DIY: Building Furniture Side Bookshelves

This is sort of a continuing to my previous blog of the Garage Sale Redo: The Ikea Trofast Shelf. Last week I picked up this Ikea Trofast storage unit at a garage sale for $5!

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I had an idea, let's just throw this on top of the current toy box and use it for the extra storage. However, when I put it on top, I didn't like how the width did not match the toy box width below. 

I came across this photo on pinterest and thought it was a great idea to add to the sides to make the width match!

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Here is my little DIY on how you can add these shelves to really any furniture you have around your house, whether it's an Ikea Trofast shelf, dresser, nightstand...whatever you can think of:

You will need:

Pencil

Tape Measure

Jigsaw

Miter Saw

Countersinking Bit

Wooden Plugs

Sand Paper

Drill

Screws

Nail Gun

Wood Fill

1'x6" boards (length determined by your width of furniture and number of shelves)

Trim boards for the front or 1"x2" boards (length determined by your width of furniture and number of shelves)

Now this DIY will take some calculations on your own. You will need 1"x6" boards, but the length of the boards will be determined by your number of shelves you would like. 

For one shelf you would need:

2 pieces cut 6" Tall

1 piece cut the width of the side of your furniture

When it comes to the trim boards for the front, you can use whatever you want (as long as less than 1" thick.) You just need to buy the length needed to cover the front of the shelves. 

The Steps:

I wanted three shelves, 2 on one side and one on the other.

I cut the sides of my shelf using a miter saw. I made 6 pieces that are 6" tall. 

Next to add some decoration, I wanted to put a curve in my sides using a jigsaw. I measured a mark on one side at 2 inches and 4 inches on the other corner.

Using a paint can, I traced a curve between the two marks.  

Here is my path that the jigsaw will follow.

Cut the 1"x6" boards to the width needed for your furniture. 

Using your miter saw, cut the curve on the sides of your shelves. (This was my first time ever using a jigsaw. I saw it in the box and decided to give it a try. At one point I was having a hard time getting it to cut and I STUPIDLY, stuck my hand under the board! Luckily with my cat-like reflexes I escaped cutting the tip of my finger off and just cut the side pretty deep. It's a lesson why not to do woodworking when you are tired from being 35 weeks pregnant. Turns out it wasn't cutting well because I had hit a knot in the wood.)

You should end up with the sides looking like this: 

 Now you will assemble the shelves. Make marks on the side pieces 1 inch from the edges.

Using a countersinking bit, drill your holes.

Attach your sides to your bottom shelf with screws.

 Here are two of my almost built shelves:

Using your wood plugs, fill your holes where you countersunk the screws.  

Now you want to work on your front of the shelves. Measure the width of your shelf and choose what substrate you would like to be on the front.

 I had some old 1" trim so I decided to use it up on this project. I cut three pieces of the trim to the proper width for each shelf.

Using a nail gun, I attached the trim to the front of my shelves.

I turned out cute, but the trim is so thin that the nail gun cracked a few of the ends. Hindsight, I should have used finishing nails and a hammer.

No biggy-- I just covered up the cracks with wood fill and filled the nail holes.

When your shelves are built, sand down all your pieces.

Attach the shelves to your furniture. In my case it was the Trofast shelf. Attach them from the inside of the furniture out so you can't see the screw heads. Make sure they are level!

It was easier for me to turn my unit on the side to attach them. 

And here is the final product with the shelves....now just to paint and continue on the previous post of Garage Sale Redo: The Ikea Trofast Shelf

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