I Did It Myself: Bookshelf / Window seat

PROJECT: Bookshelf unit/window seat TIME: Two weeks spread over six months COST: $600-$700 HOW THEY DID IT: Jim Savage saw an idea in a home-improvement magazine for a built-in bookshelf with a window seat. He decided it could be a do-it-yourself project for his Richmond home.

Savage built the cabinets out of plywood with poplar face frames and trim. The lower-cabinet doors are poplar. Crown molding trims the top of the two upper units. He was able to reuse baseboard that already was in place.

Savage did most of the construction and assembly in his basement, then installed the unit upstairs. It runs from floor to ceiling along the length of a 14-foot wall. The upper cabinets have one fixed shelf and two adjustable shelves, and the lower cabinets have an adjustable shelf inside.

Sarah Savage primed and painted the unit when she painted the rest of the room.

Materials for the project included six or seven sheets of plywood, 30 feet of poplar board, hinges, knobs and shelf pins and two lengths of crown molding. -- Julie Young

TELL US HOW YOU DID IT: Share your home or garden project in 250 words or fewer with Julie Young, Home & Garden, I Did It Myself, P.O. Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293, or e-mail . Include your name, address, phone number and, if possible, high-resolution photos of yourself and your project. The project must be one you did yourself.