Corner Bookcases

This client wanted a corner bookcase on each side of atrium door in the family room. Pictures and objects storage (display) was the overriding design choice instead of book storage. Additionally, the home was partly a new addition to a roughly 1900 farmhouse. The owners have taken great effort and expense to blend the new portion with the old – example all moldings were custom milled to match the original profiles. They wanted the case to blend in rather than being a modern piece of furniture in the room.

The design evolved from this starting point and the martial negotiation of wanting the bookcase to frame the door (wife) and the corner bookcase (husband). During the period, the wife mentioned (and showed picture) of casework that had rounded shelves that smoothed the visual boxy look of the cases. Given all these inputs, I returned a two shelf mock=up of an ogee shelf that was supported on the corners with molding that matched the existing custom casement – winner! The customer asked that the backing panel be 3.5 inch bead-board instead of the simulate bead-board plywood panel. We agreed to a painted surface of a poplar solid wood and birch plywood shelving.

Reproduction of the custom casement molding required making scrapers that matched the original profile. The pattern was rough cut using table saw and router and te final profile was created by shaping this preliminary profile by hand with the scrapers. The structural integrity required the units to be fixed. The curved poplar banding on the plywood shelves proved to be the learning experience that any innovative design creates. That what makes all of this fun.