Better Homes and Gardens (Australia)
EASY STEPS TO BUILD YOUR BOOK NOOK
Made from flat-pack kitchen cabinets, plywood and pine, this book nook is a cut-and-screw job with no complicated carpentry involved. Simply measure your space and adapt the dimensions to suit.
For you to note
When using power tools, wear all required safety gear and refer to the instructions.
Here’s how
STEP 1 Assemble drawer cabinets following product instructions. Adjust legs so tops of cabinets are 395mm from the floor. Position cabinets, clamp together and join using 28mm screws.
STEP 2 Screw cleats to sides of end cabinets so they’re 15mm from front edge. Also aach cleats to adjacent walls. Ensure the end panels aached to the cleats will sit in line with the cabinet fronts.
STEP 3 Screw baens onto walls so top edge of baens is level with top of cabinets. Use 65mm screws and make sure they go into wall studs.
STEP 4 On underside of cabinet, measure from front feet to front edge and add 18mm to find width of cabinet trim. Use circular saw with fence aachment to cut to width. Glue and screw to underside of cabinets so edge of trim extends 18mm past edge of cabinets. To fix to boom of cleats at wall, predrill and screw on an angle.
STEP 5 Screw together 2 sheets of plywood for top, then measure and cut to fit the area. Make ply overhang front edge of cabinets by 80mm. Also cut and nail end panels to cleats.
STEP 6 Cut kickplate to fit between underside of cabinet trim and floor. Slot in under cabinet trim, then predrill down through cabinet and trim into kickplate to secure.
STEP 7 Sand all exposed plywood using a sander with 120-grit paper. Switch to 180 grit for a smoother finish, then remove all dust. Apply 3 coats of clear varnish to ply. Sand lightly aer each coat.
STEP 8 Aach drawer fronts, then measure and drill hole for handle 100mm from top edge of drawer. Screw handle to drawer. Cut acoustic pinboard to size for seat.
EASY STEPS TO BUILD A BOOKSHELF
STEP 9 Use combination square to mark both sides of upright for the notches to take the shelves. Space the notches to suit the height of objects you intend storing. Notches are 35mm long and 18mm wide.
STEP 10 Use jigsaw to cut notches. Cut on inside of marked lines so it will be a tight fit when the shelves slot in.
STEP 11 Between notches in upright, drill a pair of 5mm clearance holes.
STEP 12 Measure, mark and cut a notch in the centre of the long edge on each shelf. Make the length of the notch to suit distance between notches in the upright.
STEP 13 Sit shelf on edge with notch facing up and spread glue in notch. Place upright over shelf so they slot together. Predrill through clearance holes in upright into shelf, then screw together using 50mm screws. Remove excess glue using a damp rag. Repeat for all shelves.
STEP 14 Sand cut edges of shelves using 120-grit paper, then switch to 180 grit and sand the entire unit shelves using 180-grit paper. Remove dust.
STEP 15 Undercoat edges of shelves, then paint to match your wall colour. Allow to dry aer each coat.
STEP 16 Apply 3 coats of clear varnish to bookshelf and all exposed timber on seat unit. Sand lightly aer each coat.
STEP 17 Locate wall studs behind wall. Place bookshelf against wall, predrill through upright and screw to studs using 65mm screws. Place screws at top, middle and boom of upright. If you can’t locate a stud, aach to wall using Wallmate fiings screwed into the plasterboard, which you then screw into.
STEP 18 Cut a circle of plywood for backrest that will span across the boom 3 shelves, here 600mm. Sand, paint edge and varnish as you did for the shelf. Hold against bookshelf, predrill and screw backrest to shelf. STEP 19 Cut a circle of pinboard that is 80mm smaller in diameter than the backrest. Aach strips of hook-and-loop tape to the back, then centre over backrest to stick that side of hook-and-loop tape to the backrest.