After years of falling by the wayside, I finally got around to building the built-in shelving unit in the back bedroom (photos). I first built out the back wall of the unit so we would close in the PVC vent pipe that runs up the back corner of the room. Then I built the "ceiling" for the built-in, again framing around the PVC to hide that completely. Next, I lined the walls with wide beadboard. I used off-the shelf melamine 12" deep shelves for their stiffness and stable form. The vertical spacing of the shelves was determined using a complex mathematical formula, of course. The upper section of the built-in consists of a flat fascia, a half-round, and an arched fascia. The arc was tricky. I free-handed half the curve, cut that, then used the scrap to mirror the other half. Seems that approach worked out well. The rest of the construction was just lots of trim, adding some supports to the shelves (it's rock solid, which is good since we loaded it up!), and the always inspiring puttying/priming/painting. Oh, and I added a removable deck as a place for our video components to sit. It's slick. Works out great for us, and if the next owner has no need for it, it comes out easily with virtually no footprint (two recessed screw holes at the back of the bottom shelf). Now, on to the next project ...
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