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Forget shopping for furniture, it’s tedious and monotonous (though sometimes a lot easier) and you don’t get that satisfied feeling you get from building something with your own hands. I’m a hobby wood worker and I’ve built a ton of furniture in my day and I suggest you give it a try on your own. If you’re just a novice and you haven’t built anything before I suggest you try building something small like a corner bookcase. There are a few good woods to choose from when making a bookcase.

Oak is a fantastic wood for bookcases, or for any furniture for that matter, because it is sturdy and looks really nice. Oak brings that rustic quality to any room if you leave it bare bones style but you can also stain it a whole spectrum of colors if you so desire. It does get to be a pretty expensive wood type if you have someone else build it but I wouldn’t recommend messing around with it on your own if you’re not a practiced wood workers.

If you’re into dark wood there is a type of wood that I find to be excellent in quality. That wood type is Mahogany. Mahogany corner bookcases look fantastic, especially if you match them with other mahogany furniture. The cooling dark yet shimmering brown color in mahogany makes any bookcase stand out and most of the ones you can find today in the stores have really nice cabinetry in them. If you’re looking for an antique look for your room, get some furniture made out of mahogany.

If you’re looking to save a little money there are some woods out there that aren’t as expensive as mahogany and oak. Plywood is a sturdy man made wood that is composed of a bunch of different woods ground up into one. It makes for some interest (and inexpensive) looking bookcases but it holds up well. I use a plywood bookcase in my garage to store all of my fancy tools. As long as the furniture made out of plywood doesn’t get wet, you should be good to go.

For the amateur wood worker building his own corner bookcase from scratch, pine is the perfect beginners wood. It is easily shaped and will look nicer than some of the cheaper woods out there. Plus, for the first few days after you put the bookcase together it will smell deliciously like Christmas day. Pine is one of those lighter woods so it looks nice in a sunny room but if you need it to be darker you can always stain or paint it.

Wood working is a fun little hobby and you can really make some nice furniture once you get into the hang of it. Just keep in mind that there are good woods to use for furniture and there are bad woods. Oak, plywood, mahogany, and pine are some of the better woods to use but I’m sure there are others. Just take a look at the massive lumber selection at your local Home Depot or Lowe’s hardware stores. You’re sure to find the right wood for your new corner bookcase there.

Nat loves his oak corner bookcase and he can always be found talking about them and a tall corner bookcase at his blog.