shelving – What is the cheapest/easiest way to make bookshelves? – Home Improvement Stack Exchange

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I own a lot of books, and would love to display them on a bookshelf that covers an entire wall. I love the look of wood, but it is so expensive at the moment. I’m also a bit short of spare time, so I am pondering the cheapest and/or easiest way to make a large bookshelf. The compromise will be on appearance I guess.

I’ve had a few ideas:

• Buy from IKEA (usually very cheap) and butcher it to fit, then paint it to obscure the cheap finish
• Salvage unpainted wood from local skips (dumpsters) – I’ve got lots of wood this way, but never long neat planks, or enough of the same size timber!
• Run two parallel wires (or metal rods) from wall to wall, and sit the books on that – would the covers get spoilt?
• Somehow make the shelf out of old books from a charity shop?!
• Wait for Freecycle to come good…