Form$Function

I'm trying to find room for all my books, which have been boxed up since my last move, but don't want a lot of clutter or to spend much money. Last week I checked online and went to a few furniture stores to check prices. I could find nothing made of solid wood for a reasonable price or quality appearance. Furniture store pieces were all made of laminate and nothing the proper size for less than $170. Too much. I ended up buying three pieces of 1x10x8 rough-cut pine--which is nice because rough-cut is full size and won't sag--from the local lumberyard for less than $5 per board. The hardware and finish materials were left overs collecting dust in my dad's garage. I was able to keep my business local and build a better, longer lasting and more ecologically friendly product in only a few hours (spaced over three days) for less than $15 dollars. Here is the end result; you might recognize the horse motif from a banner hanging in King Theoden's hall in the LOTR movies. Besides adding a little character the horse heads saved some waste material and function as permanent book ends for loading up the top of the case making six full shelves at a total height of 80" and width 34" OD. I thought of adding a celtic braid down the sides as well but didn't have the time and prefer to keep things simple as possible.