Contemporary book stand / storage unit

Knock Down Knock Off

A lot of woodworkers scoff at the furniture sold at big box retailers such as Ikea. It’s a snooty, elitist attitude. The knock-down furniture sold at these stores enables people who aren’t wealthy to furnish their homes and apartments with some pretty stylish pieces. Contrary to what some woodworkers seem think, not every twenty-something can afford to hire a woodworker to design and build custom Greene and Greene furniture. Nor would they necessarily want to.

This week I am embracing much-maligned knock-down furniture and inviting it into the realm of woodworking. Our craft should be expanded and its barriers to entry reduced. This style of furniture is easy and fun to replicate and can be built with limited tools and space. Looking down our noses at the practicality of affordable, factory furniture does nothing to expand the dwindling numbers of woodworkers. I believe woodworking is for everyone.

Some woodworkers seem to define “real woodworking” by the cost of the materials used and the color of their tools. I built this storage rack using melamine for the shelves and painted store-bought dowels for the legs. If you would like to turn this into a “fine” woodworking project just use bubinga or cocobolo wood and boast about how much you paid per board-foot.

Building Options

You can easily make this stand with a hand saw, jigsaw or a circular saw. Instead of making the holes for shelf pins, use some of those metal hose clamps. Slide them in place along the dowels wherever you want to position the shelves.

Plywood would be a great choice for the shelves. To make this even less expensive, you could experiment using free pallet wood. I’d love to see what you come up with!