Today old barrister bookcases are snatched up quickly at auctions and estate sales. If you love the look, take these tips from designer Connie Edwards, who shows Edye Ellis, host of HGTV's Today at Home, how to design and put together a barrister bookcase with component parts that are readily available at home-improvement centers. Make a barrister bookcase the size and style you want with the number of component parts to fit your needs. Connie made hers with four kitchen cabinets stacked on their sides. First she built a base the size of the cabinet with 2" by 6" lumber (figure A). Four kitchen cabinets, with doors removed, were stacked and attached to one another with wood screws (figure B). Open shelving material was used to form the vertical sides of the unit, either screwed to the unit from the inside of the cabinets or nailed from the outside with finishing nails. A top molding treatment was made with countertop-edge molding topped with crown molding (figure C). The bottom two shelf doors were attached so they flip down to open and the top two flip up. Hinged lid supports (figure D), available at a home-improvement center or lumberyard, are attached to each drawer. The bottom door of this unit is wood, and the top three are fitted with tempered safety glass, available from the cabinet manufacturer.
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