Libraries
Built-In Bookshelves & Home Libraries in Toronto
Built in bookshelves and floor to ceiling home libraries.
Floor to ceiling shelving in painted or stained wood, with panelled backs, integrated lighting and rolling ladders where the wall takes one.
Shelves are sized to the books and to the ceiling height of the room, then scribed to the walls and finished in place. Open adjustable shelves over closed base cabinets, built as one piece with the wall.
- Height
- Floor to ceiling
- Shelves
- Sized to the books and the ceiling
- Backs
- Panelled
- Extras
- Integrated lighting and rolling ladders
Library doorway
Charcoal library
Home office
What we build
- Floor to ceiling shelving
- Built in bookcases
- Panelled backs
- Adjustable open shelves
- Closed base cabinets
- Rolling ladders
- Integrated picture lights
- Pilasters and cornice
- Home office built ins
What changes the price
A library is priced by the wall it covers and by what the shelving has to carry.
- Wall size and ceiling height. Floor to ceiling on an eight foot wall and on a double height wall are different jobs, in material and in the staging needed to reach the top.
- Open shelves and closed cabinets. Closed base cabinets add doors, boxes and hardware under the open shelving.
- Panelled backs and cornice. A panelled back and a cornice at the ceiling turn shelving into architecture, and add the most joinery.
- A rolling ladder. The rail is set out with the shelving, and the wall and ceiling height have to allow it.
- Lighting. Picture lights and integrated lighting have to be planned with the electrician before the casework closes.
- Painted or stained. Stained libraries show the grain across every shelf and stile, so the material is matched and cut more carefully.
How the job runs
1 · Site visit
We come to the house and see the walls, floors and ceilings the work will meet.
2 · Measured and priced
We measure the work ourselves and put the price in writing, at no charge.
3 · Built and fitted
Cut and fitted on site, scribed to the walls and floors as they stand.
4 · Ready for paint
We leave the work filled and sanded, ready for your painter.
We work across Toronto, North York, Etobicoke, Kleinburg, King City, Nobleton, Oakville, Mississauga. Areas we serve
Common questions
How are the shelves sized?
To the books that are going on them and to the ceiling height of the room. A shelf spaced for paperbacks wastes a wall that is holding art books, and the reverse looks empty.
Painted or stained?
Either. Paint lets the library sit as architecture in the room. Stain shows the grain and reads warmer against a panelled back. We build and fit the casework and leave it filled and sanded, and the painting is done by your painter.
Can it take a rolling ladder?
Yes, where the wall and the ceiling height allow it. The rail is set out with the shelving rather than added afterwards.
Is it fixed to the wall?
Yes. A library is built as one piece with the wall and scribed to it, so it holds its line even where the wall does not.
How deep should built in bookshelves be?
Most books sit well on shelves around 10 to 12 inches deep. Art books and records need more, and base cabinets are usually deeper than the shelves above them.
Can the same work go in a home office?
Yes. A home office wall is built the same way as a library, with a desk run or closed storage worked into the shelving.