My daughter-in-law picked up a pair of twin-bed head and footboards at a recycling place. They were free, hence there was a catch – no stretchers to connect them. I offered to help, which also meant buying and cutting two sheets of plywood to use as bedboards. I went to Home Depot for some poplar-veneered plywood, and a man who helped me wondered why not just buy cheaper fir plywood for under mattresses. I said that I wanted to be able to use the scraps. But when the kids paid me for the materials, I realized the scraps were theirs. So I suggested a bookcase. Except for a little extra poplar for the facing, footing and cornice, it’s basically their scraps. Not the finest of furniture (they’ll have to paint it) but it does make a point: always buy decent stuff because you never know how you’ll end up using all of it.

One further note, the shelf pegs are called “spiral supports.” They’re shaped with a variable radius (see photo above), so spinning them changes their height. That way, if a shelf is warped or the holes are misaligned, you just spin to pegs to even things out. No more wobbly shelves, ever. Clever idea, available at Woodworker’s Supply.

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