Solid Wood 36 in. H Shaker Kids Bookcase

17 years ago I bought 4 chairs, an end table and a phone table from Lowe's made our of Parawood. We finished them with Minwax Wipe On Poly and we're still using them to this day. They've held up very nearly as well as our oak bedroom suite. Unfortunately, Lowe's quit carrying them shortly after our purchase and we just bought the shortest bookcase from Amazon ourselves. The book case was as easy to assemble as the furniture from 17 years ago and just as nice. A couple comments that should be worthwhile to the newest purchasers: 1. These are not perfect and have a few defects. They're made of wood and are handmade for the most part. Also, while they've been sanded, they do have some glue spots you will need to sand out with some 150 to 180 grit sandpaper BEFORE finishing, as these spots will not take finish. This is not an arduous task, but does take some patience, so if you're looking to assemble and throw some finish on, you may be disappointed. 3. I completed assembly of our shelving unit two days ago, so I have a recent unit. They now come with the back as a single, solid piece though you still have to use a drill to provide screw holes for the backing support brackets. Again, not that hard to do. 4. Finally, these are for "do it yourselfer's" and I'd rate them at the 2 to 3 difficulty level. Not that hard, just take a little patience. Remember, they are wood, they are solid and they have natural wood's natural flaws, part of what makes them interesting in my book. Just take your time, correct the minor flaws, handle the quirks and be patient with the sanding and finishing - you'll be glad you did. Don't forget that there's a lot of information on the web, make use of that if you need when refinishing these.

I have purchased 4 of these over the past year and a half, and am very impressed with the quality of all of them. Each one was easy to put together, and looks beautiful in it assigned location. Two of them were just put up this past week at my dad's new house and he thinks they look very nice too. It's a beautiful way to add functionality to an empty wall. Sure it's more expensive than the particleboard options out there, but it also looks a LOT nicer, stronger, and will hold up to the passage of time a lot better. These are shelves that would be a quality piece to pass along to heirs.

Sick and tired of press-board furniture, I wanted real wood bookshelves. These caught my attention for simple grace, price and solid appearance. I read the reviews and wasn't deterred by the minor complaints - I can find a hardware store if a wall bracket is missing! I was concerned about the packaging problems that seemed to be common but I could refuse them if they appeared to be damaged. I ordered 3 and they arrived in 2 separate shipments. One box was split open at the tape and the bottom badly dented, one was open but otherwise undamaged and the third was fine. Happily, the inside package was well placed and secure so the shelves were fine. All parts and pieces were there and in excellent condition. I had no problems with assembly but I would advise paying careful attention to the illustrations. The book shelf is meant to be assembled upside-down! To ensure easy installation of the back panels just keep an eye on the slide spacing as you are tightening bolts. The reinforcement straps applied behind the shelf really add a lot of stability to the 'flimsy' back panels. The side walls are not a single board but a well-laminated panel of small boards. If painting, you'll never know; if staining, they will present a somewhat checker-board design which I like but you might not. Still, solid wood not veneer. The individual shelves are very solid and single piece boards. The hardware is well placed, lines up and is heavy duty. I am delighted with all 3 and will buy more from this supplier. I have no complaints about the shelves but stronger tape on the shipping box would be recommended. Price? Worth every penny!

Bought this bookcase for my son's room. It's good quality except for the back piece. The rest of it feels solid, and it looks nice! It's full of books, homeschool materials, and his art cases. Holding up nicely!

It's a good bookshelf, beautiful and well-made. It was pretty easy to assemble by myself, except for scewing on the back panel after sliding it into place. The back is a solid piece, not cardboard, and there are no started holes in some places. However, my son did that part for me. I use it in my family room to store my children's books for easy access when the grandkids come. My only issue is that the shelves, while adjustable, do not adjust quite as much as I had hoped. My tallest books did not fit, height-wise. If I ever need another bookself, I would not hestitate to buy this same kind again.

I got the 48" × 32" ×12" white (washed look) bookcase. To be completely transparent, I really wanted a solid wood bookcase and not a particle board version. I love the natural white color. It's not too pale nor too pigmented. The box is heavy, and it is best for a strong guy or 2 people to carry. It took a couple hours for me to build alone, especially because I was careful and didn't want to damage anything. When using my screwdriver to insert the screws by hand, I would screw in, then reverse, and rescrew to make sure none of the areas connected were crookedly installed. I won't say the task was the most difficult build, but definitely a little challenging because the product is a GOOD quality overall! Only the connector pieces at the back had wood that I needed to be careful about not getting a splinter from. It holds my books well and definitely can hold 150 books or so. It cost $30-$60 more than cheaper versions, but I know this one will last much longer than the ones you'd get from your local super marts!

I'm giving this my highest recommendation but ONLY if you are okay with a few caveats. - The box was absolutely wrecked on arrival. Most of the wood was in good shape except a very annoying dent right on an observable surface. I was very close to returning but this thing is heavy and a huge PITA to return. I was able to raise the dent a bit with water and an iron but of course it is still there. - There are scattered areas with wood filler. The filler will not take stain so be aware of that. It's highly likely you will see some spots. - The measurements are not precisely aligned. Like the frame of the bookshelf is very slightly misaligned with the curved accent of the top. - There are no screw holes predrilled for the back board. You will absolutely need a drill for this. I kind of understand why they don't drill these, because if tolerances for precise measurements are a little loose and they drill holes incorrectly even by a little, your backboard may not fit appropriately. Still, you will need to manage to do this. I would not recommend screwing in those screws without drilling first as you may split the wood. If you can tolerate these things, this is easily the best value shelf I have seen. The wood is hard, thick, patterned nicely, takes stain pretty well. It's very stable, even without securing to a wall. Very heavy as well. I recommend putting this together in the room you will be using it. It is also very easy to put together. Just takes a little more time when you need to carefully drill your holes for the backing.

Good solid quality. Made in the USA. Was able to stain it to whatever color I wanted