The counter top is in! Its time for Book Cases!

We had Cambria installed on top of the base cabinets to separate the bases from the book cases.  The color is white with a faint ribbon of color through it.  

The toughest part to figure out was how to mount the pillars.  Not that it was that tough, but like everything I do, I wanted to be able to mount a truck to the things and have them not move an inch!  Of course, the exact spots where I needed to mount them to the wall - there were no studs.

So what I wound up doing was mounting drywall anchors to the wall and attaching a piece of 2 X 2 stock to the wall - reinforced with liquid nails.

Those puppies arent going anywhere!

On the right, is the mounted pillar.

Only 3 more to go!

Here are some pictures with the pillars mounted.

On the right, I attached some 1X4 stock to the top shelf.  This will actually act as the top plate for the book cases.

You will see below and to the right how the top plate is mounted.  Screwed and also gorilla glued.

<- The finished product.

Essentially, this is the book cases.  Just add shelves, and we are done!

HOWEVER, we need to add some molding to the top, and bottom of the pillars.  This is where I spent most of my time.  The compound miters and coping I had to do was tremendous.  I had to fabricate an additional 5 inch pillar from scratch for the top of each pillar as you will see below.

At the top of each pillar, there is a buffer piece that will help separate the crown molding  and vertical component that extends to the ceiling.  I fabricated each buffer piece (and carried  this theme throughout the rest of the trim build out). Part of that piece is to the right ---------------------------->

The finished trim for one of the book cases is below.

The final look is below with top plate installed and buffer piece installed.

Next, I needed to fabricate a piece that would look like the pillar is continuing to extend to the ceiling, but also provide a finished edge along the front.  Again, I made this piece in my wood shop and installed it on top of the book case.  Below are some pictures of what this looks like.

The picture below shows the buffer piece under the vertical piece (laying on the floor)

Here is one book case complete

Here is a picture with both complete - All that is missing is crown molding. It will prove to be the toughest and most time consuming (per liner foot) crown job that Ive ever done.... 

... and Ive done A LOT OF CROWN in my life time.

 The complication with the crown molding is the fact that there are multiple cuts on one board.  The fact that it is pre-painted wood doesnt help either!

I wanted to make the crown perfect, but also didnt want to kill myself, so as I did with the other pieces, I fabricated, glued and pin-nailed the crown in my shop and then fit it into place.

The crown molding fits right into place.  Could you believe I actually had the patience to take pictures on this very last cut?  This was really the most difficult crown molding job Ive ever done - Did I mention that yet?

The final product turned out pretty good, but it is Clair's touch that brings it all together.  Without that, it is just a white set of book cases. And make no mistake - I had no design input here - This was all build from an image Clair had that was adapted from a Candice Olsen design.

If you want to see some better, more professional pictures of our bedroom, check out the following websites.  They are on Rate Your Space on HGTV, and on the DIY Network.