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I bought some Sauder Bookshelves and they are just crud! How you put them together is joke and I doubt they could hold 10 pounds, besides that they were scratched up before I even took them out of the box!
Does anyone know of a bookshelf that is not so crummy but still wont break the bank? I'm looking for white ones.
Any bookcase you spend less than $100 on and have to put together yourself is most likely going to be garbage. Even the Billy bookcases from Ikea, which I used to recommend to people as a quality inexpensive piece of furniture, are now garbage.
Crate and Barrel makes $500 tall 32" wide bookcases that you assemble yourself. I've seen them in the store and they are rock solid. If you want a bookcase that you don't have to assemble, plan on spending more than that. If you want decent quality, plan on dropping at least a few hundred per bookcase. Sorry.
Have you checked out local vintage/used/consignment type places? That's where all the old well made, super solid real wood stuff is. Then just paint it white.
Don't just think furniture stores when you think bookshelves. Most major cabinet manufacturers make book shelf units complete and all assembled in many many different colors. And the quality will exceed that of the junk the stores sell.
Here is an example.
Just whatever you do, DO NOT go to the big home improvement stores or you will be raped. Go to your local cabinet showroom and tell them you need bookshelves. They will show you the catalog. Just so you know. This lists in my catalog for $1087 which is the price you pay at the big box store. This should be sold from $450 to $500 in small kitchen showrooms and the quality is tops with a lifetime warranty. The shelves are fully adjustable.
If you want something especially sturdy, get a 'barrister's bookcase'. They are designed to hold law books.
And yeah, you get what you pay for. If you want quality you are going to have to pay for it. A solid barrister's bookcase with three shelves will likely cost you around $750.
We built our own. If you don't need stain grade plywood, the cost isn't horrible if you're willing to put in the labor. (obligatory books and cat picture follows)
Look on your local Craigslist, too. A few years ago I found a pair of 7' tall, solid oak Thomasville bookcases for $100 each. These weren't the RTA type now found at Target - these were several years old and had been purchased from a better furniture store. You can find some deals these but you have to be diligent about looking.
Looks like I'm going to be better off with a "floating" shelf with heavy duty brackets like these: The Container Store > Wing Aluminum Profile Wall Bracket. My local hardware store sells brackets like these but in white and hold over 100 pounds each. 8 shelfs total would run me about $112. :-)
Looks like I'm going to be better off with a "floating" shelf with heavy duty brackets like these: The Container Store > Wing Aluminum Profile Wall Bracket. My local hardware store sells brackets like these but in white and hold over 100 pounds each. 8 shelfs total would run me about $112. :-)
Don't do it. All this advice and you going to put that junk on the wall? Betty don't do it. People will point and laugh. Reconsider. Did you not like all the ideas?
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