Appreciation post: My first solo built-in bookcase is finally done

Last week, I finished installing a floor-to-ceiling bookcase in a client's home office here in Boise. I sketched the design three months ago, but cutting all those dados for the adjustable shelves took me forever (I must have measured each one three times). Seeing it all come together without any major gaps felt like a real win after so much careful planning. Has anyone else had a project where the simple joinery was the hardest part to get just right?

3 comments

3 Comments

dylanf782mo ago

Three months on dados seems like overkill. My uncle built a whole set of kitchen cabinets in two weekends. Sometimes you just have to cut the wood and see how it fits.

blake_thompson272mo ago

Two weekends for a whole kitchen? That's wild. My last cabinet took me a month just to get the doors right.

the_henry27d ago

My buddy Mike tried the "just cut and see" approach on his kitchen last summer. Ended up with a 2 inch gap between the microwave and the fridge that he filled with a cutting board. I spent a whole Saturday just staring at a single crooked drawer pull before deciding to just leave it. Two weekends for a whole kitchen sounds like a fever dream to someone like me who can't even hang a shelf level.