How do I Choose the Best Pine Bookcase?

Choosing a pine bookcase for your home can be a great way to add a space-saving, budget-friendly storage piece. Pine is a very economical, yet attractive wood available unfinished or in light or dark finishes. With a wide range of bookcases available in both high and low styles, selecting the right pine bookcase for your home can be fast and easy.

First, decide on the approximate height of a bookcase you'd like for your particular room. A low pine bookcase can be the ideal choice for the space under a window such as in a bedroom. A high bookcase could be angled in a corner or placed as a focal point in a room. A focal point draws the eye. By combining books and attractive objects such as decor pieces and plants on the shelves, tall pine bookcases can make attractive focal points.

Many tall pine bookcases feature top shelves with closed shelving on the bottom part of the unit. This type of pine bookcase allows you to store less attractive household supplies in the lower section and display collectibles or other items on the upper shelves. The low type of pine bookcase can also double as a nightstand beside a bed or as storage for books and other items in smaller rooms such as a den.

Because of their low cost in comparison to storage units made from other woods, pine bookcases can be a good choice for a child's room. A disadvantage is that pine tends to dent and scratch easily because it's a soft wood. If your home style suits it, you can purposely distress an unfinished pine bookcase such as by striking it repeatedly with a piece of chain and then finish it with your choice of stain color.

Light pine furniture has a more informal look than dark varieties. If you prefer darker woods for an elegant look, but more expensive hardwoods such as cherry are out of your budget, a dark pine bookcase could be a good choice. If instead you're looking for a rustic looking bookcase, knotty pine could suit your style. The round, dark knots throughout the grain of knotty pine give it a very natural, informal appearance that fits in well with country, cottage and other types of rustic decor.

If you're looking for many bookcases to be placed together to create a library wall or walls, pine is probably the best cost-effective choice. If you're searching for a pine wood bookcase to fit in with a set of furniture you already have, the grain of the wood may be difficult to coordinate. Knotty pine isn't going to look like maple or oak no matter how closely you match the wood tones. You should also watch the styling when looking for a pine bookcase for your home. While many pine bookcases have clean, straight lines, some feature scalloped, decorative edges.