Another option, for those of us who can't spend thousands for a solid wood bookcase, but who can afford to spend a little more to make chipboard bookcases stronger, is to buy solid lumber to be your shelves. A lot of the cheap bookcases have shelves just slotted in, so you can simply replace these with pieces of lumber cut to the right length, and they will work much better than chipboard shelves. A 6ft piece of pine costs only about $20 at a DIY store (poplar or oak are stronger, but are much more expensive), and all that needs to be done is cutting it to size (this can be done at the store), then painting or staining the wood, and varnishing it.
Great piece Patrick (from another Patrick). I was planning on doing the same - because there is no easy solution, other than doing what you are suggesting to folks - from book shelf to book shelf to book shelf. I also have multiple book shelves as you do and I have to do the measurements and get on over to a hardware shop with wood... and stain them silver/gray...
I'm not a collector per se, just a readaholic with many books. Been thinking on this more than I should. I'd like to find an inexpensive way to disguise vertical weight relief boards (like yours here) as books. Then they can be in the midst of the rest, not detracting, and giving some measure of relief to each shelf in my floor-to-ceiling shelves. Suggestions?
Good idea! Just wondering if you could get some thrift books and place the outside cover around the wood to disguise it. Then you'd have some support without seeing the wood?
