DIY: Bookshelf

I haven't done a DIY post in a while and I really love how this project turned out. When I first found out I was getting my very own office I knew I needed a bookshelf for all those books I collected in grad school. Do you have any idea how expensive bookshelf are? There had to be a better way. Mom and I are super ambitious and Dad builds things. Between the three of us we had to be able to figure this out.

Before we get started I have to share this again. Dad was out of town for the night. Mom and I decided we had this under control. We figured we could handle the belt sander ourselves. We couldn't. This still makes me fall on the floor laughing.

We used 3 2x6x10 wood boards. You can find them at any home improvement store and in pretty much any length or width you want.

They had to be sanded...a lot. We obviously gave up on the belt sander and used the much safer electric hand sander. You can sand down the knots if you want, but I left as many as I could because I like character :)

Pre and post sanding: 

Make sure to round the edges. Don't want to bump into any rough sharp edges!

Then the fun part! Staining! I'm on a dark wood kick right now. We used dark walnut mixed with a little ebony to get this color. We "painted" it on, waited about 5 minutes, and then buffed it off. Super easy!

After we let it dry for about 24 hours we painted on a satin polyurethane to protect the wood and finish it off. 

To create the shelves we bought 24 3/4'' black iron floor flanges and 3/4''x16'' pipes. We just spray painted the pipes black but you can probably find black pipes pretty easily. The floor flanges are about $10 each at home improvement stores, but we found them much cheaper online. Do some research to get the best prices.

We added 6 2'' black wheels on the bottom to make it easier to move around. 

Finished product! It turned out even better than I hoped it would! I wouldn't be upset if it ended up in our home one day :)

Please excuse the totaled car in the back. Sis and I got in a wreck on the way back from one of my wedding showers. We were fine. Carlos, the CRV, was not :(

Please let me know if you have any questions!