Bookcase or shelving unit
Two tall sides, fixed and adjustable shelves, and a thin back that does all the structural work.
Not what you bought? Try Cube organizer and modular shelving · Wire or metal utility shelving · Cam-lock box furniture
What you need
In the box already: Allen key · Cam locks and cam bolts · Dowels · Shelf pins · Back panel and nails · Anti-tip bracket
Before you open anything
- Build it in the room it will live in, lying down, then stand it up into its final position.
- Work on the flattened box. Bookcase sides are long and the finished faces mark easily.
- Measure your ceiling height if it is a tall unit. Standing up an 80-inch bookcase in a room with a 90-inch ceiling needs about a foot of swing room.
Please don't skip these
- A tall bookcase loaded with books is extremely top-heavy. It must be anchored to the wall. Children climb shelves.
- Load heavy things on the bottom shelves and light things up top, always.
The whole thing, step by step
10 steps-
Lay both sides down and label them
The two tall panels are the sides. They are mirror images. Lay them out with the shelf pin holes facing each other and pencil an L and an R on the back edges.
- Rows of small holes face inward, toward each other
- Finished edge with the plastic strip faces front
- Pencil-mark left and right
Watch out. Side panels are the classic mirror-image trap. Get these the wrong way round and every hole after it is wrong. -
Dowels and cam bolts into the shelves
The fixed shelves get dowels in the edge holes and cam bolts in the face holes. Tap the dowels half in. Hand-tighten the bolts.
- Dowels into the small edge holes, tapped to half depth
- Cam bolts into the flat face holes, hand-tight
- Fixed shelves only — the adjustable ones sit on pins
Tip. Fixed shelves are usually top, bottom, and one in the middle. The rest float on pins. -
Cams into the side panels, facing the right way
Drop a cam lock into each big round hole on the inside of the side panels. The keyhole gap on the cam must point toward the shelf it will grab.
- Big round holes on the inside faces
- Keyhole gap points toward where the bolt will enter
- Sit flush, not proud
Watch out. Cam facing the wrong way is the reason a joint will not close. It is always this. -
Build the ladder flat on the floor
Lay one side panel down, stand the shelves into it, then lower the other side panel on top. It looks like a ladder lying on its back.
- One side flat, inside face up
- Shelves in, top and bottom first
- Second side lowered on, lining up all dowels at once
Tip. Getting six dowels into six holes at once is easier if you tilt the second panel on and walk it down from one end. -
Lock the cams
Turn each cam clockwise about half a turn until it bites. Work from the middle outward so you do not twist the frame.
- Clockwise, half a turn, until firm
- Middle shelves first, then the ends
- Tug each joint to test
Watch out. Stop at firm. A broken cam has to be drilled out. -
Square it with the diagonals
Still lying flat, measure both diagonals of the frame. Push the long corner until the two measurements match. The frame should now look like a rectangle, not a parallelogram.
- Measure top-left to bottom-right
- Measure top-right to bottom-left
- Push the long corner until equal
Tip. On tall bookcases this matters hugely. A twisted frame leans away from the wall at the top. -
Nail the back on, corners first
The thin back board is the entire reason the bookcase stays square. Nail a corner, then the opposite corner, then fill in all around and into every fixed shelf.
- Printed or white side faces out
- Four corners first
- Then nails every few inches along both sides, top, bottom, and into each fixed shelf edge
Tip. Nailing into the shelf edges too is what stops shelves sagging. Most people only nail the outside edge and wonder why it racks.Watch out. If the back panel comes in two halves, they overlap at a fixed shelf. Check the manual for which one goes on first. -
Stand it up and set the adjustable shelves
Stand it up with help. Push four shelf pins into the holes for each shelf, making sure all four are at the same height, then drop the shelf on.
- Count holes from the bottom, the same number on all four corners
- Push pins in fully
- Set shelf, press down at each corner to confirm it sits flat
Tip. Count the holes rather than eyeballing it. One pin a hole off and the shelf rocks forever.Watch out. Shelf pins can be metal pegs, plastic clips, or little plastic shelf supports with a lip. The lip faces up. -
Anchor it to the wall
Find a stud, screw the bracket to the wall and to the back of the bookcase, strap it tight. On a tall bookcase this is the most important step in the build.
- Stud finder, or tap and listen for the solid note
- No stud available? Use a toggle or heavy-duty drywall anchor
- Bracket to wall, bracket to furniture, strap pulled snug
Tip. Two anchors on a wide unit, one at each end, is better than one in the middle.Watch out. A loaded bookcase can weigh two hundred pounds. Anchors are not a suggestion. -
Load it bottom-heavy
Heaviest books on the bottom shelf, lightest on top. This lowers the center of gravity and stops the shelves bowing.
- Heavy on the bottom two shelves
- Light decor up high
- Spread weight across each shelf rather than piling it in the middle
Tip. If a shelf is already bowing, turn it over. They usually bow back the other way and look new again.
If something has gone wrong
The bookcase leans forward at the top
The frame was nailed out of square, or the floor slopes. Loosen a few back panel nails, square the diagonals, re-nail. Then anchor it to the wall, which also pulls the top back into line.
A shelf sags in the middle
Too much weight for the span. Turn the shelf over so it bows the other way, move heavy items to the bottom, or add a small support block under the center. Wide bookcases are simply weak in the middle.
The shelf rocks when I touch it
One shelf pin is in the wrong hole. Count holes up from the bottom at all four corners — the counts must be identical.
The whole thing twists if I push a corner
The back panel is doing its job badly: either missing nails, or not nailed into the fixed shelves. Add nails along every edge and every fixed shelf.
A cam lock snapped
They are a standard size, sold in packs at any hardware store or online as '15mm cam lock fittings'. Pick out the broken one and press in a new one.
Words you will see in the manual
- cam lock
- The small metal disc that drops into a round hole and twists to grab a bolt. Clockwise tightens. Counterclockwise releases it so you can take the joint apart.
- dowel
- A smooth wooden peg. It lines two panels up but holds no weight on its own. Tap it in to about half depth.
- shelf pin
- A small metal or plastic peg that an adjustable shelf rests on. Count holes from the bottom so all four pins are at identical heights.
- square
- Describes a frame whose corners are true right angles. You check it by measuring both diagonals: if the two numbers match, it is square.
- stud
- The vertical timber inside a wall, usually every 16 or 24 inches. It is what you screw an anti-tip bracket into. Drywall alone will not hold furniture.
- anti tip
- A strap or bracket that ties furniture to the wall so it cannot fall forward. Required on anything taller than it is wide, and on every dresser in a home with children.