, subtle details and I love the vintage look. The plank type bottom shelf goes well with it. Quite ingenious! I really like the colour. What is it? A cream? Almond?
Gail Wilson
Thank you so much Danielle. I can't remember the exact color name at the moment. It is a creamy off white. It's a Behr color. They don't sell it anymore. But I checked their colors and the closest seems to be Moonlit Beach or Shea
gail
Kathy Nielsen
GAIL, DO YOU DO ALL THIS CARPENTRY YOURSELF? YOU ARE AMAZING.
Gail Wilson
Kathy,
Yes Ma'am I do it all myself. Sometimes I ask for help loading or moving the really heavy (awkward) pieces. But all the sawing etc, it's just lil ole me!
thank you for your sweet comment!
gail
Debbie
Wow!! This is awesome, you are so good at repurposing!!
Gail Wilson
awww, thanks friend!
Christina
Oh I love this! It would be so beautiful in my living room. Awesome job Gail!
girlfromwva
i think the color is a nice neutral. the bookcase/display case is lovely. maybe add an extra shelf or 2. (as mentioned above)
Carol S
Gail, you should publish a book!!! Your ideas are amazing. This turned out so beautiful. One of a kind, unique and useful. Seems like someone would be crazy not to snatch this up. Who else would have a bookcase with curved panels? As far as color, you can't go wrong with a neutral. Keep being awesome!
Gail Wilson
Carol!
You just made my day with your sweet comment! At one point I did get offered a book deal, but the publisher wanted me to do different stuff than I do on the blog. Crazy, eh? We went back and forth for a couple of months and I finally just said "no thank you".
Have a great day!
gail
Jennie
Oh, my. No more Venders Village? That’s awful. Are they closing because of economic reasons? Do you have a lot of pieces there waiting to be sold? You might have to rent a uhaul with a lift. Then you could bring larger pieces. But, would they sell, or is it a show that sells mainly small items? Maybe sell on offer up or one of the other apps that are available. Offer up has a free section too. I feel bad for the workers at Venders Village.
Gail Wilson
I agree it's very sad. Many vendors will be misplaced as well as those who work the counter.
Glendale... it's in a field where most people have to park very far away from my booth. There's no way to get a vehicle into the area while the show is going on, so I try to keep my pieces small enough so that 2 women can carry it easily for a long distance. I do take a dolly so that I (or cousin Terry) can escort them with a heavy piece, then bring the dolly back.
Some of the items in the booth will get a makeover before they go to Glendale. I've only used craigslist online to sell. I've never tried offer up or Facebook. That might be an option after Glendale.
Bonnie Atkins
I like the white.....but......I ...for myself ...would have added more shelves....to much space.
Great job on the restoration.
Gail Wilson
Good point Bonnie. It was so hot and I was so ready to be done. Adding more shelves (as a piece being sold) would definitely up the price. Something to think about in the fall. 🙂
thanks so much for your honesty!
gail