the Anthro bookcase
Have you ever seen something in a catalog, gawked at the price tag, and thought ‘I could totally make that?‘ That was my reaction to this bookcase in the Anthro catalog. Cool vintage books, beautiful bookcase, but why the heck does it cost $1400?
So I set off to make my own. The case is custom made to fit certain books. I wanted to make one for our cookbooks, so that’s what I based my measurements around. It’s made by gluing a lot of slivers of plywood together.
At first, I thought I could just buy a big piece of birch plywood and get the guys at Home Depot to chop it down to the many individual pieces. I never got around to trying that. I asked my dad instead, when we were home for Christmas. Lucky for me, my dad’s a pretty great woodworker. And he’s got all the necessary tools to cut the wood. After seeing how much work it was to cut all the 1-inch, and 2-inch segments, I’m glad I didn’t ask at Home Depot. They would’ve laughed in my face and told me to buy a saw instead.
I had my dad cut several pieces of wood at these heights (below). The book ends are 8.5-inches tall. And yes, I carried all the pieces back to Dallas with me in my carry-on!
To determine how many pieces I needed at each height, I measured the spine of the cookbooks we had at home.
I sanded all the pieces with super fine sandpaper. In the process, I inhaled a bunch of sawdust and injured my shoulder. Next time, I think I’ll have to get an automatic sander. After sanding, I arranged the wood pieces to make sure the books and case would look nice together.
Then it came down to gluing and staining the case. I used strong wood glue and a dark wood stain (no varnish).
The wood was actually kind of tough to glue together, because all the interior segments are different heights.
So the steps were: glue, wait 24 hours, then stain. I did two coats of stain, sanding the wood down with steel wool after each coat. Here it is after the first coat:
I haven’t had a lot of experience with wood glue or stain, but I learned that I should be more careful with the glue. The areas where the glue dribbled over ended up being stain-resistant. And that’s even after I wiped off the excess glue and sanded the area. It didn’t ruin the case, but it’s not very pretty.
After the stain was all dry, my bookcase was ready to go.
By itself, the case isn’t that impressive. But once you load the cookbooks on, it looks pretty sweet. I especially like how the cookbook colors accent the dark wood.
So there you have it: the Anthro bookcase. And done for waay under $1400. If I had my own fancy saw, I’d make more of these and give them as gifts. Some day, perhaps?
This post was featured on
[...] glue some birch plywood together and stain. Click here for the [...]
[...] Anthro bookshelf is perfect for a small book collection; you can also add more pieces of wood to create a home for [...]
[...] Source : http://www.whollykao.com/2012/01/11/the-anthro-bookcase/ [...]
[...] 25. Stained Plywood Book Display Case [...]
[...] на проблема е библиотечката, която е показана в whollykao.com. Тя е направена от шперплат, който е нарязан на парчета [...]
[...] the Anthro bookcase « whollykao Before & After: TV Tray Table Gets Decked Out As part of my ongoing quest to add some color to my grey living room, I picked up one of these inexpensive tv tray tables at Target and decided to give it the before and after treatment. Yes, there is spray paint involved. And lamp finials. Is it possible to find a laundry hamper that's cheap, sturdy, and so stylish that it makes you feel like Jean Seberg in 1960s Paris? [...]
I read 90% of the article thinking that he should have made the outside panels higher like the anthropology one. I didn’t realize until the end that the one I was assuming was the expensive store-bought one was the one he made!
thsi is soo cool and creative! I just watched yoru otehr DIY projects and all of tham are so creative! Thia actually ia genius and when I opened I thought this will be a difficut wood cutting instructions but you really suprised me…(and my friands say that’s difficult
)
Give you a high five for this and teh other things! Lobelly, please never stop this – you are more than good at this!
Greetings from Lithuania!
http://www.dressupforme.wordpress.com
Aw, thanks!
That is awesome, and I’ll be totally trying this! Thanks for sharing!
Seriously so amazing!
[...] a fun way to put some of your prized books or cookbooks on display from Esther at wholly Kao. Esther made a holder for her cookbooks out of pieces of wood that were cut to varying heights, [...]
[...] here is a bookcase with a similar design. Apparently the crafter in question came up with this design after seeing a [...]
Turned out great! I like how the book tops don’t match up!
The original work is a lot like this one by Mike & Maaike, which cut out an indentation out of a piece of solid wood.
http://www.mikeandmaaike.com/#p_juxtaposed-religion
Thanks for sharing that link! The shelves by Mike & Maaike are great.
Awesome job! I like yours better than the Anthro one! Need to show this to my woodworking husband.
Fabulous!!
[...] woodworking today. I have been seeing pictures of this small bookcase and liked the look of it. Wholly Koa show you how to put it all together. Rate this: Like this:LikeBe the first to like this [...]
This is brilliant! Great job!
Thanks Kelli!
[...] {6} WhollyKao: Anthro Bookcase [...]
[...] Аt first you should decide what books you want to put on it. The bookcase should be made according to their size. You can make it from plywood scraps so the project is really cheap. You need to cut these craps to appropriate sizes, glue together and cover with the stain you like. For more details, visit whollykao. [...]
The $1400 includes the 6 vintage books. i was wondering why the cost was so crazy so i clicked on the link to check it out.
Those must be some rare books (collector’s edition, perhaps)! Or at least cool enough to merit the price tag!
Saw you on craftgawker, as well. This is great and I actually like yours better than the anthro one! I like how the sides of yours are higher, I think you executed this idea a little better than they did ;] Now to find a friend with a saw….
Thanks Shauna — I’m flattered!
[...] Hent arbejdstegning og se flere billeder på hjemmesiden Wholly Kao [...]
Came over from Craft Gawker and, boy, am I glad I did! This is a terrific idea. I think I’ll try to make one for my husband (who loves his cookbooks) and my sister (who loves anthropologie). Thanks so much for sharing!
Glad you like it, Megan. Have fun making your own. I’m sure your husband and sister will love their book cases!
[...] that Anthro book case I posted about last week? When I was making it, I had some leftover wood slivers. So I decided to [...]
Love this! Great job!